Four Simple Steps for Organizing Your Workshop

This year, you’ll read a lot from me about improving how our house functions. I am on a quest to fully enjoy living in BHH, a subject I touched on in last week’s post. During January, my focus is on the basement. Today’s post offers some tips and tricks for corralling workshop supplies. For every project, regardless of the location, I follow four simple steps for organizing: Declutter, Categorize, Store, Label.

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I admit that I get a disproportionate amount of satisfaction organizing areas of the house that few will ever see. When we lived in our house in California, Andy used to tease me about it. The rest of the house could be a complete disaster, but we had the cleanest closets in town. There is just something satisfying about knowing that we aren’t hiding our chaos behind closed doors. There is no trickery here. We keep the mess on full display.

Our basement is one of those “behind closed doors” spaces that feels and functions better when it is clean and neat. BHH doesn’t have a real garage. We do have some outdoor storage, but we keep the humidity and temperature controlled in the basement, making it the best location for tools and supplies.

About five years ago, I got so sick of wasting precious time hunting for tools and supplies that I spent a couple of weeks creating the organizational system that we still use today. My goal was to have a system that,
a) allowed us to shop and home first to save money and resources, and
b) was easy to maintain for everyone.

The problem was that after nearly seven years of serious DIY, the collection of tools and supplies breached the boundaries, and the piles grew. I found myself back in the situation of spending too much time searching for items and not enough time getting things done.

That frustration felt overwhelming, and it led to quite a lot of project paralysis during 2020. Eager to avoid the same scenario in 2021, it made sense to tackle the basement first.

Declutter

Of the four simple steps for organizing, decluttering is my favorite. Every good organization project should start with a thorough purge. The problem with that in a workshop setting is that almost everything could be useful again at some point. Deciding to toss single socks from the laundry and expired meds in the bathroom is easy. Scrap lumber and “that plastic thing that surely must belong to something important,” not so much. It can be difficult to strike a balance, but I try to be pragmatic.

I went through every single bin and drawer and tossed or recycled obvious garbage. In some cases, once I removed the garbage, the items fit well in their bins again.

Categorize

If they didn’t fit, I had to decide whether to use a larger container or if it was necessary to fine-tune the categories. I have two examples.

For some reason, we have amassed a fairly large collection of electrical and plumbing odds and ends. The assortment grows faster than we use it–which is a slippery slope. However, the items never spoil, they can be used in any house we ever own, and they are not taking up valuable shelf space. Rather than attempt to “cull the herd,” I bought a larger lidded bin for each.

Moving items to larger bins is how hoarders get their start, but it makes sense for special circumstances.

I also ran into a decision to make about sandpaper. My sandpaper bin runneth over. I use sandpaper all the time. Instead of switching to a larger bin, which is harder to dig through, I moved it from one bin to three: Orbital, Mouse (detail), and Specialty (floor sander, belt sander, blocks). Again, that’s a risky, borderline-hoarder solution, but I challenge that I’ll whittle my stash down faster now that those oft-reached-for items are actually reachable.

I categorized everything else in ways that are meaningful to me and the way I work.

Note: It is important to create categories tailored to your workflow. I can explain what works well for me, but it may be very different at your house.

Storage

The simple steps for organizing sometimes feel less simple when it comes to storage. It is easy to get mired in the details and the desire for magazine perfection. I fully admit that I don’t always make everything look as attractive as other home and DIY bloggers. Maybe I am too practical, but it’s a basement. Fancy pre-packaged organizational systems are expensive and often over-engineered. So, I reach for two staples: basic dish tubs and plastic shoeboxes.

I prefer using bins full of like items because I can pull the entire bin off the shelf and cart it around the house or move it to my work table.

The plastic drawer units also come in handy. I often see them at local thrift shops. I am not in love with using plastic, but it’s perfect for these potentially damp and dirty locations.

Label

I admit that the labels are mostly for other people. I already know where everything is. There’s a method to my madness. However, they help my family members find items and put them away correctly. I use a DYMO label maker with white stickers, but the stickers come in colors and clear if you’re fancy like that.

Just like categories, labels should be meaningful to you.

It feels so good to have all of our supplies organized and within reach. This portion of the project is complete, but I have about half of the workshop left to finish. Paint, tools, and wood scraps are next. I am following the same simple steps for organizing and staying focused.

How do you keep your workshop organized? Do you have any tips and tricks to share? I would love to hear them.