How to plan garage wall storage

The fixing carries the load, not the rack.

Wall storage frees the floor, which is the whole point of a garage. Plan it in three bands. Waist to shoulder height is prime space and should hold what you reach for weekly. Above shoulder height takes light, bulky, seasonal things. Below the waist takes heavy items you can lift without stretching.

Long-handled tools such as rakes, brooms and shovels want a slotted rail rather than individual hooks, because slots forgive imprecision when you are putting things away quickly. Hooks work better for coiled items like hoses and extension leads.

The rack is almost never the weak point. The fixing is. A rack rated for a heavy load screwed into hollow drywall with the wrong anchor will fail at a fraction of that figure. Fix into studs where you can. Where you cannot, use an anchor rated for the weight and the wall type, and remember that a hanging load on an anchor pulls at an angle rather than straight down.

Part of the Stalwart guides. See all guides.