Lately, I've been looking into these types of storage systems for my garage. With a 2.5 year old and another child coming this fall, I see the problem of kids' toys all over the garage floor only getting worse. And I need to get organized now!

Do any of you have a garage wall system or have you done any research about the different systems that are available? A lot of them are based from either a "steel grid" system or a "track system". Most are the track systems; like rubbermaid, gladiator, or slatwall. These are track systems where the track is attached to your garage wall, and then the hooks, shelves, baskets, or even cabinets attach directly onto the track or panel.

I've just started looking at these, and it seems that they're all horribly expensive and proprietary. This means that I need to choose one type, and then stick with it...for better or worse. I'd just like some opinions.

Can anyone share some knowledge, experience, or correct me of I'm wrong about anything I've stated? And if you have anything like this yourself, pictures would be sweet too. Thanks.

 

Kids won't hang their toys on hooks on the wall. Storage bins are much more practical and cheaper. When my kids were small and had all kinds of small toys we just used a single big bin to collect them all.

I've hung cabinets all around my garage to collect all of the other stuff, and still use smaller storage bins under the cabinets to collect the kids' junk.

 

That's a good point. What kind of bins did you have or would be available today? I'll look around for a "bin" that could hold all toys, but I just don't want to keep it on the floor. I guess I'm envisioning at least one hanging "bin" for the various sports balls, and another couple tracks that could hold shoe racks to keep them off of the floor. But from there, I'm not sure if it's worth it for anything else.

These tracks are expensive. I priced just three 4-ft tracks, one sports ball bin, and two shoe racks and it totaled $160+. I think that's a lot just to hold a half-dozen balls and some shoes...then there are GearTrack kits that include track and various hooks. These start at $250 and only go up. All of these prices are for the Gladiator Wall Systems.

Any more options that are a better value than Gladiator? Are there different brands of systems that use the same track system where accessories would be universal?

 

As svtmike said (and I have three kids to prove it too) don't go crazy on organizing the kids toys. Waste of time.

How about just a large bin...omething like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Storage-Tr...Trunk/14003478

Can't tell in the pic but it looks like it might have two doors on the front that will allow the kids to get into it.

 

We just had the biggest cheapest plastic storage bin we could find -- I think it was around a 40 to 50 gallon size. Something with a lid so all they had to do to clean up was drop their stuff into it, and we could put the lid on it.

It doesn't match your dream, but it's a temporary solution for a temporary problem. When they get older their stuff gets more like yours and there's less of it.

Something like this:

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/P...od_ID=RP091415

 

I picked up a set of tracks with hooks at Sam's for $30, not expensive at all, I'll take a pic, I'm very happy with them, and they lined up perfectly with my wall studs

 

Thanks for all the great recommendations guys. I'm interested in seeing the picture of the track & hooks from Sam's Club.

The big plastic tubs are a great alternative too. Maybe I could even mount one of those tubs to the wall somehow so it would stay in one place and be out of the way. I'll continue to gather this useful information before I make any purchases.

 

I'll try to remember to take a pic tonight as I will be doing some work in the garage.

 

Sorry it took a couple days, here's a couple pics I shot last night. For $30 at sam's you get a set of 4 Rails, and like 8 or 10 hooks.

Here's a shot of the rail and brand


Couple of the hooks and another shot of the rail


Pic of 3 rails that I have hung on the wall, loaded with tons of tools

 

If you get some tubs with a fat lip, you could easily have them stacked on a wall with dimensional lumber.

Like this, but bigger:

 

This is how our garage looks. All the stuff is in there and still park two cars easily...

 

Thanks for posting those pictures guys. It gives me some good ideas about different options that I might have.

BlackAck, those tracks and hooks look very similar to what I've been looking at, but much more affordable. What is the length of each trac piece? I'll definitely have to check those out soon. Thanks.

Tmnhs, I like how your shelves are up high and out of the way...so that people don't bump their heads. Plus it just looks cleaner having much of the lower part of the wall bare and clean with no clutter. Looks good.

 

In my garage, I took the opposite direction. I bought five 30" wide cherry cabinets. People have commented how I have nicer cabinets in my garage than they do in their kitchen.

I also have a small problem. I just bought and assembled the Rubbermaid Big Max shed from Home Depot and found out that the shelving options for this plastic shed is non-existent, as in HD does not sell them any more and neither does Rubbermaid. WTF!? Why the fuck would Rubbermiad sell a product with no accessory support? That is bullshit.

Anyone know where I can find shelving for the Big Max?

 

That does suck. I'd try ebay, or some other website that may have leftover supply. I'd probably Google it and see what pops up.

 

Unfortunately, nothing. Tried eBay, Craigslist, and a number of other sites. Frickin' morons.

 

24"