Organize Your Garage Using These 15 Smart PVC Pipe Storage Hacks

With the ever-rising threat of microplastics and toxic pollutants stemming from the items we toss in the trash, figuring out smart ways to recycle your leftover plastic materials is a responsibility any homeowner should take seriously. Excess PVC, in particular, is a frequent puzzle for many, as it's the most common plastic in home constructions and a practical solution for many DIY repairs. Rather than toss them in the trash or hope they get recycled properly, you can give your leftover pieces renewed purpose with clever projects around the home. There are all sorts of brilliant ways to reuse old PVC pipes in your backyard and around the home, but if you're still struggling with scrap pieces after knocking out those projects, you can still find plenty of extra use for them in the garage.

Whether you need smart organization for your power tools or a better way to manage your tie-downs and cables, PVC can resolve numerous problems to help you optimize your garage to give you the best possible experience. Homeowners can always use some clever DIY projects to maximize storage space in the garage, and PVC does a great job fitting the bill. It's rigid, strong, and resistant to breakdown from chemicals, moisture, and other environmental agents, and forming it to suit your needs is as easy as cutting wood. 

A wall organization system is one of the top strategies for building a home workshop in the garage. Pegboards, French cleat walls, and other setups offer customizable arrangements to hold your tools, and power drills are among the most needed items for any DIYer. Cutting slots in leftover PVC pipes, you can make a perfect holder to suspend your drills by the head or battery. Screw the holders under a cabinet or shelf holding your battery chargers and bit sets, and you'll have everything you need ready to go in one convenient spot.

When the walls, shelves, and benches are all full, the only way to take your storage is up. The ceiling is one of the smartest garage storage ideas to remember during your next declutter, and a slim unit like PVC piping that can stay out of the way of lighting and opening garage doors is ideal. Screw wood slats into a long PVC pipe (one slat at each end), and mount the slats to the ceiling. Use this out-of-the-way holder for rarely-used materials or seasonal gear like rakes and snow shovels, and keep your other storage open.

Your arsenal of rakes, shovels, and other lawn and garden equipment deserves better than to lie in a pile in the garage corner. If you have some PVC pieces and wood strips, you have everything needed to create sensible, streamlined storage. Attach PVC sections to a wood backing, then screw that onto the garage wall. Acting as sleeves, these can maintain your long-handled tools in an upright, visible, and out-of-the-way position. 

From painter's tape to electrical tape, no garage workspace would be complete without some rolls of adhesive on hand. Tape rolls are prone to falling into disarray. For better organization, grab a narrow run of PVC and thin rope to make a hanging bar, keeping everything in line. Secure it to the wall or under a shelf by wrapping the ends of the rope around screws, and remove one end from its mount when you need a roll.

Work tools aren't the only garage items that could benefit from a PVC storage treatment. If fishing is your recreation of choice, you'll undoubtedly need some safe space for your rods to rest until your next trip to the lake. If you have some narrow PVC pipes, check their fit with your fishing rod handles to see if they offer a snug hold. Like the garden tool holder, a PVC arrangement on a flat bracket can organize all of your rods in a neat row against the garage wall.

Finding and fumbling around with the right tools in your screwdriver set can be a common frustration, but not anymore, thanks to this clever PVC DIY. If you have a length of leftover PVC piping, pull out your drill and pop a few holes down its length until it looks like a flute. Now, you have a perfectly functional holder to keep your screwdrivers in line, organized, and easy to pull out and replace. Mount it to your wall, or make it portable and able to  move between your storage area and workbench.

Tired of that tangle of bungee cords hanging out in the garage? Save time arranging and finding the right cord for the job by making a simple PVC organizing post with nothing more than a drill and a piece of pipe that's a few feet long. Drill a hole into one side of pipe, hook in the bungee cord, and pull it and hook it to the other end. Add multiple holes around the circumference, and you may be able to keep all your cords tight and tidy in one place.

If you deal with a lot of long materials in your DIY projects, like wires, bands, and wood strips, a PVC storage rack may be the solution you need to avoid the awkward stacks that too easily get knocked over. By attaching a stack of PVC pipes to a wood support, you have a portable multi-slot organizer you can build out to give any material its separate space. Mount it to your French cleat wall, or screw it to your ceiling overhead. It can also stand upright as another place for long-handled tools, proving its worth in any garage.

A family of biking enthusiasts deserves a tidy spot to store their equipment, and PVC can be the perfect solution. While so many hacks can rely on PVC scraps, this one is worth buying new piping, elbows, and three-way sockets to build. Make it as long as you like to fit as many bikes as needed. Lightweight and portable, you can keep your bikes organized in the garage but easily move it out to the driveway or put it on the back of the truck when you need it elsewhere.

A PVC rack may not be able to handle heavy equipment, but it can provide more than enough support for lightweight kayaks in a simple custom build. Cut PVC pipes to make two side supports and horizontal spanners connecting them. Arms extend out from the sides at 90 degrees to create a stacked holding rack, and the whole assembly can lean against the garage wall. Measure your kayaks, and cut the sides to fit each one without wasting an inch of space, allowing you to maximize your storage in the rest of the garage.

Tote bin racks are one of the trendiest DIY projects that will maximize your garage's storage space, with most builds using dimensional lumber in ladder-style constructions. There's more than one way to solve this storage puzzle, though, and PVC makes an excellent stand-in for a wood frame. Measure the height of your bins, and make individual sections to support each one in a separate holder, making them all easy to access. Using fabric to create surfaces between the PVC frame pieces, you can also make it a more flexible shelf to hold loose items.

The smaller the item, the harder it can be to keep tidy, but not when you have some PVC pieces handy for an easy storage DIY. Cut the ends of PVC pipes at a 45-degree angle, and screw the cut ends to a wood backing so the pipes stick up at an angle. Attach it to the wall over the workbench. Use it to keep all your most-used hand tools and instruments available, from drivers and wrenches to compasses and pencils.

Cords, bungees, ropes, and hanging gear can benefit greatly from wall hooks, avoiding much of the tangled disorganization plaguing many garage spaces. You could always buy hangers, of course, but if you have some spare PVC scraps hanging around, save time and money with an eco-friendly upcycle. Cut a small PVC tube section and remove a portion of the circle to form an open hook. Screw several of these into a wood backing for a tidy cord organizer. Skinnier PVC can hold short lengths, while large hooks can manage long extension cords and hoses.

When gear needs to dry out, the garage is often the best place for it to keep the house clean and damage-free. And a PVC build can make the perfect station to speed things up. Flexible, strong, and resistant to water damage, PVC pipes can handle most drying needs for long-term use. You can use it to dry sports gear, for example, but you can adapt your design for hats, gloves, swimming trunks, and more. The airflow will quicken the drying process, and your gear will be in one convenient spot when you need it.

Whether you enjoy woodworking, furniture refurbishing, model-making, or engaging in any other hobby in your garage workspace, you could likely make good use of a spray can holder. PVC tubes are arguably the most convenient DIY solution, presenting an ideal individual organizer needing little alteration. Cut your PVC pipes just long enough to hold the cans, and mount them on a backing board in a grid to hold your spray paints, sealants, and other canned materials.