Without a system, getting kids and adults, to put their sports equipment away properly can be a challenge and it can be a chore to find everything you need, when you need it.
Grouping everything together for a particular sport helps, but having a proper system to organize, secure and store equipment will make all the difference when you’re running late, on the way to the game.
Summer Sports
Regardless of the sport, they all require a number of accessories, from balls and sticks to masks and pads. Each comes with a unique storage challenge.
Basketballs, soccer balls, footballs and baseballs can be easily stored in a large basket on the wall. We have one that measures 36x 30x 24 that fits nicely along a back wall and is perfect for an assortment of differently sized balls. You can see exactly what you have and it’s easy to put stuff in, so the balls are always in the same place.
Lacrosse sticks, baseball bats, rollerblades and anything with a hole can hang easily from lockable hooks attached to the slatwall.
Specialty hooks and accessories are available for the larger and heavier items, including things like canoes and kayaks, which can be stored in overhead racks over the winter, but allow for easy access during the summer. We build customized slings for canoes and Thules.
Winter Sports
The same type of hooks that are used for baseball bats also work for hockey sticks and skis, keeping them out of the way during the summer, but allow for easy access during the winter. Baskets and shelves are good solutions for helmets, boots and other ski equipment.
We even have a solution for snowboards! They can be stored snugly against the wall with one of our specialized accessories.
Golf Equipment
The lockable hooks are also an ideal solution for golf equipment because they can support a lot of weight and keeps your clubs within easy reach. We typically install these along a back wall as space on the sides of the garage can be limited.
For clients with a slightly bigger budget, we can build a golf locker to house clubs, jackets and shoes. It’s a more expensive solution, but it’s easily done. We can also build a lockable cabinet for skis and boots to keep them safe. For people who have the room, we can build a cabinet for hockey equipment as well, keeping it out of the house.
Bicycles
Hanging your families multiple bikes is often a great challenge and one of the first things that clients tell us they want to do, given the space that they take up and often the difficult Bikes are among the most challenging equipment to store, especially in a smaller garage.
People with kids know that it’s highly unlikely they’ll be putting their bikes away on a daily basis, especially during bike season. Simple bike racks like the ones used in schoolyards can nicely organize your bikes.
During the warmer months, I recommend that people just leave their bikes in one of the bays. During spring, summer and fall, it’s not a big deal to leave one car in the driveway.
Over the winter is when the storage solution comes into play. Depending on the space you have available and the other uses you have for the garage space, you will want to choose a system where hanging the bikes is easy and doesn’t consume valuable wall space. We have multiple options depending on how much you want to spend from a single tire hook option, a horizontal bike rack or a vertical storage unit, SteadyRack, that folds into the wall. Our storage options are made to handle whatever kind of bike you may have from a kids bike, through to road bikes, mountain bikes, fat tire bikes and even bikes with fenders.
For more on bike storage & bicycle racks, visit our page dedicated to bike storage.
