Garage Shelving for Small Garages

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In a small garage, shelving competes with the car, the doors and the path you walk. The unit that suits you is the one that fits those limits, so start with a tape measure, not a product list.

What to measure

Wall width. The length of clear wall you can give to shelving, between corners, doors, outlets and anything fixed to the wall.
Depth you can spare. Park the car, open its doors fully and measure from the wall to the nearest point you need to keep clear. Leave room to stand in front of the shelves.
Height. From the floor to the lowest thing above the spot: the ceiling, a window, a light or the garage door when it is open.
Walkway. The path to the house door, the bins and the mower. Shelving should not narrow it.

Depth matters most

Depth is the number that competes with the car. Compare the overall depth of the assembled unit with the space you measured, not the shelf depth. Posts, frames and braces can make a unit deeper than its shelves. Our product pages show each one separately and say “Not listed” when the maker does not state it. For help choosing a depth, see 18 inch vs 24 inch shelving.

Use the height

A taller unit stores more on the same footprint. Check the shelf count, whether shelves adjust and the clearance between them. A tall, shallow unit often needs to be anchored to the wall. Check the anchoring requirement on each product page and follow the maker’s instructions.

Get things off the floor

Wall-mounted shelves keep the floor clear, but they must be fixed into a wall that can carry them. See freestanding vs wall-mounted shelving.
Wall panels and track hold tools and long items in very little depth. See slatwall vs pegboard.
Overhead racks use the space above the car and the door. Read the overhead clearance guide before you buy one.

If you rent or cannot drill, look for freestanding units whose maker does not require anchoring, and read the conditions on their ratings.

Find units that fit

Enter your maximum width, depth and height in the Garage Shelving Fit Finder. It shows which units fit and which details are still unknown. A unit that fits the space is not a promise about load or stability. Our guide to weight ratings explains what to check.

Compare units side by side

Browse all garage shelving, freestanding shelving, wall-mounted shelving and overhead storage.

We have not installed or tested these products. Everything we list comes from the manufacturers’ documents.