Summer is here again; time to pull out the soccer balls, dust off the baseball cleats and polish the golf clubs. Regrettably, that also means it's about time to find a place to put away the hockey sticks, sleds, ice skates and lacrosse sticks. The process of rotating all of your sporting gear throughout the year need not be an ordeal, though. Whether you store your gear on the garage shelves, in the laundry room, or in a storage shed, using these organizational tips can help ensure that you aren't constantly looking for your other sneaker:
Get sorting
Like clothing or toys, sporting equipment is something that we all tend to hang on to for too long. It's understandable, as it tends to be intertwined with sentimental value;: the shoes you wore in your last high school basketball game, your first set of clubs, etc. These things are great, but you'll probably never use them again. Before you can get your equipment organized, you have to know what has to go. Divide everything into keep, donate or garbage piles. You'll probably want to get rid of anything that you can't see you or your family using again. If it's still functional, give it to charity, and if it's seen better days then toss it. Once you've discarded the items you won't be holding on to and begun to sort those you'll be keeping, you've already knocked out a great deal of the task.
The floor is lava
It's tempting to use the floor for storage because it's easy to do so. The problem remains, though, that setting things in bins or boxes on the floor is not the same as organizing them. Try and keep as much of your sporting goods off of the ground as possible with wall storage. The amount of storage space you can gain from even the simple act of hanging your bikes is considerable. Our Vertical Bike Storage Set can help keep your whole family's cycles airborne, along with all of their components and accessories. If you find that you're lacking space on the walls, try taking off the tires from the bikes and setting them in another part of the garage. If every inch counts, this can be a difference-maker. An added benefit: keeping everything elevated and at eye level means no tedious searching for gear.
There is no offseason (...visually, at least)
One of the easiest ways to misplace your sporting gear is to not take enough time to store it properly. If you're just tossing it into the garage haphazardly at the end of the season, then the odds suggest you aren't going to have the best memory of where you put it. Make a point of keeping winter gear you aren't using on display with our board sports storage starter. Not only will it keep your gear safe and easily accessible, but it will give your storage space a rugged, sporty atmosphere that you can enjoy all offseason. Try and group related objects together, forming zones. That way, when the time does come to use your skis, snowboard or sleds, you'll know exactly where to look.
