Stop buying the drill bit you already own.
A garage is where things go when they have no other home. Give the bins numbers and the contents a list, and the shelf becomes something you can search before you get in the car.
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The most expensive thing about a disorganised workshop is not the time spent looking. It is the third set of the same fixings, bought because looking felt slower than driving to the hardware store — which, at that point, it genuinely was.
A garage does not need to be tidy to be findable. It needs the bins to be numbered and their contents written down once.
What it gives you
Search before you shop
Type what you need and find out whether you already own it and which bin it is in, before the trip rather than after it.
Quantities that split across bins
Forty M6 bolts spread over two bins is one entry with the counts kept per bin, so the total is right and so is the location.
Label the shelf, not your memory
Print QR labels for the bins on a high shelf. Scan from the floor to see inside one instead of getting the ladder out.
Track what you lend
Note who has the pressure washer in the item itself. It is the only place you will think to look when you want it back.
Photos of the awkward things
Some parts have no name you would ever search for. A photograph of the bracket is a better index entry than any words you could write about it.
Know what the tools are worth
Garage contents are routinely worth more than the cover people hold on them, and tools are a favourite of burglars. The totals make the case for a policy review.
How to start
One shelf at a time
The whole garage in a weekend is a fantasy. One shelf or one wall per session actually gets finished.
Bin the loose things
Anything that is not on a hook goes in a numbered bin. Photograph it open before it goes back up.
List the things you would rebuy
Consumables, fixings, specialist tools. Those are the entries that pay for themselves the first time you check before shopping.
Questions people ask
- This sounds like a lot of work for a garage.
- It is an evening or two, done a shelf at a time, and it pays back the first time you avoid a trip. If you never inventory anything else, doing the consumables and fixings alone is worth it.
- What about tools on a pegboard or wall?
- Those are already findable — you can see them. The inventory is for what is in closed bins, high shelves and the back of cupboards. Photographing the pegboard itself as a single record is usually enough for insurance purposes.
- Can I keep the workshop separate from the house inventory?
- Yes. The garage is its own location with its own bins and its own totals, and search runs across everything or within one location as you choose.
- Does it work in a cold garage with no signal?
- It keeps a copy on the device and reads from that when the network is gone, so a garage at the end of the drive with one bar still works.
Read more about it
Guides that go into the detail this page skips.
Know what is on the shelf before you drive to the shop.
Start with a single location and the bins you can see from where you are standing.