How to declutter your garden shed in five easy steps for a more organised space - as suggested by experts

A garden shed has limited space, so it’s important to organise it from time to time, to make garden tools, accessories and flower pots more accessible.

If the clutter in your shed is preventing you from finding objects or you are struggling to walk into your shed, it means it’s time to clear it out, says Jack Sutcliffe, the co-founder of shed company Power Sheds.

“With sheds being slightly out of the way, it’s easy to sometimes forget about them,” Mr Sutcliffe said.

He offers tips for how to declutter this space and how to get re-organised efficiently.

Step 1: Take everything out

Sheds can regularly transform from a place where you store garden tools and equipment into a dumping ground for things you no longer need or want in the house.

For this reason, it’s crucial to take everything out and make a full list of all of the objects you've stored in the shed. This will make it easier to decide what things to keep and what to throw away when you re-organise the shed.

Step 2: Decide what to keep and what to throw away

Once you’ve made the list of items stored, you can then decide what you will keep and what you want to throw away.

Put your items into three piles: things to keep, anything that’s broken and needs throwing away, and anything you no longer need that can be given away. This way, it will make the reorganisation easier.

The old paint you have had open for months or years, the duplicate tools, the broken garden pots you thought you would use again, but you know deep down you won’t - it’s time for them to go. Be sure to keep all your essential tools, as well as the ones you know for definite you will be using season after season, such as gardening equipment or lawnmowers.

Step 3: Rethink your shed storage

Optimising the storage capacity in your shed is vital. When you leverage its full capacity, you can find things much easier and store more items.

To maximise storage space:

Install a few more shelves to help with the vertical organisation.

Use a pegboard or a magnet to display small tools such as pliers, screwdrivers or paint brushes.

Put up hooks for items you can hang such as brooms, forks or shovels.

Utilise the ceiling by installing bike hangers. This is particularly useful if your household has more than one bike.

Step 4: Make your storage more ‘green’

Before you buy a pegboard or new shelves, consider recycling any items you don’t often use which can be repurposed as storage. For example, any old racks or furniture, including drawers, could work well. They will make the most of the vertical space and allow you to compartmentalise all your tools.

If you have one at your disposal, you can even use an old car wheel to hang a long hose, and old jars or tins to store small things like screws or nails. You can add some labels and your environmentally friendly shed organisation is complete.

Step 5: Spruce up your shed

Once the inventory, categorisation and storage space have been checked off the list, give it a deep clean. Dust any surfaces, sweep the floors, and even repaint parts of the shed that need it.

Once you’re done sprucing, place all of your equipment back into the shed and make sure you can walk to the end of the shed, so that you can quickly and easily access anything you need. That’s the way you will know you’ve done what you can to tidy and declutter your shed.