1. Climb the walls. A wall-mount storage system, right, keeps garden implements, tools, and other essentials off the floor. Making smart use of vertical space frees up floor space for a car and mower.

2. Create a work zone. For minor home repairs, messy crafts projects, and gardening tasks, it's handy to have a place to work in the garage. In Amy's garage, a wood-top table is a handy work surface.

3. Sort the small stuff. Although it’s the big stuff—cars, bikes, garbage cans—that hog the spotlight in the garage, the room is also a catchall for small items—from screws to WD-40. Find what you need, when you need it, by sorting and organizing everything from screws to seed packets. Here, plastic bins mounted on a track system keep hand tools, seeds, and other garden items separate and tidy.