Hasta La Ideas

Reader Jesse submitted the following to Ask Unclutterer:

Do you have any suggestions for outdoor storage of sports equipment. We have a variety of balls, frisbees, and discs that right now just get put into an open bucket. It’s not great for the equipment and doesn’t look great either. Any suggestions?

Sporting equipment is rarely simple to store. Your bucket idea actually sounds better than most of the equipment storage I’ve seen people using in their garages. But, I agree, it can be an unsightly solution. Since things like bats and balls have rigid sizes, they take up a lot of space and they always seem to be in places they don’t belong.

My first choice is to recommend that you create an area in your garage or backyard to be your sports center. If you can make this space in your garage, I recommend a sturdy storage system that can hold more than just sports equipment. Elfa and Ikea both make excellent products for holding pretty much anything you would store in your garage. (Be sure to check out the components individually. Ikea’s Broder has sports attachments.)

If you’re not in favor of putting out the money for a full system, here are some additional options for your sports center:

• Ball Claws: They attach to your walls and hold onto basketballs, soccer balls, and footballs.
  
• Frisbees and discs can be stored in a nice bag on a shelf in the garage. I like this Prostyle bag, for instance.
• You can use a baseball and bat storage system over fence tops or on a rod, like this holder:
  
• A large barrel might also be nice to let air circulate around your sports equipment.

I’m interested in hearing from our readership on this question. What do you use to store sports equipment in your home? Let us know your solutions in the comments.

Thank you, Jesse, for submitting your question for our Ask Unclutterer column.

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