Tired of tripping over soccer balls, baseball gloves and bike helmets in your hallways? Time to get that sports equipment organized!  We’ve broken down handy tips according to equipment types and also provided a great “catch-all” idea at the end. Mix-and-match the below ideas to come up with solutions that fit your family’s needs and budget.

1. BALLS

They seem to be everywhere if you don’t have a dedicated spot — or spots — for them.

Laundry bags are a perfect way to corral balls of all sizes. They’re flexible, sturdy, and you can easily see their inside contents. Buy smaller laundry bags for golf balls, baseballs and softballs; medium-sized for soccer balls and footballs, and large and extra-large for basketballs. Or, dedicate one laundry bag to a complete “kit:” Baseball helmet, glove, ball, gloves, etc. Laundry bags come in various colors, so you can divvy up colors according to different family members.

For the DIY-ers among you: If you have a garage, find an empty portion of a wall. A good spot is the one that’s located right where the garage door ends, in that little corner that so often gets overlooked as a storage space. Hang two shelves about 3-5 feet apart. Use a series of bungee cords running between the two shelves to make an easily accessible ball holder.

If you don’t have a garage or want to try making this project inside your house, look for empty wall space in your entryway, mudroom, basement or attic. You can substitute elastic cords for the bungee hooks — such as exercise bands that are no longer getting any use (we won’t judge you!). Tie the ends in a square knot so that they don’t come undone. The great thing about this project is that the cords will hold the balls in, but since they’re so stretchy, will allow easy access.

Other ball-corralling ideas included open-lidded containers such as baskets, buckets, and crates. What’s nice about these is their supreme ease of use: Simply drop the balls inside and you’re done. You can also repurpose old coolers if you want a storage container with a lid. If you are using a storage container with a lid, make sure it’s one that opens easily, since that action will most likely be performed with one hand since the other will be holding the ball/s.  And if you like the idea of displaying balls, look into ball claws. They mount directly onto a wall and come in a variety of sizes.

2. TENNIS RACKETS, BASEBALL BATS, HOCKEY STICKS, etc.

Mount a repurposed pallet so that it’s flush against a wall. You can remove some slats according to your needs for a storage solution that easily fits equipment like bats, sticks, and also fishing rods.

PVC pipes are also great for storing tall and thin sports equipment. Mount them against a wall — or on a ceiling if it’s low enough for access — and then dedicate one pipe per piece. Fishing rods will do extra well in these since they’re so long and easy to get tangled. Trash cans are also great for storing this type of equipment: Make sure to label the can clearly so that it doesn’t accidentally wind up on the curb on trash day.

3. UNIFORMS / PROTECTIVE GEAR

Use a color-coded system with your hangers to hang uniforms. Place small accessories like gloves into a bag and loop that bag over the hanger so that everything is in one spot, and ready to go for game day.

Use the aforementioned laundry bags to hold helmets, shin guards, and pads.

4. SKATES / SHOES / BOOTS

Here’s one of our favorite topics: Footwear! If you’ve read any of our other blog posts (and we hope that you have!), you’ll notice that we’re big fans of repurposing things you already have in your home to come up with clever footwear storage solutions. This might mean repurposing an old bookshelf: Shoes can go on a shelf along with helmets. Maybe there’s an old china cabinet in your basement that’s gathering dust: Free it from its dusty misery and put it in a mudroom or garage to help organize footwear and other small sports accessories.

As for riding boots if you’re an avid horseman/woman, or wearing tall sports shoes for any other occasion, whether fashion or a friendly game between friends, of course, we’re going to recommend our Boot Butler. (Nice to have that air flow all the way down to the toes after a particularly strenuous round, too.)

Expert tip: Carry a cloth bag with you into which you can easily fit your footwear. If the weather turns extra icky and those soccer cleats get extra muddy, pop them into that bag instead of worrying about your car getting muddy. Toss the bag into your washing machine the next time its laundry day.

5. PEGBOARD

And finally, here’s a solution that will tie some of the above ideas together: A pegboard. Find an empty swathe of the wall and securely mount a pegboard. Once that’s up and running, you can:

• Use bungee cords/exercise bands to create an easy-in, easy-out spot for holding balls;
• Hang a bunch of hooks onto which you’ll then hang laundry bags with balls or equipment or a combo of both;
• Use long nails or screws to hold items like tennis rackets and bike helmets. Cradle baseball bats and hockey sticks on two horizontal nails/screws placed a few feet apart. And hang a sturdy bike hook from the top of the pegboard to get that bike off the floor and out of the way.

In the space below the pegboard (because you don’t necessarily want that going all the way down to the floor), you can place baskets/ bins/containers; install a row of cubbies for shoes and helmets; place that trashcan filled with bats and hockey sticks; or mount a row of PVC pipes horizontally for those fishing rods.

Voilà!
A one-stop sports equipment organizational bonanza