15 Tips for Storing Your Winter Sports Gear

Monkey Bars makes a Ski and Snowboard Rack that is a best-seller. For $100, the rack will safely store your family's skis, snowboards and other winter sports gear in the garage or basement. It holds up to three pairs of skis and four snowboards. Learn 51 Brilliant Ways to Organize Your Garage. Photo: Monkey Bars

Instead of hanging your jackets in a closet, put up some hooks or a rack in your designated space to hang winter sports gear items. This will allow items to dry quickly and cut down on unpleasant odors that can develop when wet gear doesn't have space to dry.

When it comes to your coats, gloves, hats and boots, designate one area of your home for storage. An entryway or mudroom is a good spot since it's a primary entrance. And designating one place will also decrease the chance of having to clean up melted snow and mud in many areas of the home.

It doesn't have to be fancy, but place an easy-to-clean rug on the floor leading from the door to your winter sports gear designated storage area. This will cut down on mud and snow tracked throughout the house and make cleanup easier.

Storage bins are a great solution for keeping glove and mitten pairs together and for storing winter hats and other winter sports gear essentials. And if you have children, make sure the bins are placed at a height they can reach so they can find their gear easily. Need a lot of storage? Try this DIY Garage Storage Tower.

If possible, place winter footwear on a rack opposed to the floor. Footwear that is elevated will dry more quickly and will prevent tripping hazards. It will also make your storage area appear more tidy. You can Make a Shoe Rack with Modern Style for just $35.

Depending on your family's storage needs and available space, a custom storage organizer for your entryway may be the best option. This DIY Entryway Storage and Organizer allows you to store jackets, boots and other winter sports gear all in one place. Bonus: You can build it in just one day.

Whether you ski, skate or snowmobile, custom shelves may also help keep winter sports gear wrangled in one place. Shelves can be used to keep bins and other accessories, while hooks can be added to store jackets and a boot rack can be added underneath. Learn How to Build Floating Shelves.

While ski bags are great for traveling to and from the slopes, skis shouldn't be stored in a bag long term since the trapped moisture can rust your skis' edges. A climate-controlled area of your home is the best storage space, such as a garage or basement. Once skis and poles are properly cleaned and dried and ready for storage, a good option is storing them overhead in the garage. Just build a simple overhead storage unit with PVC pipe to get them out of the way.

Ice skates should never be stored on the ground due to their potential of becoming a dangerous tripping hazard. The company storeWALL makes a variety of hooks to store your skates. Whether you're looking to hang racing, hockey or figure skates, these hooks will keep them safe and secure. All the hooks feature the company's exclusive all-metal CamLok, which keeps the accessories locked in place until you decide to move them. When winter is over, try a sliding storage system to store gear. Photo: Courtesy of Storewall

The liners from your ski, snowboard and snowmobile boots should be dried after each use before being stored. Also, boots and other winter sports gear can lose their shape if you leave them unbuckled for an extended period. Build a Shoe Organizer to store your winter ski boots and keep them from scratching up the wall.

If you don't want to store hockey sticks overhead, try this hockey stick storage rack from StoreYourBoard.com. The $20 wall-mounted rack holds 15-plus hockey sticks and can also be used to hang skates and other hockey gear, up to 40 pounds. It includes the mounting hardware. You can also build your own custom sports gear rack.

Like skates, snowshoes should also be hung. There are plenty of snowshoe storage racks on the market, but a heavy-duty hook will also do the job. Just place hooks on a garage wall with enough space to hang pairs of snowshoes and other winter sports gear.

Lockers aren't just for school backpacks. Depending on your space, a locker can be a useful tool in storing and containing winter sports gear. Some storage lockers are wire, allowing airflow to dry jackets. Depending on their height, you may be able to store skis and snowboards as well. Lockers.com offers a variety of storage lockers. Try building your own mudroom lockers.

Does your family's winter sports gear tend to get a bit out of control? Build a sports gear cabinet. The project can be customized depending on your space and needs. And when completed, store hockey sticks, sleds and sports balls in one place.