That does make a lot of sense, Most of the time when I don't know where to put something is because it has no place to go to in first place. Once I can categorize and make sure everything has it's place and that it's logical, boom, I can organize. I'm kinda not doing anything about it for now because I want to finish my garage to the point where I can work in there all year round. One of my first projects will be organizer systems. Essentially a custom drawer system with boxes to organize small items. I'll come up with a standard unit of measurement so it's fully modular. This will be good not only for parts, but for tools too. If I wanted to be anal I could even barcode each box so when I remove one from a drawer I can scan it with a custom app and it tells me what drawer it goes in. Barcode the drawers too so I know which chest it goes to. The drawers would fit in any chest so I can reorganize stuff if I want. Saw a youtube video of someone who did this in his shop and it's a brilliant idea. Because it's custom built, you're not relying on a product that you have to buy where they stop making it after a while so the whole system is consistent when you expand. You can even paint them different colours too.
I think a big thing is first separating out your living space (or working space) from your storage spaces. The whole point is that you want to use a room (kitchen, workshop, etc.) for specific purposes, without it being unusable due to having piles of stuff on the usable surfaces like walkways, furniture, and tables.
From there, how detailed you want to get with storage really depends on your preferences. Like, I have a bucket of screwdrivers that I've collected over the years in a zillion different sizes...I don't feel the need to inventory each one because I've probably got at least two in each size & can just root around the bin until I find the right one. However, I also have a 27-gallon tote with various wires in ziploc gallon freezer bags, and I DO inventory that because then I can just look up what I need on my spreadsheet to see if I have it, so if I need something like a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable, I can instantly know whether I have it or not.
One trick I've been using lately is something I stole from the culinary world - bun racks! A bun rack is basically a poor man's version of a rolling tool cart, like the ones they sell at Home Depot. The bun rack approach has several benefits:
1. Relatively cheap: Around $80 for a full-size rack, plus the costs of pans & any bins you want. Compared to a decent shop cart, which can run $500 for a big unit or into the thousands for a really good-quality one. Plus these are vertical units, so you can fit a couple tall racks in place of a single wide shop cart.
2. Huge storage capacity: It can fit 20 full-size sheet pans (or 40 half-size sheet pans) & is just under 70" tall.
3. Adjustable: There are shelves every 3 inches, so you can adjust how much headroom each rack has. Some items I just stick directly on the tray and some items I put in plastic bins on the tray. Super useful for all kinds of stuff like shop tools, R/C gear, craft supplies, etc.
4. Easy to relocate: Nice big swiveling caster wheels (non-marking) & lightweight design, so if you're working on a project, you can pull out the cart with the tools you need & then roll it back into storage easily.
5. Durable: Everything is made out of metal. Metal rack & metal trays.
6. Visual: It's an open rack, so you can just look at the pans to see what your inventory is. You don't have to pull open a bunch of cabinets to find something, just look at each pan until you find what you need. Then just slide the pan partway out, grab what you need, and slide it back.
Here's an example:
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/re...n-sheet-pan-rack-unassembled/109RACKECON.html
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