Bikes, Clubs and Surfboards: Storage for Bulky Sports Equipment

No garage or shed to store your bike or surfboard? No problem – be inspired by these space-savvy storage ideas

Rebecca Gross 4 July 2017

Houzz Australia Contributor based in Sydney. Design historian, writer and researcher. I study cultural history through the lens of architecture, design and visual culture. I have a Masters in the History of Decorative Arts and Design from Parsons The New School for Design, New York

Houzz Australia Contributor based in Sydney. Design historian, writer and researcher.... More

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As any sports-loving type will tell you, sports equipment is not only bulky, but very often dirty too, which can present a storage nightmare if you’re living in a small home. Without a garage, shed or some other dedicated space to store them, you’re often left with no choice but to bring items such as surfboards, bikes and golf clubs inside, where they can quickly take over every corridor and cupboard in your home, leaving a trail of dirt and muck in their wake.

But it doesn’t have to be that way – with some careful planning and a sharp eye for those often-overlooked storage opportunities, it is possible to get sports equipment off the floor and properly organised in even the tiniest of homes, as these clever examples show.

Adriano Pupilli Architects

Surfboards
Surfboards should always be kept indoors where they’re away from the elements, extreme heat and temperature changes, as the owners of these boards clearly know. This will ensure they maintain their structural integrity and lamination.

You can limit how much sea and sand you bring into the house by keeping surfboards as close as possible to the front or back door. Choosing a low-traffic spot means you’ll reduce the chance of boards being knocked over. You should also avoid stacking them as this may get wax on the underside of the boards and damage those at the bottom of the pile.

Adriano Pupilli Architects

If you’re going to lean your board against a single wall, choose a corner so it doesn’t tip over. Or better yet, buy or make some wall-mounted surf racks from soft foam, steel, aluminium, wood or plastic/PVC. Adriano Pupilli Architects designed this storage wall for the entrance of a two-bedroom apartment in Manly, NSW. It keeps multiple surfboards, skateboards and pairs of running shoes off the floor and against the wall. Made from sustainably sourced plywood, the digitally fabricated wall is much like a pegboard with a series of holes where lightweight hooks, shelves and compartments can be inserted and moved around as needed.

Dylan James

Bikes
This house also features a giant pegboard, except here it’s used to keep bikes off the floor and against the wall.

7 tricks for storing your bike

Nic Darling

Make smart use of space and keep your floors clutter-free by storing the kids’ bikes in the empty zone under the stairs, as the owners of this Philadelphia, USA, home have done with the spot beneath their funky, plywood-clad staircase.

Regan Baker Design Inc.

Or make your bike part of the decor. Here, bikes are suspended on the wall using a wooden shelf that’s been recessed to accommodate the crossbar of the bike frame. There’s even space to pop a helmet or bike accessories.

Cory Connor Designs

Racquets, bats and balls
If you have armloads of bags, racquets and other equipment to store in a cupboard, you can maximise the space by configuring it to suit the items’ exact dimensions. In this example, the owners have allocated plenty of vertical space for lacrosse sticks, a row of hooks up top for backpacks, and open shelving for towels and sleeping bags.

Buying or making a custom sports cupboard or shelving unit will help compartmentalise the specific equipment you use and the clothing and shoes you wear. It makes things easier to find and limits the damage that can be caused by tossing everything haphazardly in together. If you do have a large collection of one type of equipment, such as tennis racquets, then keeping them where they’re all visible might make you more likely to use them regularly.

Do you have several keen sportspeople in the family? Encourage them to keep their sports gear organised – and find everything in an instant – by providing them with their own open locker, specially configured to accommodate everything from sports jackets and racquets to footwear.

Clever clutter-busting ideas

Cory Connor Designs

Wire drawers and pull-out baskets are perfect for keeping smaller items, such as balls and tubes of sunblock, visible and accessible, and mean no more wasting time searching for lost items in those precious minutes before the big game. Baskets can also be used to store small clothing items too, such as ski gloves and scarves – just the thing for winter sport season.

A cupboard or shelving unit in the laundry or mudroom means dirty sports clothes can be discarded straight into the washing machine rather than traipsed through the house. A darker, climate-controlled environment will also help equipment last longer as extreme temperatures and direct sunlight can cause warping and fading.

Golf clubs
Who ever said your built-ins were just for clothes and shoes? If you’re a keen golfer and don’t want to waste time looking for your clubs, hats and other necessities in different spots all over the house, it might make practical sense to allocate an entire section or two of your built-in robe for storing golf necessities instead, as the homeowners have done here.

Browse smart storage options

mckimm residential design

Boots and clothing
The laundry, the entrance of the house or the area under the stairs are all great places to put a sports-equipment cupboard; items will be easy for you or the kids to find and return, and you won’t have to drag gear through the house, leaving a trail of dirt behind you.

The owners of this house have taken it one step further by colour-coding their children’s sports lockers, so there’s no excuse for anything to get jumbled up.

Akke Woodworks

For a truly versatile storage option, consider installing bench seating where you can put muddy football boots and the like, with built-in cupboards above for jackets, racquets and other lengthy items. The bench seat is a convenient spot to sit and put on shoes, and locating it near the front or back door means you won’t have to traipse dirty footprints all through the house.

Adriano Pupilli Architects

Wet swimsuits
After a dip in the ocean, you’ll want your swimsuit or wetsuit to dry out as quickly as possible. Throw it on a drying rack in the laundry, or be inspired by this innovative solution by Adriano Pupilli Architects, where a wooden rack folds down from the wall so that wet swimmers can drip excess water straight into the bath.

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