Struggling to find a play to store your decorative yard stakes? This easy DIY project will use up that pile of scrap wood and organize your outdoor decor!
It’s fun to display metal garden stakes in the yard, but it is tough to store them between seasons. Neatly store outdoor seasonal decor in this garden stake organizer made from scrap wood.
Garden Stake Organizer
If you have a pile of scrap wood taking up space, this garden stake organizer is a great way to use up the extra wood.
I’ve been wanting a place to store my garden stakes, but my husband didn’t get around to building it.
Typically my husband builds the wood project then I stain it. This time I decided I should to build it myself because it was time to get comfortable with power tools.
I want to preface that you aren’t here for the woodworking skills or techniques. My carpentry is garbage, but I learned a lot and had fun building this.
Feel free to make adjustments to the design of this garden stake organizer, so you can use the wood that you have on hand.
Beginner Friendly Scrap Wood Project
A garden stake organizer is great small wood project if you are a beginner with woodworking.
Building scrap wood projects is a good way to gain confidence with power tools and learn from your mistakes.
Another great thing about this project is that you can alter the measurements to fit your needs. So, use this as a very rough guideline to make your own decorative yard stakes.
If you are new to working with wood then you might find our lumber guide helpful.
Step 1: Selecting the Lumber for the Organizer
Browse around your scrap wood pile and try to be creative with what you have.
You would be surprised what you can make from what looks like a pile of trash. I made some really cool things for basically free for my home using a random pile of wood in my garage.
Start by measuring your metal signs to get an idea of how large your wood organizer will need to be.
If you have several signs, you may want to make this longer or make 2 of these to hold everything.
To build this garden stake holder, I used a 2 x 12, 2 x 3’s, and 2 x 2’s. You don’t have to use these exact materials or measurements, so work with what you have.
Before you make any cuts line the wood up on the floor and form a rough outline of the project.
Determine where the screws will be inserted, making sure not to overlap screws.
Also, remember to leave enough space to properly drill into the wood.
Step 2: Determine the Base of the Stand
The base of my wood garden stake organizer is made from a 2 x 12 inch piece of scrap wood measuring 23 1/4 inches long.
My largest wood sign measured 20 inches wide, so using a piece of wood about 23 inches long worked perfectly.
You could get away with building the base a couple of inches shorter, if you do not have a piece of wood quite as long.
If you don’t have a 2 x 12 in your scrap wood pile, you could use a piece of plywood or a 2 x 10.
Another option for the base would be to line a few 2 x 4’s or 2 x 6’s next to each other then adhere them to act as a base.
Step 3: Cut the Legs
Before cutting the legs for your wood stand, measure the height your garden stakes. Most of my metal signs measured between 27-29 inches tall.
So, I cut 4 of my scrap 2 x 3’s to 29 inches tall for the legs of the garden stake organizer.
Step 4: Storage Supports
I cut 4 supports for the garden stake organizer from scrap 2 x 2’s at 20 inches long then adhere them on either side on the top and bottom.
Next I cut 2 supports from 2 x 2’s at 8 inches long to be attached on the sides of the wood.
The 8 inch pieces help support the stand and keep the garden stakes in place.
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Now that all of your wood is cut, attach the wood with screws to form your stand.
Another option is to drill small holes into the base to insert stake directly into the garden stake organizer.
I decided to skip this step because I thought the garden stakes stood up just fine without drilling holes.
Step 6: Organizing Yard Stakes
If you have a sign that is too wide to fit into the stop like this one, simply slip it into the side as shown. I have 4 metal signs in my scrap wood organizer, and I still have plenty of room for more.
This garden stake organizer can hold about 8 yard stakes, so you should be able to neatly store all of your seasonal stakes.
If you need more storage than consider making a second one of these or make it longer, so you have room for 2 rows of 8 signs.
Conclusion
You might find these storage ideas helpful to organize and clean up your garage. These projects are made from scrap wood to help store tools, yard tools, and more.