Clever Ways To Store Your Bike Indoors
There are a lot of benefits associated with biking on a normal basis. In fact, as noted by Adidas, biking for just 30 minutes a day can increase your endurance, improve balance, and even reduce stress. In addition, biking is an eco-friendly way to get exercise, and spend time outdoors. All in all, biking is just plain good for you!
However, having a bicycle may present you with a particular dilemma: Where to store it. If you don't have a garage or outdoor place you can stow your bike, you may need to keep it indoors. The upside to this dilemma is that there are an abundance of clever ways to store your bike inside, making it into a decor piece of sorts. All you have to do is get a little creative! Keep reading to learn what these methods are so that you can elevate your space and store your bike with ease when you're not going for a ride!
Hang your bike on a wall
Turn your bike into a piece of art in your home by hanging it on the wall! This is a fun way to show off your set of wheels and keep it off the ground and out of the way in your home. Plus, it looks pretty darn cool, too! Lucas Roy (AKA, The Tri Guy) explains in this YouTube tutorial how you can hang your bike from the wall with ease. While a bike can be a bit cumbersome to hang due to its size, shape, and getting around the handles, it's definitely possible.
The Tri Guy notes that the first thing you'll probably want to do is give your bike a good cleaning so you don't get dirt all over your wall and so it looks nicer. A big hook is key to adding your bike as a piece of art, though you'll have to find one long enough to accommodate the width of the handlebars. It's also very important to install the hook into a wall stud, since just attaching the hook to drywall isn't strong enough to hold the weight of the bike. This is a great way to store your bike for an extended period of time, perhaps for the winter season or if you know you're not going to be riding for a while.
Stow it under your stairs
Sometimes out of sight is the best way to go when it comes to storing a large item in your home. If that's your motto, you may want to build an under the stairs storage area that will allow you to have the perfect spot to stash your bike. Smart Space Stair Storage advises that you can create a hidden under-stair storage space. While this project is a bit of an undertaking, if you have the right set of stairs and motivation to do it, it'll be a great use of space and will present the perfect place to keep your bike, allowing you to securely store it out of the way while still being in your home. You will need to have some basic carpentry skills and tools to complete a storage space like this.
Once you complete this project, your stairs will actually lift up, exposing a hidden compartment that no one besides you knows is there! Not only is this a great spot for bulky items like a bike, but it's also a good spot to store valuables as it's very hidden and protected.
Hang it from the ceiling
Look up and see your bike above your head with this clever and inexpensive indoor storage hack. Creating Really Awesome Fun Things shares that you can hang your bike from the ceiling for under $5, which is pretty impressive. All you need to complete this DIY project and get your bike off the ground and out of your way are a few long screws, sheet rock anchors, heavy duty bike hooks, scrap plywood pieces, a screwdriver, a drill, a stud finder, and a tape measure. Keep in mind that you need two bike hooks per bike.
Once you gather your materials, you need to use your stud finder to use the studs, drill holes for the hooks, and then cut squares of wood for the hooks to go into. Attach the plywood to the ceiling over your pre-drilled holes and then add the hooks. Once the hooks are screwed in, you'll be ready to hang your bike!
Hide it behind large pieces of furniture
It may sound too simple to work, but you can always hide your bike behind a large piece of furniture. For instance, if you have a large couch, try placing your bike close to the back of it, or even between the couch and a wall where it's out of sight and out of the way. There are many small space hacks like this one that can be followed for maximizing space, as France & Son noted on Medium. The article notes that creatively placing furniture pieces in your home can assist in making the space feel bigger and helps things feel tidier.
When it comes to bringing your bike indoors, you can adopt this same mindset if you're short on interior space. When you hide it behind another piece of furniture, odds are that most people won't even notice your bike is there — it really can be as simple as that!
Create a unique bathroom sink
If you're looking to store a bike inside that you'll no longer be using, or maybe just done using for the season, this could be the perfect project for you! Lushome shared a beautiful sink that uses a bike as its base, which definitely makes it a conversation piece. This could be a great addition to your bathroom to make it a bit more quirky and very artsy.
This sink has a classic-looking bike beneath it, where the seat fits almost perfectly under the sink itself. The handlebars and front basket come out to the right of the sink, which makes for the perfect place to stow things like guest towels or room spray. If you have a floating sink that doesn't have a cabinet underneath — or you want to install a sink of this nature — adding the bike underneath is a simple and artful way of getting your bike indoors.
Place it on wood pallets
Wood pallets serve so many uses, and one of those is providing your bike a place to park within your home. Whether you put these pallets in your garage, basement, or even an entryway, they can allow you to prop your bike up and get it off the ground. This is not only a simple way to store your bike, but definitely an effective one!
The beauty of wood pallets is that they're inexpensive and easy to source. As noted by Packaging Revolution, you can obtain them from many places. For instance, you can typically find free pallets places at places like grocery or pet stores, furniture shops, home improvement retailers, flooring stores, and construction sites. Once you obtain your pallets, you can then give them a bit of a makeover before placing them in your home. With a simple coat of paint and some TLC, you can really take them from rustic to polished, allowing them to perfectly complement the interior of your space.
Use heavy duty floating shelves
You probably didn't think that a floating shelf would have the capacity to hold a bicycle, but thanks to those of the heavy duty variety, you're wrong! This is a great way to get your bike inside without it taking up valuable floor space. Plus, this is another instance where your bike will look pretty cool in the space and can also serve as wall art. You can't go wrong with that, right?
Bigger Than the Three Of Us explains how you can install floating shelves with ease. To do this, you'll need shelf brackets, a measuring tape, heavy duty anchors, a mallet, and a drill. Of course, you'll also need the wood shelf you plan on using to place the bike on. Make sure that the depth of the shelf is enough to accommodate your bike, including the pedal and handlebar width. From there, you can hang up the floating shelves and use them to store your bike in a pretty cool way within your home.
Hang it above your bed
Another creative way to store your bike indoors is by hanging it above your bed. Imagine lying down and gazing up at your bike. Pretty cool, right? This is a wonderful way to maximize space, too.
Salvaged Living shares a guide for hanging all different items in your home. Materials like drywall anchors and super hooks are must-haves to make the hanging process easier. In addition, How To DIY & VR Gaming has a YouTube video that goes over how to hang heavy items from the ceiling specifically. For your bike to safely hang above your bed, you'll need to locate a ceiling beam and use c-shaped hooks to anchor and suspend the bike. Be sure to use multiple hooks to hang your bike, as it's a larger item that will need the extra support to keep from falling. As long as you put in the work to hang it securely, this will be the perfect way to bring your bike inside.
Use pegs
Pegs are another straightforward yet effective way to hang your bike on a wall within your home. If you use your bike a lot and bring it in and outside on a regular basis, pegs make it easy to both "hang" your bike up and take it down for use. Roots and Boots shares an easy way to attach pegs to your wall. Use drywall anchors and double-ended screws along with a pencil, measuring tape, level, drill and bit, and rubber mallet to get the job done.
Once you gather your materials, drill a hole in the back of each peg if needed to affix it to the wall. Then, add a double-ended screw into the peg in the hole you created. Measure and mark where each peg will go on the wall and drill pilot holes for each peg. Then, insert your drywall anchors into the pilot holes and screw the peg into the drywall anchor. It's as simple as that to create a place to hang your bike with ease!
Leave it on your car in the garage
A super simple way that you can bring your bike indoors is to leave it on top of your car in your garage. This isn't the most creative method of storing your bike inside, but it definitely gets the job done! WikiHow advises that there are several options for car bike racks, and shares how you can put one on your car.
There are a few different options for bike racks. The first is a rack that goes on the back of your car. Depending on the length of your car and size of your garage, this may or may not be feasible for you. The next option is a rack that goes on the roof of your vehicle. The last option also goes on the back of your car and is a hitch mounted rack. This all comes down to spatial parameters and personal preference, but it's an easy method of storage nonetheless.
Add it to your mudroom
A mudroom or entryway is a good spot for your bike, as if it resides there, you can grab it quickly on your way out the door for a ride. To set this storage solution up for success, you'll want to ensure that your mudroom is well organized to start with in order to accommodate the addition of a bike. Life Storage sheds light on how you can keep the entry to your home well organized. Their first tip is to keep only the items you need at the time in your mudroom. That means that you should swap things like coats and shoes out on a seasonal basis to keep things tidy.
Additionally, make use of vertical storage units or solutions in this space. Add baskets to high shelves with items that aren't commonly used, and tall cabinets that can keep items out of sight but within easy reach for when you're running out the door.
Use recycled bike parts to hang it
Have an old bike that you don't use anymore? It can be key to hanging your current bike in your home! If you have an old bike, you can use the seat of it and handlebars as a cool way to hang another bike on the wall. You can also use these items as wall decor and to hang other items around your home, as illustrated by Behance.
All you have to do is detach the seat of the bike from the rest of it, as well as the handlebars. Once you do that, you can mount them to a piece of wood. Put the handlebars right on top of the seat, facing upwards so that it mimics the look of a bull's head. Then, mount the wood on the wall and use the piece to hang your bike, resting it right on the handlebars. This will create a unique piece of recycled wall art that can also double as a storage solution.
Create a DIY bike rack
Believe it or not, you can create your own DIY bike rack against a piece of furniture in your home. Take something like a bookcase and create your makeshift bike rack on the side of it. Instructables depicts how you can create a bookshelf with a built-in bike rack from the ground up, but if you already have a bookcase that you use, you could always use that as your starting point, too.
All you have to do is use bike hooks or multi-pronged hooks on the side of the bookcase, which will allow you to store multiple bikes standing upward against the piece of furniture. You can find large hooks that would work for a project like this in just about any home center or hardware store. Hang them on the side of the bookshelf at the proper height to hold your bikes upright against the book case. Now that's savvy storage that effectively allows you to neatly and securely store your bikes whenever they're not in use. Another benefit to this method is that you don't have to put hooks in the wall, which is great if you live in a rental.
Hang it from a skylight
Your skylight can do more than allow natural light into your home! It's actually the perfect place to artfully hang your bike from. This requires a bit of handiwork to create a hanging bike rack that can descend down from the skylight, but the uniqueness of the end result will undoubtedly be worth the effort. Homemade Modern offers a tutorial on creating a hanging copper bike rack that will fit the bill. Using copper pipes, you can construct a bike rack that comes down from your skylight and acts as the perfect storage spot for your bike, held up with an open-faced copper pipe. Not only is this a functional method of storage, but it's also highly stylish!
Once the rack is constructed, you'll need to affix it to the interior wall of your skylight and secure it for safety purposes. Locate a support beam by using a stud finder and use copper loops or anchors to affix it to the wall accordingly.