On 23 Mar, 19:45, "mark" wrote:

I'm trying to get a handle on straightening up my shop/basement and need an
idea or three on how to keep hardware organized, but not hidden.

Hide it, just hide it in the right place. I can't see anything in my
place, but I can walk straight over to where it _ought_ to be, and
it's actually there. I can root through by elimination to find the
exact size, so long as I don't have to go through more than one crate
and certainly not the whole workshop.

Four dozen plastic tubs from Ikea (the blue plastic ones for a buck -
about 18" x 12") on shelves just wide enough to hold them end-on.
Nothing else goes on those shelves. Nothing is allowed to stick out
beyond the tub space. Everything in them is at least vaguely sorted so
that I _can_ go straight to the right tub.

Buying screws from the brand where the boxes last more than 5 minutes
and 2 openings.

Keeping an "on-site screwbox" in my toolbag, a cheap plastic divider
case sufficient to carry all the common screw sizes I need for an on-
site job. No more screw boxes getting squished in the bottom of the
bag. No more litter of screws in the bottom of the bag.

Ziploc bags. Stuff like nuts and big bolts goes in these, then into a
blue tub. One tub is "Below M6" one is "M6 and above". That's enough
to keep me sorted.

Ikea's plywood drawer boxes (3" x 4" size). This is enough to sort
"locks", "cabinet hinges", "brass knobs" etc. I can't make them for
that price.

A steel filing cabinet with two-dozen A4 sized shallow drawers in it
does most of my fine tools.