Hooray for pool season! You know you were looking forward to it, maybe even browsing a few beautiful pool ideas as the weather started warming. If you already have a pool, you’ve probably started thinking about pool maintenance and whether home warranties cover pools. These topics are indeed worthy of your time, but what about storage? It seems a simple-enough subject to easily address. But whether you’re a pool veteran or new to pool ownership, you might not have realized how much stuff the average pool owner accumulates. From pool-specific tools, parts, chemicals and accessories to covers, toys, floats and more, you will need to think about pool storage ideas. We’ve got at least seven good ones to share. Enjoy!

How to store pool floats

Nothing says relaxation quite like floating in your backyard pool on your favorite float. With a drink in hand, shades on your face, and sunscreen applied directly to your nose, probably the last thing on your mind this deep into max-relax mode is pool float storage. But trust us, it will come up sooner or later. Pool float storage ideas can involve a variety of materials, but the good news is that it’s easy to come up with an inexpensive, DIY solution.

• Make oversize hooks using PVC pipes, and you can hang fully inflated pool floats conveniently on an outdoor wall, like the side of the pool house or garage.
• Using angled flag poles and anchors — the ones that mount on the side of your home — you can fashion a handy holder to corral your pool float collection.
• If you lack the flag hardware but still have the wall space outside, a cargo net hung from the back of your truck or SUV will work nicely as a sling to contain your pool floats.

Storage for pool toys

A few scattered toys can feel like a few too many. Loose toys in the pool area can also pose a safety hazard, so rounding them up is good. Here are a few pool toy storage ideas that we like. Each is a simple, affordable, effective DIY solution you can use all summer long.

• Plastic storage bins with holes for the water to drain — the kind you’d find at Target or the housewares section of your local mega-grocery store — are perfect for pool toy storage.
• Using zip ties, secure bins along the fence poolside, encouraging kids to toss the toys back into the bins when they finish playing with each toy. You can even color-code them.
• For an interactive pool toy storage idea, chop up a pool noodle and attach the pieces to the top edges of one of the bins. Voila! You have a floating toy storage bin, and you’re ready to go!

Towel storage

When you plan that next pool party, it’s not unrealistic to imagine towels thrown all over the place. You’ll also want to think about towel storage for wet ones and dry ones alike. Everyone’s pool setup is different, and we all have our unique approaches to decorating and varying degrees of tidiness in terms of furniture and accessories. The bottom line is that you must do what works best for you and yours, but we have ideas.

• DRY: Clean and dry towels can be rolled up and stacked on the wall into a wine rack. A rolled towel takes on a similar shape and size as a wine bottle, taking up an equal amount of space. If you’d prefer not to display towels on an inside wall on the way out to the pool, you can fold and store them in a dedicated, waterproof bin inside or out.
• WET: By sealing an old coat rack with multiple layers of waterproof clear coat, or by designing and building a towel-drying rack with PVC pipes, you can create a portable place to drape as many wet towels as you think you’ll need and dry them in the sun. Don’t forget to bring in all the towels when the rain clouds arrive uninvited!
• BOTH: Maybe you’d prefer not to have separate wet-towel and dry-towel storage setups inside or outside near your pool. A dual-duty solution that can easily accommodate either or both might be ideal. In this case, you can hang an old shutter or closet door horizontally on an outside wall with hooks attached. Put dry towels out for your guests on each hook, then ask them to return them to the hook when not in use. You can even label a hook and towel for each kid if you’re trying to impart lessons of personal responsibility and teach kids to put everything back where they got it from.

Pallet rack storage

One popular, inexpensive, recent trend in the pool storage ideas category is that of the humble pallet rack. If you’ve ordered anything online that’s been big enough to arrive on a wooden pallet, maybe you saved it for a rainy day, thinking it might come in handy. Now’s your chance to make good use of it. Make sure it is clean and dry, and then do a little sanding all over to cut down on splinter potential. Blow off the resulting dust, and paint your pallet in a color that matches the vibe of your pool. Decorate it as you like with hooks for towels, masks, goggles and other swimming accessories, and you can slide pool noodles right through the middle for storage.

Inside pool storage ideas

You might be wondering where you can find additional pool storage, especially if you don’t want to keep everything outside or scattered throughout the year. Of course, you could consider adding a storage shed to the backyard. However, one excellent idea you may not have considered is storing pool equipment and other necessities in sealed bins that attach to the ceiling in your garage. This technique protects equipment from the elements and kids, and it keeps items out of the way until you need them. Rack storage systems inside your garage are designed to accommodate multiple bins and securely hold them above tcars or the other stuff in your garage.

Floating cooler

This is more of a fun idea than a pool storage idea, but it still counts. You need a place to store your chilled drinks and snacks when you’re enjoying a pool day, right? Why not consider a floating cooler so you don’t even have to leave the pool to enjoy them? Sure, you can purchase an expensive floating cooler, but the kids might have just as much fun with your DIY version. Remember the floating toy storage bin we mentioned earlier? You can use the same technique to create your own inexpensive, DIY floating cooler. Use a bin without holes this time, attach the pieces of a pool noodle around the top perimeter with zip ties, and you’re done. Simply add ice, cold drinks and snacks, and your DIY floating cooler is ready for use!

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The information in this article is intended to provide guidance on the proper maintenance and care of systems and appliances in the home. Not all of the topics mentioned are covered by our home warranty or maintenance plans. Please review your home warranty contract carefully to understand your coverage.