Garages are a place where stuff gets stored; it’s a fact of life. Previously I had one of those plastic storage shelves in the garage and it was full of random stuff. In our basement we used IKEA BRODER shelves and they worked well, so I decided to use them in the garage. My wife and kids were gone for a couple of days so I was able to come home from work and spend all the time I wanted on them without being interrupted. It was nice. I also managed to make a pretty big dent in cleaning of the garage.
Since I am cheap I decided to only use the hardware from IKEA and use plywood for shelves. To save about $20 I went with sheathing grade DD plywood instead of BC. I don’t think my motor oil will complain too much. My original plan was to use mostly 24″ deep shelves, but as I started cleaning I realized that I didn’t have many deep things that would need deep shelves. Besides, 24″ deep shelves are twice the cost. I considered making shelves, but buying this type of shelving is easily adjustable. I figure that $175 to cover a 12′ wall in shelves isn’t that bad of a price.
Item | Ikea Number | Quantity | Cost |
51″ suspension rail | 301.201.24 | 3 | $24 |
85″ wall upright | 801.171.24 | 5 | $60 |
10″ front bracket |
401.171.35
|
15 | $33.75 |
22″ front bracket | 001.171.37 | 4 | $20 |
4×8 DD Plywood | 2 | $38 | |
Total | $176.75 |
What I ended up with was a light duty work/potting bench in the shelves. underneath are a couple deep shelves for random stuff and the vac underneath. Of course my new work area is covered with stuff (I’m not done cleaning yet). To finish it off I ran a round-over bit over the front edge of the bench. Paint may be in the future. I do have my huge bandsaw on the wall so there are only 2 shelves on that section. Now I can see and actually get to oil and other auto fluids, paints, auto-jack and stand, gardening supplies. I was surprised how quickly I managed to fill the shelves up, but stuff from all over the garage that was homeless migrated to my new shelves as I cleaned.
I picked up a center shelf bracket (seen above the bench) that I thought would work well for mounting pegboard or battery chargers to. That is still on the to-do list.
I still have more to do in the garage, but having the new shelves in feels so good. I need to get everything cleaned up more, so my pictures look better.
This article is one in a series of articles entitled: The Garage. To see all the parts so far CLICK HERE.
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