Step by step garage shelves...how good it feels to organize!
There is something about it...decluttering, organizing, or simply acting on the natural gifts of spacial reasoning. Yes, a bit nerdy. Close to 24 hours a day I am continually moving things in my environment around in my mind to see what fits better, looks better, or simply would improve the chi of the space. Its something I've done since I was a child. Architects and designers have high spacial reasoning skills. It's why I rearrange things in my home and yard fairly often. However, there is one beast, or shall I say...room, that is simply a challenge. The garage!
My friend, Logan, says I organize or clean my garage every few months. Yet to me it has always been a "moving around" of stuff more than actually cleaning. Unless cleaning is defined as using the leaf blower to sweep it out.
So, I decided to pull the trigger and tackle it. It isn't perfect and will not be in any magazine pictures for beauty, but now I can at least use it in a functional way! This all happened because I desperately needed to build some shelves to hold my tools, my vast array of tools. After spending entirely too long on Pinterest, I found a simple plan by Ana White and here you go:
BEFORE:
My garage has become a storehouse for tools, projects, sporting equipment, you name it....
I was so limited in the amount of projects I could actually do because the half-way projects I had attempted to do in there!
So I cleared everything out, or most of it and began building some shelves.
AFTER:
My garage is a one car, so it is very small to begin with anyway. Needless to say, I do not park my car in it!
However, I am so thankful I spent the 4 hours doing what it took to feel decluttered. The pictures do not look fabulous, but I walk in there and am like...What project shall I start (and finish) today?!
Below are the step by step pictures in which I took along the way if you are interested.
Supply List:
8 2" x 4" x 10' (Buy the straightest you can find)
3" decking screws (I already had some)
1 1/2" screws (already had)
Kreig Jig
1/2" Plywood (Get Home Depot to rip it down for you...saves a huge step. I made my shelves 6' L x 16" W x 80" H, so they ripped it to (3) sheets of 15 3/4".
Shims (From my experience most garage floors are not level.
Drill
Mitre saw
Level
Tape Measure
Stud finder
THE HOW TO:
Clear the space and use an stud finder to find where your studs are.
Decide how many shelves you would like and measure / mark where on the wall they will hit.
My garage is small, so I only build 6' shelves.
Cut (6) of the 2 x 4's to 6' long.
Mount the first one, make sure it is level and screw in to the studs.
This first one will be your marker for all the rest.
Mount the other two as well. Take the time level.
This is the shortcut and will save you a lot of time and measuring. Mount the other 2 x 4's on top of the existing ones. However, do not screw all the way in, as this is temporary.
Take the other 80" tall 2 x 4's and screw to the temporary 2nd layer. Screw the 3" screws all the way in as this will be the taken off and will your other side.
Remove the temporary screws and move the ladder looking piece aside.
Closer image.
Now its time to make the cleats.
Use a Kreg Jig if possible, if not them screw the 1 1/2" screws in at an angle.
At the advice of Ana White, I made sure the cleats did not align with the upright posts because it would be more difficult to screw them.
If you have a longer expanse for shelving, put another cleat in the middle.
Then attach the already assembled ladder to the cleats.
I used numerous shims to level out this process, as my garage is not level at all!
You are almost there!
Now simply slide the 3 ripped pieces of plywood on the top of each shelf and screw in with the
1 1/2" screws.
And you are done!
