What is the best configuration of garage storage cabinets?
Garage feeing a little cluttered? Want to free up some space while still being able to access all of your tools and storage? To determine the best garage organization, it is important to determine what exactly you want to store. Garages can become wastelands of long forgotten christmas decorations, car accessories, or gardening equipment. If you are looking to build cabinets to free up space and organize your items, I would recommend you use a set that is horizontally configured. In this configuration, you not only are able to store items, but you also have created a work space and area where you can display certain items you use freqently, such as gardening tools. You can also stack storage tubs or other items on the surface space that are easy to see and you don’t have to dig through a cabinet for.
If you are looking to free up space and conceal your items, I would recommend either shelf building above the garage door or vertical, standing cabinets. These cabinets can typically store 4-8 storage tubs, depending upon the size of the cabinets. This is ideal if you have lots of storage items, but you don’t want them to be visible. Another suggestion is building shelves above the garage door. These shelves are out of the way, up high so the items are not only inaccessible, but also not highly visible, and they keep your items out of mildew and mold that can be caused during the rainy seasons.
As for specific types of cabinets, again it depends upon what you want to store. Wood is always more appealing to the eye, but in terms of supporting heavy or bulky items, wood can be stressed and break much more easily than a hard plastic. If you are building a workspace, with long, waist-height cabinets, you might want to consider wood simply because it doesn’t buckle in the heat like plastic will. This will ensure you have a flat working surface for projects and work, specifically wood work or repairs. This would ideal for a do-it-yourself handyman or gardener, because having a workspace in the garage is something so many homes lack. I would then install a corkboard or board with holes in it (usually found at local harware stores) behind the cabinets, so you can hang your tools from the wall instead of throwing them in a box or drawer.
Ultimately, when you go to purchase your cabinets, you need to look at the weight capacity for the shelves. Always make sure you get the highest weight capacity you can to ensure your shelves don’t buckle. If you have a small garage, shelves built into a wall free up space while also providing excellent storage. If you are looking to get items up off of the ground or in a pile, but don’t have the room to install cabinets, I would suggest you install shelves. You can drill a hole into the wall, then use a change as leverage either from the ceiling or from another location on the wall above the shelf to keep the shelves sturdy. I have personally installed and used both cabinets and shelves, and both have worked excellently. They just depend on the space you need, what you’re storing, and how much money you’re willing to spend. Shelves will be the least expensive, but cabinets are more decorative and can fit your specific needs on projects. Hanging items from the wall can also help organize your garage. When in doubt, your local hardware store can provide you with key ideas and assistance. If you’re more hands on, you can even build your own cabinets. Buying raw wood and building a cabinet can be less expensive than purchasing a pre-build structure, but is more demanding and required more skill. If you want to make the cabinets look more attractive, a basic wood stain will do the trick. Also, you can find cabinets or shelves at wood liquidators or furniture stores that come unpainted for much less $ than you would find them at department or hardware stores. You can easily ‘spruce’ these cabinets up with paint or a stain. I would suggest using Behr paint (can be purchased at Home Depot) or a similar brand of paint that is a combo paint/gloss (or laquer) that is the easiest to apply and has the best finish for the price.
This really depends on the shape of your garage isn’t it? I’ve seen some nice storage layouts for storage rooms and garages though and they always have a lot of drawers built in and have a compartment done for every other item. Seems like a lot of customization to me but I guess everything having its own place is a good way to stay organized!
It really depends on how many things you need to store in the garage storage and what types of things they are. If they consist of tools which need to always be out on display for easy retrieval, then an open-concept racking system would suffice. However, if they are mostly bits and pieces which clutter the place, then a cabinet with doors would be a better option.
Garage storage cabinets provide a good way to organize all of your tools and other possessions that are stored in the garage. Providing dedicated storage space for these items protects them from damage and allows you to find them easily when you need them. They also allow you to keep the garage neater, by containing the items in one area. The first step in determining the best storage cabinet configuration is to measure the various walls of the garage. Create a floor plan of the garage on a sheet of graph paper. This allows you to try out several different layouts for your garage storage cabinets on paper before you purchase any cabinets. Carefully think about what exactly you plan to store in your garage storage cabinets. It is easy to think that you will put everything that is in your garage in cabinets. You should probably dedicate some time to going through the items you store in the garage and sorting through and otherwise organizing your belongings. If there is anything that you
