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Hi,
I am going to put up a DIY garage storage shelf, plenty of youtube videos out there.
I was wondering about how much deep and tall should the shelves be to accommodate most storage totes ?
I am thinking about 20 inch deep and 20 inch tall, is that overkill ?
Also thinking of doing bottom 2 rows of 20 inch tall and then decrease the height to 16 or less so to put up another row too.
Measuring containers/boxes is doing it bass ackwards! Lumber/building materials come in specified dimensions- work within THOSE perimeters.
For instance, plywood comes in 48X96 sheets. Make shelves either 12", 16", or 24" deep. From experience- 16" works best. 12" is too shallow except for the small stuff; 24" is too deep and stuff gets lost in the back.
As for hgt- I've taken my all the way to the ceiling- going vertical is the only choice when it comes to garage space. The top shelves are easily accessible with a ladder.
Go online to Walmart.com or wherever else you will be buying your totes. They list the measurements online.
I did storage in a closet like that, with shelf heights that fit 3 plastic shoe boxes stacked, and the floor to the first shelf fits a large tote, sideways.
I'm almost positive it's been discontinued - but perhaps there's something similar around? I like it better than plywood because it's very easy to clean (just shoot it with a garden hose and dry in the sun).
Doing a home storage project is a perfect time to dispose of stuff - especially stuff that's in a garage. If you haven't gone through your stuff in over 2 years - now is a perfect time to do it - and see what's left after you've been ruthless with it.
Most of the stuff we have in the garage that's on shelves doesn't lend itself to containers (like cans of paint). In general - what do you plan to put in the containers you're thinking about? Robyn
We have the storage sheds on 3 walls in our garage. The side walls they are 16" deep, 7' high, and on an 8' run along the wall. The front wall is floor to ceiling and they are 20" deep and a 14' run. We also installed a ceiling wire rack that is 14' wide and 6' deep and hangs 30" down from the ceiling.
If you don't want to do your own cabinets the Home Improvement centers have pre-made custom cabinets of various sizes that you can put together and install as a DIY project. Those are e-z to do.
The big box stores have plenty of shelving options. My garage walls have wire mesh shelves 16in deep, 80in off the floor. They are loaded with totes. Granted not the easiest in the word to get the totes off of but they work quite well to get things up and out of the way like Xmas decorations, old sheets, towels, etc.
For access and work space, I have one wall that has two side by each Suncast poly base cabinets, 20in deep, 30in wide, 36 in tall flanked by Suncast poly storage cabinets, 20in deep, 30in wide, 72in tall. A wide H arrangement as viewed from the front of them. I have a plywood top over the base cabinets which serves as a work bench. I store 4 totes on top of each tall cabinet. In these cabinets I store the stuff I want to get at like tools, paint, etc.
The big box stores have plenty of shelving options. My garage walls have wire mesh shelves 16in deep, 80in off the floor. They are loaded with totes. Granted not the easiest in the word to get the totes off of but they work quite well to get things up and out of the way like Xmas decorations, old sheets, towels, etc.
For access and work space, I have one wall that has two side by each Suncast poly base cabinets, 20in deep, 30in wide, 36 in tall flanked by Suncast poly storage cabinets, 20in deep, 30in wide, 72in tall. A wide H arrangement as viewed from the front of them. I have a plywood top over the base cabinets which serves as a work bench. I store 4 totes on top of each tall cabinet. In these cabinets I store the stuff I want to get at like tools, paint, etc.
Hope this helps.
OK - I will pick on you first since you mentioned specifics .
Why do you have old sheets and towels stored in your garage? Just in case (that's what my husband always says when he won't throw something away - I do it in the middle of the night when he's asleep )?
If you need rags (I'd never actually use a sheet or towel that had been stored in a garage on a person) - buy a big package at Costco - a lifetime supply - and store them in the laundry room. They're the right size and the right thickness (as opposed to old bath towels). And sheets? Toss them. If you need a drop cloth/tarp - buy a plastic one for a buck at a hardware store.
Christmas decorations. You're on the Retirement Forum - like me. How much in the way of Christmas decorations do you actually use every year? Assuming it's a year when you're not too lazy and put something up (my husband and I are getting to the "too lazy to do anything" except baking cookies point). And be honest. At our age - we have our favorite stuff that we use all the time (if we do anything). And we don't use the stuff we bought 10-20 years ago. I happen to have enough room to keep all of this stuff inside. But did a ruthless cleaning of the closet where I had the stuff last year and disposed of more than 50% of it. Anything I hadn't used in the last 2-3 years - gone. Note that I am Jewish (my husband's Christian). So I was equally ruthless with the Chanukah stuff (I do have 2 Menorahs - mine and my late mother's - but they don't take up much room at all).
FWIW - I live in a community where 4000+ sf houses and 3+ car garages are the norm - but no one has any space in the garage to park a car (except us and a small number of neighbors). It's like people have a stupid attachment to their junk. Kind of like Hoarders - except they have enough money to keep their junk well organized in their garages.
Maybe I'll start a new thread. "What Can We Toss Today" .
BTW - there are (younger) people (mostly with kids) on our block who have a ton of hard to store stuff that's in their garages. Like a bunch of bikes - a canoe - golf clubs (we have golf clubs too) - and stuff like that. Don't think they should get rid of that stuff - even if organizing/storing it is difficult - they're active and they use it and you can't store it in a closet inside. But old sheets and towels <thumbs down>? Robyn
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