OFFICIAL THREAD: Genius Storage Ideas

flamewerks · May 16, 2009

I am always looking at what others have done for storage ideas for their tools, equipment, etc. Let's see things that you have done to get more organized, gain more space, make things more efficient, etc. Big or small. Storebought stuff if cool, too, but homemade items and ideas would be even better. I'm sure there's something that you have created that makes you smile everytime you use it.

ChrisE · May 16, 2009

I've done a couple of different things in two different garages to maximize storage. The first was a 3 bay garage with 13' high ceilings. Along the back wall I built a 4' x 25' deck, 6' off the ground. I stored motorcycles up on this deck. I bought a 4 post lift and installed in in the center bay. I put a 8' x 16' x 1.5" plywood platform on it to increase the storage square footage. The lift would be used for storage and not car maintenance. I also used the lift as an elevator to move some of my motorcycles up onto the wall deck storage area. Having the lift was almost equivalent to having an extra garage bay.

On the second garage, I just built some heavy duty cabinets with storage above them.

Here's a link with pictures or both garages
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34324

Jack Olsen · May 17, 2009

No genius here.

But if you look at this picture, you can see two benches along the wall on the left. They fold up so I can park the car in there.

The back one folds down and is a woodworking table:

The front one is for welding, and I store a bunch of c-clamps and vise-grip clamps behind it.

I also put storage space up above my garage door. This is the view from below.

With a two-car garage, you've got to get creative.
________
Honda CM200T

jake00 · May 17, 2009

Above garage door storage

e-tek · May 17, 2009

How is this the "OFFICIAL" Storage thread? If you do a search you'll get a few hundred more ideas!

Jack - your clamp storage is the envy of ****-retentive garage junkies everywhere! Very nice.

uniongoon · May 17, 2009

Oh my god that is too funny, I was looking at the c-clamps and my wife walked by, I said to her, "do you think this guy is a little ****?" She says, "amazing how some guys garages are cleaner than the house, do you think he takes his shoes off before he goes in?". Then I scroll down to see e-tek's comment. lol, nice work though Jack. I hope those carabiners are solid, those bench tops would do some serious damage to your Porsche if they let go.

brownbagg · May 17, 2009

you think this guy is a little ****? that what I was thinking too, must be a lawyer.

I got four cars torn apart in mine, grease paint sawdust engines everywhere

kbs2244 · May 17, 2009

I started doing this before the HF storage bins got to be so cheap.
Now I just keep doing it.

I cut the side out of the 1 QT plastic oil cans and use then to store my nuts, bolts, and washers in.

I do the same thing with the bigger anti-freeze jugs.
One holds the tow chain in the trunk, another a collection of bungee cords, another some old towels etc.

I keep some extras around for when I am taking things apart.
They are great for putting the little stuff into as you take it off so it stays in one place and doesn’t roll off the bench.

Best of all, they are free.

flamewerks · May 17, 2009

I know there are threads on this but they are usually only a few post long and you have to look for everything. I wanted to make one where everything is in one thread so it's easier to find.

AffableCurmudgeon · May 17, 2009

brownbagg said:
you think this guy is a little ****? that what I was thinking too, must be a lawyer.

This is the least derogatory lawyer comment I have ever heard in my legal career. :lol2:

Sweet Old Bill · May 17, 2009

Guys,

Why do Lawyers wear neckties?

It keeps the foreskin from popping up!

Ashamsi, not meant personally. j/k

Jack Olsen · May 17, 2009

brownbagg said:
you think this guy is a little ****? that what I was thinking too, must be a lawyer.

I got four cars torn apart in mine, grease paint sawdust engines everywhere

If I could fit four cars, it might be a little messier. But between projects I try to keep it clean. Here it is while I was building the welding table:

I'm not a lawyer (although one gets 5% of every dollar I make). I'm a writer -- the sign on the wall is because I finally cleaned up my garage and built all the storage and stuff at the beginning of the 100-day film and television writers' strike last year.

The welding bench was done this month, and I'll agree that the clamp arrangement is a little too tidy looking. But it was the only way to get all of those up there and have them fit on the aluminum backsplash.
________
R68

e-tek · May 17, 2009

Jack Olsen said:
But it was the only way to get all of those up there and have them fit on the aluminum backsplash.

"aluminum backsplash"???? Now you're making it worse!!!! :lol_hitti

Just kidding - couldn't resist. :thumbup:

Jack Olsen · May 17, 2009

I had some old roofing flashing. Guys on a Welding BBS had me convinced I was going to burn down the garage without some protection.

(Are there any lawyers, anywhere, who weld?)

________
Honda CM185T

rickairmedic · May 17, 2009

Jack Olsen said:
I had some old roofing flashing. Guys on a Welding BBS had me convinced I was going to burn down the garage without some protection.

(Are there any lawyers, anywhere, who weld?)

Jack I know some doctors who wld for fun not sure about the Lawyers though

.

Rick

rustbucket49 · May 18, 2009

Did he say "ALUMINUM BACKSPLASH" ??? I say we confiscate his Porsche for using such language on a garage forum!! What's the world coming too..... I need to go get greasy just so I feel clean again...

flamewerks · May 18, 2009

Jack Olsen- I'm definitely going to have to copy that organization and the aluminum backing is a sweet idea!

fatboy99 · May 18, 2009

Jack
Sorry to go off topic but do you a writer named Don Foster? I love your vise grip display.I have all mine clamped to my welder cart. ill have to build a setup like your's
Brad

lawfarm · May 18, 2009

Jack Olsen said:
I had some old roofing flashing. Guys on a Welding BBS had me convinced I was going to burn down the garage without some protection.

(Are there any lawyers, anywhere, who weld?)

I'm one.

I have a Hobart Handler 180 (220v Mig unit with gas) and a Miller AC/DC 220v buzz box. I also have a small oxy/acy unit that I do a bit of brazing with.

Got a problem with that???

My garage is a 2.5 car, that I haven't had a chance to do much work to. We bought a new house last year (be a year in July), and everything else has come before the garage.

GamblinAJ · May 18, 2009

Jack I like the fold up bench idea. Im putting that on my list of wants for my garage.

1320stang · May 18, 2009

Jack, and anyone else wanting to do a fold down bench.

I had one of these before in a 1 car garage in a rental house. The bench was made out of a 24" wide hollow core door (it was just a flat surface for me to rebuild carburators and do light weight work).

I attached a 2x4 to the wall and attached the hinges that were still on the door to the 2x4. I got a 2x3 piece of 3/4" plywood and cut it in half diagonally and attached two more 2x4's to the wall on studs and used 4 more hinges to attach the plywood to the 2x4's. When not in use, the plywood folded flat against the wall and the bench folded down and covered them up. You could also fold it up if you wanted to like Jack did. The bad part about folding it down is if it gets stained, it looks sorta filthy. you could put a piece of rubber runner on top to save the surface, or a piece of masonite that you hang from the plywood braces before you fold the top down.

babzog · May 18, 2009

rustbucket49 said:
Did he say "ALUMINUM BACKSPLASH" ??? I say we confiscate his Porsche for using such language on a garage forum!! What's the world coming too..... I need to go get greasy just so I feel clean again...

Did you catch the "arteestic" first photo of Jack's garage? Tastefully framed with greenery, effectively softening the edges of the photo. The desk and chair arranged such that, once the Porche has been parked, it's a scant few steps until one might achieve a writer's zen. The lighting arranged for a cosy soireé with the neighbourhood who's-who. One might almost hear the popping of champagne and munching of crumpets in this garage.

Yes, I probably need to be beaten after that. Line up - wife took dibs long ago. :lol_hitti

Jack Olsen · May 18, 2009

fatboy99 said:
Jack
Sorry to go off topic but do you a writer named Don Foster? I love your vise grip display.I have all mine clamped to my welder cart. ill have to build a setup like your's
Brad

I don't know him, but writers don't get to meet one another all that often -- in fact, the strike was when a lot of us met each other for the first time.

lawfarm said:
I'm one. I have a Hobart Handler 180 (220v Mig unit with gas) and a Miller AC/DC 220v buzz box. I also have a small oxy/acy unit that I do a bit of brazing with.

Got a problem with that???

I've got no problem at all with a guy who can fix either a contract or a split-open muffler. I think it's great.

babzog said:
Did you catch the "arteestic" first photo of Jack's garage? Tastefully framed with greenery, effectively softening the edges of the photo. The desk and chair arranged such that, once the Porche has been parked, it's a scant few steps until one might achieve a writer's zen. The lighting arranged for a cosy soire? with the neighbourhood who's-who. One might almost hear the popping of champagne and munching of crumpets in this garage.

No crumpets, I promise. I keep the garage clean when it's not in use, but you'll need hearing protection for the sound from the dry cut saw when I'm in there (I've already fielded complaints from the neighbors on the wall-mounted anvil.) And the Porsche looks pretty in the picture, but all its trophies are for road-course racing, not for councours d'-however-you-spell-that.

But enough about my **** clean-up. I want to see some more storage ideas.
________
ios games

rsanter · May 19, 2009

first off
Jack, I like your setup. good organization and seems like you have a good usable setup

it is easiest to be organized if you give yourself the tools to do so.
having enough shelves and cabinets to hold the stuff helps alot

put the things you dont use much in the places that are harder to access and the stuff you use lots at easy reach. no special trick there

for me cheap and easy storage is to use pallet racks. you can cut them down to fit in the garage. larger power tools (table saw, shaper, jointer...etc) can roll under the first shelf when not in use. the hold lots of stuff and car be reconfigured easily

I couldnt do without my pallet racking

bob

babzog · May 19, 2009

Jack Olsen said:
No crumpets, I promise. I keep the garage clean when it's not in use, but you'll need hearing protection for the sound from the dry cut saw when I'm in there (I've already fielded complaints from the neighbors on the wall-mounted anvil.) And the Porsche looks pretty in the picture, but all its trophies are for road-course racing, not for councours d'-however-you-spell-that.

LOL. That's cool. I'm impressed with your setup, it looks really good!

kindyr · May 19, 2009

I'm with Bob, though I use the Gorilla Rack version of pallet racks for my garage. Slightly less weight rating I imagine, but still can support quite a bit, and I too need the ability to roll items under the first shelf.

I like the Gorilla rack because Menards keeps it in stock and sells it by the individual peice. probably a bit pricy, but I can pick up a couple of peices every pay check and build the storage to suit my needs.

94legaleagle · May 19, 2009

Jack Olsen said:
(Are there any lawyers, anywhere, who weld?)

Yep, this one does :thumbup:

I only practice law to support my tool, shop, car and gun hobbies (although not necessarily in that order)

Haven't been around here much - got this site from the Corvette Forum where I've been a member since 2005 or so - I always figured there had to be a site such as this, and I'm enjoying it so far!!

When I get some time, I've got to post a few pics of my 24 x 62 shop, complete w/ WELDERS, lift, CUTTING TORCH, a few Snap On tools, and gobs of unfinished projects in various stages of completion

Plombob · May 19, 2009

rustbucket49 said:
Did he say "ALUMINUM BACKSPLASH" ??? I say we confiscate his Porsche for using such language on a garage forum!! What's the world coming too..... I need to go get greasy just so I feel clean again...

Now that's funny!

I wonder if anyone's got a setup for hoisting boxes into the garage loft. I keep the Christmas decorations in plastic tubs up there and would sure like an easy way to get them up/down. I use a small block and tackle, but still have to man-handle them into place.

e-tek · May 19, 2009

Plombob said:
Now that's funny!

I wonder if anyone's got a setup for hoisting boxes into the garage loft. I keep the Christmas decorations in plastic tubs up there and would sure like an easy way to get them up/down. I use a small block and tackle, but still have to man-handle them into place.

As I said way above - A search would net you all the great ideas from the past. This thread went so far off topic it'll never get back!! :bounce:

A few guys built great loft lifts with electric and hand hoists, some with ideas to swing the load into the loft, or sliding a floor under to set the load on.

NugeConstruction · May 28, 2009

The following 19.25" x 11" x 6.75" hopper box, which I posted previously in a "large item storage" thread, might be of interest here:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=445975&postcount=15

hobie1dog · May 28, 2009

I have a 10 ft long countertop hinged on one wall. I only use it for wrapping boards with black velvet when I'm making a custom projection screen.

RobSmith · May 29, 2009

You're all going off about aluminium splashbacks and tidy clamp racks. Leave the man alone ! I've never seen so many tiled or "coated" floors in my life. What's wrong with a simple concrete floor ? Dust you say ? My concrete floor doesn't make dust. I make dust...metal grinding dust, fibreglast dust, aluminium dust, bull dust. If I had a coated floor I would have to mop it all the time. I don't have time to mop a garage floor. I make stuff and when I have to paint I line the dusty shed with plastic and do the job. The dust deters ants and kills cockroaches. It all depends on what you call a shed , workshop or a garage. I suppose a garage is for parking so it could be tidy. A workshop should be organised and clean, but a shed is the combination of all things...a car park, a workshop, a fabrication plant and somewhere a woman would NOT like to be because it's untidy and dirty. . .that's what I've got. a happy mess. Solice in creativity. ha ha ha.

rieferman · May 29, 2009

I'll have to dig up the thread, but one guy on this forum (with an amazing shop, elevated office etc.) was thinking about building tip out bins under each stair tread to eliminate that wasted space. For items not often used and a pain to store, that's brilliant (for example, all my 18 inch drill bits would be nicely protected in a space like that).

Also, I'm not planning on finishing the walls in my mower storage and parking area, just leaving barn board and studs out. I've been measuring out all my scrap 2x4, 2x6, 2x8, and 2x10 so that I can make simple shelves between all the studs. Keeps the shelves out of the way, gives you tons of storage for all sizes of things, is basically free to install, and eliminates my monster pile of cutoffs for a good cause.

His200HerScout · May 29, 2009

Plombob said:
Now that's funny!

I wonder if anyone's got a setup for hoisting boxes into the garage loft. I keep the Christmas decorations in plastic tubs up there and would sure like an easy way to get them up/down. I use a small block and tackle, but still have to man-handle them into place.

i have a 4'x8' access hole framed into the floor of my loft which is 16x52x8. i didn't want to carry things 11' up the stairs. my garage was designed to do this (there are 2 trusses on either side of the opening) so you might not be able to get a 4' opening if all of your trusses are 24" OC. the hoist isn't in yet because the garage is still being built, but i plan to put in some sort of hoist.

Tylerb43 · May 29, 2009

Hey, IH guy, that looks a lot like mine! I too framed in an access to my attic room. Mine has 2x10 bottom cords, with a doubled attic truss on each side, making a 4'x5' opening. Still under construction also, but I bought a hoist and I'm going to mount it to a bard door rail with rollers for moving things up and over. And yes, I worked with the truss designers to figure the loads and plan for this. I plan on putting my compressor and blast cabinet up there :thumbup:

tmoneyr007 · May 29, 2009

hobie1dog

Do you have pics of the hinges and mounting/supports when the counter is in use? We have some extra laminate counters at work

nate379 · May 29, 2009

Guys with the overdoor storage, you have a 7ft door with a 9ft ceiling??

I am just wondering since I have an 8ft door and there's no way I'd be able to store anything. The door almost hits the fluorescent lights as it's opening even.

jayoldschool · May 29, 2009

I'm on the hunt for good deals on pallet racking right now. Home Depot and Costco won't give me their used stuff, so I am going to have to buy some

While on the topic, does pallet racking need to be bolted down? I have radiant, and can't drill into the floor.

sirswank · May 29, 2009

nothing genuis here, but i have about 30 of these from the break room at work. they stack nicely and have a wide opening so i can grab a handful of whatever and still get my hand OUT.

Cholleman · May 29, 2009

hobie1dog said:
I have a 10 ft long countertop hinged on one wall. I only use it for wrapping boards with black velvet when I'm making a custom projection screen.

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can i ask where you got those cabinets? i got a pair of wooden lockers from a friend that i refinished and want a couple of wall cabinets that match the look of the lockers. yours seem to fit the bill.

OFFICIAL THREAD: Genius Storage Ideas

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