Help me design my garage cubby!

[Greenlawnracing]

So my builder made good use of some space in my garage, he built a little cubby that goes under the stairs on the other side of the wall. I put up some cheap HyLoft shelves when I moved in five years ago, and put rare use items in there since I have to back my truck out to access it.

I'm going to acquire a few small things, miter saw, table saw, and probably store a small folding workbench in there.

My thought is to make a shelf on the back wall, put some 2X4s on the back and sides to hold a piece of plywood. It will be a little lower than the existing shelf, as well as wider which should give more storage. Question one: how low should I make it? I figure I need enough space to hang some things on the wall behind it, and also have clearance for taller floor stored items underneath it. However I also probably need 30ish inches above it to store larger tools or perhaps get the power washer and shop vac off the floor.

I'll likely do something similar with the shelf on the right. Extend it and perhaps lower it. At a bit of a loss as to what to do with that space. Question two: how high should I make it? It will overlap the back wall shelf which will reduce it's clearance, but if it is too high it won't have much clearance of its own.

Open to any other ideas!

 

[CraigStu]

One option for you would be shelves that mount on these style rails.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-48-in-Shelf-Upright/4640129

There are a lot of varieties available in shelf size and materials. And if your needs change later they are easy to change also. I'd probably walk into L and HD to see which has the largest selection and stick w/ that one.

 

[Greenlawnracing]

One option for you would be shelves that mount on these style rails.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Style-Selections-48-in-Shelf-Upright/4640129

There are a lot of varieties available in shelf size and materials. And if your needs change later they are easy to change also. I'd probably walk into L and HD to see which has the largest selection and stick w/ that one.

Fantastic idea. I forgot all about those, and yes they would be great for this application. I had them years ago at my old house, never adjusted them but always had the option! Any recommendations as to what wood to use with them?

 

[Zeke]

Another idea is to make a rolling cart for your TS with fold up wings. That's your folding work bench (not that you can't have too many of those). The miter saw can fit under the TS. There you have it 3 in 1 and easy to roll out to get to work.

 

[CraigStu]

I usually just walk around and look. If they have a size that works for you, the ones that are precoated white are hard to beat since no paint needed. They are some kind of an mdf so they stay flat. A couple months ago I came across these. **** I can't find them. They are like butcher block but just 3/4" thick. L has them in their plywood area. They come in a lot of sizes usually under 2'x4' and each one is individually wrapped in clear plastic.

 

[CombatNinja]

Given that confined space, I'd go with a modular garage organization system like Gladiator Gearwall. You can get dozens of different hooks and shelves and baskets and it can all be reconfigured as your needs shift. I like Zeke's idea of a rolling cart in there was well. Given your use case, you could go in there and load up the cart with what you need for whatever project and then roll it out and do your thing.

The rest of the stuff can hang out on shelves mounted right on the Gearwall, as they have really sturdy options. I just feel that the area looks too small for free standing shelves and little rooms like this become repositories for misc. junk as soon as the floor gets cluttered. Keeping everything off the floor except a dedicated rolling project cart will also make it a breeze to clean out (another issue is little nooks like them become filled with spider webs and dust bunnies if you have stuff on the floor) and it will sort of 'enforce' the respect from family members to not just throw items in there because, well, what's one more thing on the floor?

Trust me, I've been down that road dozens of times and I've learned to arrange things in a way that the purpose is completely clear. Early in my marriage I had a lot of frustration because of encroachment into my domain from the wifey. I learned to realize that she was not being deliberately thoughtless, it was just that she didn't view the space in the manner in which I used it.

Good luck with your project, little storage nooks like this are great.

 

[Greenlawnracing]

Thanks to everyone for their guidance. I used the adjustable shelves, gained a bunch of room, but somehow it doesn't look like it! I added a miter saw and removed a stroller.