Need advice and help with Storage and organizing

[20_rc51_00]

So I'm wanting to do something with our current mess of a garage. We moved in about a year ago and since had a baby so this went pretty low on the list of priorities. Also, "all organizing and no play make me go something something" so I tend to put stuff like this off....

It's essentially a clean slate.

Its a double garage with 2 separate doors.

panoramic photo here> https://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=43b0fff1-f628-416f-b733-2d281e70481f

19'4" wide x 21'5" long with 8'5" ceiling height.

I'm looking to do some sort of cabinets along the back wall and leave the sides just empty. I would also like to have a space for a work bench in there somewhere.

I have a large curing/powder coating oven that would sit in the right back corner by the man-door to the outside of the building.

We own 1 car and one SUV and a motorcycle. These will all need to fit, and should no problem with standard depth cabinetry.

I don't want to break the bank with this but would consider piecing together or buying a kit.

I had thought of:
A) Ikea kitchen cabinetry and reinforcing it for stability/durability and placing them on some big castors for portability OR wall mounting for off the floor convenience
B) buying the modular Gladiator Garage Works cabinets from Lowes but they were pretty flimsy and shelves on the large standing unit only had a 45LB capacity each...
C) ...Just ante up and fork out for the pro install... But I like projects and like to save $
D) your suggestions

 

[Nexussian]

Lilscorpion's tool organization thread has more ideas than I can type, including cabinet, bench and shelving projects.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=174553

I remember seeing a picture somewhere of a storage setup using fabricated wood I beams (looked like 2X4s screwed & possibly glued together to form the beams) spaced just far enough apart to slide the top rail of a storage tote (looks like Rubbermaid "Action Packer" ).

The rails were on the ceiling, do you have an area that you can loose roughly 2' of ceiling height?

Anyone in your family taller than 6' 5" (you mention an 8' 5" ceiling height)?

 

[matt_i]

I like plywood shelves hung from the ceiling (joists) around the perimeter. That way you store things not needed as often with the aid of a small stepladder/stepstool, and you don't lose floor space. The daily/working items are within easy walk-up access. Just for example, I have a lot of seasonal stuff related to boating and bbq and these all go up on the shelves when not in use. In the shop it ***** up things like alternative lathe chucks and boring heads which are needed, but not every day.

 

[20_rc51_00]

Matt_i that sounds like a good idea! I will likely do that around the sides.

nexussian, thanks for the link!

 

[Voi]

I like deeper wall cabinets for general garage clutter.

I started with garage shelves on those adjustable standards and brackets but got tired of looking at the clutter and just built cabinets to go over them. Probably spent more money than building cabinets with their own adjustable shelves to start with but it worked for us.

I have some of the welded Gladiator wall cabinets and they're nice but I find myself wanting more deeper cabinets.

 

[PFSard]

I started with garage shelves on those adjustable standards and brackets but got tired of looking at the clutter and just built cabinets to go over them.

I'd be interested in viewing pics of these. Have you posted pics of these on GJ's site?

 

[Voi]

I'd be interested in viewing pics of these. Have you posted pics of these on GJ's site?

I doubt it. They're nothing special. I took all the doors and some face frames from our remodel demo and attached them to boxes I built. For one set I built face frames. They are far from my proudest woodworking accomplishment.

I'm home with my boys for the weekend while the wife is out of town. So I'll either be occupied or bored out of my mind. If it's the latter I'll take some pictures.

Only advantage to this design is that your stuff gets all the way to the actual wall behind the cabinets, assuming whatever it is fits between the vertical standards. Since the cabinets are held up with beveled cleats this nets me another 1.5" or so of extra space. I suppose the other advantage is that the weight of the contents are held by the wall and not the cabinet itself, but that's not a big deal.

I'm actually thinking about doing this same design over some lumber storage/drying brackets. Since they'll be in my shop I'll take a bit more care to make them look nice. So picture a large, back-less cabinet that fits over this:

 

[djeffers]

We have pegboard on our side walls and cabinets at the back and they work well. My dad is also a general contractor so he built us some wooden shelving that hangs from the ceiling.

We still have room to park our cars in there, even with the garden tools hanging on the pegboard so I wouldn't worry. If you don't put any type of storage on the sides junk will end up piling up there anyway. We found organization articles like this pretty handy when we were in your situation.