Last night and this morning I spent a little time organizing and trying to put away tools and general stuff. I think I'm making a nice dent in everything. I dare say that I think I have pulled ahead with the amount of storage vs the amount of stuff?
The stuff in these were the first things that needed to go into the tool cabinet. The yellow hand box has been my topbox since we moved in (it was my handbox in my truck in college). The three drawer unit was commandeered from the upstairs office not too long ago and has been around for years...like when DH and I were dating kind of years (10!). It has seen it's final use with this family. The mechanics tool set (a Christmas gift from Dad years ago) I wanted to stick in the drawers, but when I opened it up to put it away, I couldn't bear to break it up. So I put it on a shelf for now.
Before:
After:
The yellow box was sorted and emptied. The mechanics set was placed on the shelf. Even got that second wall shelf about cleared too. A few odds and ends left in the bottom drawer to put away but it's about ready to go away.
First round of stuff put away. The blue tape on the wall is the max height I can reach over the bench. I'm considering a pegboard across the width of the bench. I don't want to lose the paint scheme on the wall though. Might go with white peg board so I can add the green stripe. Still thinking. Maybe I'll just stick to photos, posters and whatnot.
The yellow box is now my electrical box. All the stuff in it was packed in the middle & bottom plastic drawer. Plus I finally had somewhere to put the circuit tester, volt meter, stud finder, etc etc in there. The gray box is now the plumbing box. Many of the pvc fittings, sprinkler stuff and pipe stuff was stored in the second drawer of the plastic bin.
Here's how the drawer layout is starting. I still haven't painted the top and bottom drawers. Waiting on weather and really in no hurry now.
1
2
3
4 - suppose to be the mech socket set, when I get the nerve to put it away
5
6, 7 & 8 - empty but will get filled in as I rearrange until I'm happy with the organization
9 - paper items, including sandpapers. I am considering putting a small file cabinet somewhere to store power tool manuals and project plans.
10 - considering using as nut and bolt drawer. All the baggies you can see on top of the workbench now are nuts, bolts and screws that I'm struggling to find a heavy duty enough place. The AkroMils bins are a bit too small (and plastic) and the Lyon unit will be holding smaller hand tools, accessories and random things. I got the idea from the Storing Nut and Bolt thread to use plastic bottles/bins cut to height for each type of hardware. Will experiment with that soon.
Making our way around the garage here is the "yard corner". Right off the edge of my workbench. I plan to clear and get rid of the shelf.
This begins the messy corner that is suppose to be in the magical shed that I hope will build itself. My wood and steel scraps are cluttering the way. DH's motorcycle is still there. Those dang cement bags (that came with the house) that I wish I could throw into the lake. The trash can and recycle bin that never seem to have a place except taking up space. The ladders...oh the ladders. Great tool, tricky to store.
These black shelves are about ready to go away too. They held my benchtop wood for the longest time but now that they've served their purpose - goodbye. You can see my DP back there. That will go on either side of the workbench (and plug into the other magical thing, the surface mount outlets that will build themselves because this garage is lame with one wall and one ceiling outlet)
.
So not really too far off, least it feels that way from getting DHs car in the garage. That
was the original plan
A lot of moving sh...stuff around, sorting, building, moving again. I do see a light at the end of the tunnel though. Last it feels more likely now that the bench has come together. I'm thinking of adding overhead storage on the car side of the garage for pvc pipes, the long wood scraps and whatnot. That top corner has plenty of unused space. And though I'm not there yet, I'm looking forward to putting up some of the decorative touches on the wall. Lots of photos and parts I'd like to wall mount. Would be great to start that garage history of vehicles and motorcycles we had.
I did acquire a couple of drywall holesaws from the tool lots I picked up over summer. I gotta use them on something. I watched some video of the blown in insulation job. Looks pretty simple. Just run down to the store to rent the machine and buy bags. Logistically the job would be easy. Back the machine up the drive way and the hose reaches all three wall with ease. 
). 
Can't wait to use this. All those projects I've been wanting to do have a much better shot a getting done. And the ends of my 2x4 projects will get straight.
Did you have that in mind when you made the bench???