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Matt and I spent the weekend hanging storage shelves in our garage. This is the first part of our garage project. Next we will be focused on building pull out tables to make using our table and miter saw easier. Follow along with us over the next several weeks as we work on this project.
Honestly, I have a love hate relationship with garage projects. I love them because they get my garage organized, and let's be honest - I am all over the organization in my life. I live for it. But what I don't love about garage projects is they aren't very fun nor are they pretty. They are a necessary evil, but I digress.
Matt and I decided that this was the weekend to start on the garage project. It was long over due. We have a work bench and a miter saw table, but they are not ideal for our space. Our garage also leaks, so the bottoms of the tables have started to get soft. I also had made the mistake of letting Matt "organize" our tools. See his idea of organization below. Send help.
Needless to say - we had some work to do. We spent a while researching the best set up for our garages, and we ended up choosing this plan from Ana White and Ryobi Nation. I linked the plan in the image below.
Our garage is a million years old and there are poles and pipes sticking out in weird places, so we had to adjust our plans, but this is the look we were going for and will use this plan as our guiding light throughout the project. Our adapted measurements looked like the ones below. These are extremely high level and messy, so I will put more detailed plans up soon.
The shelves are a really easy project that can be done in a day or a couple afternoons.The only wood you need is 2x4s and plywood, so this can be tackled by any beginner. Here is how we did it:
Supplies Needed:
Wood
18 - 2x4s
2 - 4x8ft Plywood sheets cut into 4 2X8ft sheets (Home Depot can do this for you if you do not have a table saw
Tools
Circular saw or Miter Saw to cut the 2x4s
Steps:
1. Measure the space to make sure you have enough wall and make adjustments for your space. Using the stud finder locate the studs on the wall.
2. Begin drilling in the 2x4s in horizontally to the studs based on the measurements of your space. Our space for horizontal 2x4s was 124 inches wide and 78 inches tall. We also wanted to have three shelves like the original plans had. So we put our top horizontal planks at 78 inches tall, the bottom one at 38 inches tall, and the second one in the middle of the two. We had a 15 inch space between the top and bottom planks. You will need to make sure these are level when you screw them into the wall using the Box Beam Level. Drill the 2x4s in using the 3in construction screws.
3. Cut 21in pieces of the 2x4s. We used 15 based on the measurements of our space.
4. Drill pocket holes into the 21in pieces using the Kreg jig. You will need the pocket holes on both sides of the 21in pieces.
5. Attach the 21in pieces to the horizontal slats on the wall using the pocket hole screws. The wall will look like this when you are finished.
6. Cut the 2x4s to the correct horizontal length for your space. Ours was 124in. Attach to the 21in slats using the pocket hole screws. Your shelves will look like this once you are finished.
7. Add the vertical 2x4s to the front of the shelves. We did ours on the ends and then one more 80inches away from the left side. Attach these using the construction screws. The shelves will look like this when you are finished.
8. Cut the 2X8ft plywood sheets to the right length for your shelves and slide on top of each shelf.
9. Drill the plywood sheets to the 2x4s using the #8 screws. You shelves will be finished and are ready to use!
These shelves gave us so much more use out of our space. We have already started storing our tools and extra wood on these shelves. It is perfect place to store our extra wood. Finally it is out of the corners and off of the floor!
I still need to get some storage boxes and peg boards for extra organization, but this is a good start. Up next we are working on the rollout shelves to fit in the space between the shelves and the floor.
