ARmy Rumour SErvice

You can do ALL of this yourself with a little bit of work, and it will be much better than anything you buy...

first off, is it YOUR garage or rented?

How big, what shape, waht sort of doors, how much space do you have (ie once the car is in) and do you have loft space?

I own the place. Amongst the list of things, I have partially floored the loft and put lighting up there, but really only for xmas decorations, luggage and cds/DVDs as everything is downloadable now.

I'd rather build most of it myself as buying ready made items is not cost effective. I found this as a starter for my work bench. I was going to fix the worktop to the garage wall but after seeing the below video, it gives the option of being able to move things around if need be.

Build a Garage Workbench Video - YouTube

The type of shelving with uprights that have twin slots that different length brackets click into are very good and fairly cheap.

Together with apple boxes from the supermarket, you can get a good storage system for peanuts.... Tesco's are best, try to get matching boxes then they will stack.

Get stick on labels and write on what's in each box.

Don't forget the roof...... a series of U brackets screwed to the joists will hold any long stuff you want out of the way.

The shed at the top of my garden is the same size as a garage. before I shelved it all the stuff was stored neatly round the walls in a hollow square.

I got metal shelving from an old office complex for free, after spending about an hour helping the security guy clear his offices of stuff to the skips outside.

I now have two rows of metal shelving round the walls, and some hooks for my bike etc.

There is a small table in the corner for tools, and a wooden box in the corner for storing gardening items.

Putting anything up on the walls saves a massive amount of floorspace. The metal shelving is very robust and can take a surprising amount of heavy kit. All the items on my shelving is in order and easy to locate.

Painting the walls matt white will make the space seem bigger.

Assuming it is not that wide, but long (most seem to be), build a unit at the far end. A counter running from wall to wall witht the dry stashed underneath. Shelves running up the wall, Make the shelves wider as they go up and put an edge on them abov e head hight. you can use a step ladder to access them. This permenant bench could have an area with a vice etc for heavy duty hammering.

Along the sides, put a bench that folds down. Then when the car is out, you pop it up and you can work. Narrow shelves above car/head height allow for storage of things like nails and stuff.

Pop up in to the attic space and see if you strengthen that area for extra storage.

Have you considered going down? A 6ft long, 1 ft deep and 2 foot wide ad covered with thick planks. Provides storage and a place to work under the car.

I've been looking at these for the same purpose;
Shelving, Racking and Storage for Home or Business - Shelfsave

You could make a cracking workbench using large fenceposts and bolts. I still have one from years ago made from posts nailed together.

Farm suppliers are a good place to get the items cheaply.

Tsing Tao beer cartons boxes are good, they are tough, can safely stack in need to about seven high filled with books, or about six high if books but only half full. They seal well seal with tape. I think they are something like about 19" x 11" x 13"?

I found wooden shelving to support them far more efficent (two high), and much much cheaper than any slotted shelving, and shelf space them to stack two high, which is dead efficient on space.
All the plastic boxes I have seen are grooved for strength and that takes space. I size my shelving to loft floor packs of chipboard, heavy but cheaper than thinner big sheets.

If you are not a heavyweight drinker who likes the beer, the back of Chinese restaurants is a good free source


I generally use 3x2 timber but I always overengineer and 2x2 bolted to the wall should be adequate for most mixed stuff you want to store. If you are mostly clothing with no real weight, Wickes do cheap whitewood for plasterboarding around 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 which is planed, dirt cheap (around the £2-30 for an eight foot length), corkscrewed.

Just saw Country Joe's post, I have used 3 x 3 for heavy shelving before. I tend to use bolts also rather than bother joointing, makes the system more moveable!

Also , worth looking around for reclaimed timber yards, there is an excellent one in Liverpool for example, and it cuts down usually to about 1/4 - 1/3 the price of new shiny cheap softwood.