Forget Cabinets: DIY An Impressive Garage Storage System With Bins

Your garage can be one of the most hardworking spaces in your home, if you have a good way to keep it organized. In ideal circumstances, it's not just a place to park your car. It can serve as a shed for gardening supplies, a hub for bikes and sports equipment, and a workshop in which you can get your DIYs done. The key to unlocking these various functions for the room is to first ensure that your garage has a solid storage system in place. It doesn't have to include cabinets, but for efficiency's sake, it needs to do a good job of using vertical space. Installing a few sets of shelves is a good place to start. There are a number of interesting ways to do this — especially if you're going to be storing lots of items in plastic bins.

In a video from DIY PETE on YouTube, you can get a quick look at a solid bin-focused storage solution for garages with exposed studs. It has two parts. First, the homeowner built a large three-column shelving unit for a side wall with wooden railings that hold up plastic tubs. Then, he installed a traditional set of flat shelves for the back wall of his space with two-by-fours and oriented strand board, which is otherwise known as OSB. The original project went up in a shed, but it should work perfectly in the area beside your car, if you have room for it. Customize the dimensions of the build to match your square footage, and you'll have a smarter, space-saving way to tackle garage clutter.

To get started, you'll need to clear out your garage and get rid of clutter. There are all sorts of things you should never store in your garage, anyway — make sure to find these objects a new home during this process. With the space now empty, you can begin building a shelving unit with wooden rails that hold up your bins, using two-by-fours and wood screws. You'll need large box-shaped frames for the front and back, with two vertical supports in the middle, dividing them. Next, you'll install the railings that link the front and back frames. These will hold up your bins by their upper edges, so make sure to space them appropriately. Once that's done, add support beams along the outside, plus a few that run between the two-by-fours at the back of the unit. For stability's sake, attach the unit to your wall studs in multiple places.

To make the DIY built-in-style garage shelves that are a part of this storage solution, start by running two-by-fours across your garage's back wall, at the desired height. Build a front vertical support frame next, with crossbeams that match the height of the ones attached to the wall. Then, add evenly spaced supports between the front and back of the unit. As a final step, you'll nail your OSB sheets to the tops of these supports. The shelves should hold plastic tubs just as well as your railing based unit. You can paint and prime the OSB, or add oil or wax for a nice finish instead. Just be gentle when sanding it.