Create Garage Shelving Plans For Tool Storage

Since having garage storage can be crucial many households, here are some simple idea’s for creating your own garage shelving plans.

Determine Your Needs

Before you start trying to decide how to build a garage shelving unit, you need to take inventory of your needs. Do you already have a workbench and just need a few simple shelves? Do you need a full unit with drawers for tools? Would you rather hang as much as you can on the walls? Is clutter an issue? These are all important questions to ask. There is no point in building a simple shelving system if you really need a pegboard and drawers. This should be your first step.

How Much Space Do You Need?

If you park a car in your garage you will want to pick a place that is out of the way of the car to place your shelving unit. You don’t want the tools to fall and damage the car, or the car door to bump in to the shelving unit while exiting the car. Be practical in your needs here. A huge shelving unit may be appealing, but unnecessary and impractical for your space constraints. If you have a small garage then a unit that is entirely composed of shelves and pegboards may be a better option than a unit with ground cabinets and drawers.

Sketch It Out

Before you sit down to draw up plans for your garage shelving unit, make a simple sketch of what you desire. This will help you get a more concrete image of your design. If you sketch it out and realize you’ve added to many components, it’s best to see this before you draw up plans that may need to be redrawn later on. Once you have a completed sketch, go ahead and work on scaling it. After it’s been scaled you can get a better idea of how much room you are looking at taking up with the design. You may realize you’ve used too much space and can’t make the design idea practical. Keep sketching and scaling until you come up with a feasible solution.

Consider The Materials

How long do you plan on staying in this home? If the answer is more than ten years, then you want to make sure you are designing the unit to last. The materials you will use will be a factor in the plans you draw up. If you just plan on using plastic and PVC piping, the plans may not be as complex as if you decide to use wooden shelves and pegboards. Just keep in mind what you are using when you draw out your plans.

Add On Elements

If you want lighting you will need to include the electrical wiring in your plans. If you want to have a small sink or basin, this needs to go in the plans as well. It’s best to sit down and figure out exactly what elements you will be using in your design before you draw out the plans. This will avoid having to redo any of it later on.