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PROJECT PLAN
Storage Galore
This project originally appeared in
The Family Handyman
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Storage
Build this simple shelf and cabinet
system to fit your garage
by Gary Wentz
44
SEPTEMBER 2005
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
Galore
probably think of flimsy metal shelves
or crude plywood cabinets. But take a
moment to think outside the box. Better yet, think about
a different kind of box—because that’s really what this
storage system is: a series of simple boxes screwed to the
wall. Open shelves fill the gaps between the boxes and
rest on adjustable supports mounted in the box sides.
This design maximizes storage space, saves labor and
requires less material than a standard wall of cabinets.
This article will cover everything you need to know to
build this system. You can adapt our design to suit your
own special needs. You can build one cabinet or a dozen,
build tall floor-to-ceiling cabinets or shorter ones that
cover only part of the wall. You can even adapt this sys-
tem for a laundry room, basement or closet.
Tools, materials and money
You could build this system with just a few hand tools, a
drill and a circular saw, but a table saw will save you lots
of time. The skills you’ll need are just as basic as the tools.
If you can make long straight cuts and screw parts
together, you can build this system.
This whole system is made from just two materials:
plastic-coated particleboard, usually called “melamine,”
and construction-grade pine 1x4s. (Melamine is the type
of plastic used as the coating.) You could use 3/4-in. ply-
wood or particleboard, but we chose melamine because
Figure A
Upright cabinet construction
(B)
16"
(C)
Parts List
Overall dimensions of cabinet
box: 96" tall x 25-1/8" wide x 16"
deep. All material is 3/4 in. thick.
KEY SIZE & DESCRIPTION
A
STUD
16" x 96" (side)
(A)
(A)
B
16" x 23-5/8"
(fixed shelf)
C
3-1/2" x 23-5/8" pine
(cleat)
(D)
D
12" x 95-1/4" (door)
96"
E
16" x 23-5/8"
(adjustable shelf)
(B)
PLASTIC-COATED
PARTICLEBOARD
(MELAMINE)
SHELF
SUPPORT
(E)
(B)
1-1/2"
FINISH
WASHER
3" SCREW
4"
EDGE BAND
8"
2x4 LEDGER
All dimensions are for the cabinets shown here.
2" SCREW
45
SEPTEMBER 2005
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
W
hen you think about garage storage, you
CUT
MELAMINE
BANDED
MELAMINE
EDGE
BANDING
1
Cut melamine to width and iron on edge banding.
2
Hold a wood block firmly over the end and careful-
it doesn’t require a finish. The melamine coating is
tougher than most finishes and easy to clean.
The materials for our floor-to-ceiling system cost
about $37 per linear foot of wall space. That’s less than
we would have paid for wimpy “utility” cabinets at a
home center. Our garage walls were 10 ft. tall. If your ceil-
ing is about 8 ft. tall, you can eliminate the deep upper
cabinets. That will lower the cost to about $27 per linear
foot. If you opt for completely open shelving and elimi-
nate the cabinet doors, your cost will drop to about $20
per linear foot.
EDGE
TRIMMER
Plan the system to suit your stuff
This system is easy to adapt to the space available in your
garage. Start the planning process with a tape measure
and notepad. Survey your garage, basement, attic and any
other place that currently holds stuff you’d like to store in
the cabinets. Jot down the measurements of larger items
(like luggage or boxes that hold holiday decorations).
Then go to the wall where you’ll install the cabinets.
Roughly block out the cabinet locations on the wall.
Remember to space out the cabinets to leave room for
shelves in between. Experiment with different cabinet
widths and spacing until you find a layout that works
well. Follow these guidelines:
n
Each cabinet must have at least one stud behind it so
you can fasten the cabinet securely to the wall.
n
Limit door widths to 24 in. To cover an opening wider
than that, install double doors. We limited most of our
doors to 12-in. widths so that we could open them even
when the car was parked in the garage.
n
Shelves longer than 2 ft. often sag. If you make them
longer, stiffen the melamine by screwing 1x4 cleats to
the undersides.
banding with an edge
trimmer. Test the trimmer
on a banded scrap first; you
may have to adjust the
blades for a perfect cut.
EDGE
TRIMMER
n
If possible, size and space the cabinets so the shelves
inside and between cabinets are the same length. That
way, all your shelves will be interchangeable and faster
to cut out.
n
Size your cabinets to make the most of a full sheet of
melamine. By making our cabinets 16 in. deep, for
example, we were able to cut three cabinet sides from
each sheet with no wasted material (see
Figure A
for
other dimensions). Don’t forget that your saw blade
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
SEPTEMBER 2005
46
Position the banding so it overhangs the ends and
sides. Let the banding cool before trimming.
ly slice off the excess banding. Use a sharp new
blade in your utility knife.
3
Slice off the excess
STOP BLOCK
4"
CABINET
SIDE
CROSS-CUT
GUIDE
BACKER
1x4 SUPPORTS
4
Drill 1/4-in. shelf support holes through cabinet
5
Cut parts to length using a crosscut guide. A stop
BRAD
POINT
BIT
STOP
COLLAR
Figure B
Crosscut guide
SQUARING
STRIP
STOP
BLOCK
1/2" GUIDE
STRIP
FIXED
SHELF
3/4" BASE
6
Predrill and screw 1x4s to melamine to form the
This guide takes a few minutes to make but saves
time when you’re cutting the fixed shelves (Photo
5) and even more time later when you’re cutting
shelves (Photo 14). Our system required 30
shelves. To make a crosscut guide, screw a guide
strip to the base and run your saw against the
guide strip to trim the excess off the base. Add a
squaring strip positioned perpendicular to the
guide strip. Position the stop block to set the
length of your parts.
eats up about 1/8 in. of material with each cut. Most
sheets of melamine are oversized by about 1 in. to
account for this.
dozen or more colors. Manufacturers produce hundreds
of colors, but unusual colors are only available in large
quantities (30 or even 60 sheets).
Plastic iron-on edge banding is available at home cen-
ters, usually only in white. Cabinet suppliers carry other
colors, but be sure to get banding that can be ironed on.
Buying melamine
Most home centers carry melamine in 4 x 8-ft. sheets
($30), usually only in white. For colors other than white,
try a lumberyard that serves cabinetmakers (look in the
Yellow Pages under “Cabinets, Equipment and Supplies”
or “Hardwoods”). These suppliers often charge more
(about $40 per sheet) and might sell only to profession-
als, so call before you visit. Some cabinet suppliers stock
a few colors like gray, black and almond. Others carry a
Working with melamine
With your cabinet dimensions in hand, begin cutting the
melamine into parts. Cut the material into equal widths
for the sides and the fixed and adjustable shelves, but
don’t cut the stretchers and shelves to length until they’re
edge banded. Here are some pointers:
47
SEPTEMBER 2005
THE FAMILY HANDYMAN
sides using a scrap of pegboard as a guide. For
end panels that won’t support shelves on one side,
place a stop collar on the drill bit.
block screwed to the guide lets you mass-produce
identical lengths fast. Support the melamine on both
sides of the cut with 2x4 scraps.
fixed shelves. Screw all the fixed shelves to one
cabinet side, then add the other side to complete the
cabinet.
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