Entries Tagged 'Garage Shelves' ↓

By Fred Dalton Trudeau

Are you like me, with a residential garage that is filled the the brim with clutter, detritus, riffraff, miscellany, various Christmas ornaments, and boxes of newspaper? Your garage should be pruned, organized, codified and harmonized as soon as possible. The myriad of boxes are not going to magically store themselves.

Which brings us to shelves.

I created a new system for myself, in the interest of policing a garage that has gone beyond the pale in terms of stagnating boxes, and I’d like to share it.  I call it, quite simply, “stacking, packing, and racking”.  Feel free to use this discipline to help yourself out in a classic garage-related storage space quandary.

The first rule of “stacking, packing, and racking” is make sure you have a proper vessel for the items you intend to organize.  It is sheer folly to attempt a re-arrangement of clutter, either cursory or in-depth, without a proper containment unit, a final resting place if you will, for the aforementioned clutter.

4 Shelf Steel Storage Rack

Trust me, after my experience this weekend, the very best solution is to purchase a rationally priced 4 shelf steel storage rack. I ordered one from Stacks and Stacks, easily constructed the item using the simple instructions, then began regulating my overpopulated garage.

I have to tell you, this storage rack is an unyielding dynamo, a real steel triumph of power and rational self-interest. It won’t bend to the confines of an over-stocked wall, nor buckle under the weight of innumerable boxes.  With each individual shelf capable of shouldering a weight capacity in the range of 800 pounds, you can certainly bet your bottom dollar this unit is going to set your clutter straight.

I used a personal philosophy called “stacking, packing, and racking”, found an honestly amazing steel storage rack, and perfectly organized my garage.

You can too.

Now that my board games are secured, I was taking a good long look at my garage on a whole. I live my life at an exceptionally high level of organization and cleanliness, but, to be fair, this garage is a disgusting mess. A disaster. Way too many boxes (albeit color-coded and stacked according to contents), power tools and automotive canisters organized by weight, National Geographic Magazines, and an array of paint cans containing the entire spectrum of Dutch Boy colors (just in case I need them). With all of that going on, I’m going to need some powerful shelving to beat back the clutter. And I found a winner over at StacksAndStacks.com.

In the past I’ve covered the best in shelving categories for the home, from the Garage to the Closet, the Bookcase to the Kitchen, the Laundry Room to the Wall. But what I’ve found here is Industrial. The Industrial Duty 5 Shelf Storage Unit. It’s a powerhouse, a sturdy dynamo, and it’s ready-made to meet the needs my overstocked garage demands. For me, the garage; for you, perhaps the office or home, because the Industrial Duty 5 Shelf Storage Unit will do it’s duty anyplace you need it to serve. Like all good modern shelving units, this tough customer features sturdy steel posts and beams with smooth, rust-resistant baked-on enamel finish. And they the treat particle board shelves. They do. And you’ll want that in a shelving system. Untreated shelves are the bane of shelving professionals, and critics like me: they should be outlawed. It holds up to 2400 lbs, and it assembles easily with rubber mallet in 30 minutes. (Ever wonder how many things you could DIS-assemble with a rubber mallet, in half that time? Me neither.) And that’s all it took to get my garage back to manageable. The Industrial Duty 5 Shelf Storage Unit. Highly Recommended.

(I also found this terrific Free Standing 4-Bike Rack, but that’s another story.)

I spend an inordinate amount of time playing board games. I believe that playing games is certainly not a recreation that should be remanded to the sealed vault of a distant childhood, rather game-playing is a healthy activity that strengthens the mind, sharpens reaction time, and improves eye-to-mind concentration. I prefer the classic games of my youth; colorful and witty games played on delightful cardboard mats; most of them created by Parker Bros. (no relation or I’d have a bigger house). These games are just as valid as, say, a New York Times Crossword as far as improving and exercising the intellect goes. I tend to sharpen my talent for mental winning even further by playing these board games with only one player. But the crux of my dilemma is space: I have far too many board games. What to do?

I definitely found the solution. Most of my days are spent thinking about Shelves, but somehow it didn’t occur to me that I should find a perfect shelving system specifically for my board games. Should I trust them to a Laundry Shelf? Perhaps a safe corner of a Kitchen Shelf? There are always plenty of ideas regarding Closet Shelves. Even a Bookshelf might work wonders. But finally, I settled on a Garage Shelf to store my games. Over at the website StacksAndStacks.com, I found and installed a terrific Garage Shelf that really fits the bill. Called the Overhead Garage Storage Shelf, this shelf is is adjustable from 16″ to 28″ high, with a surface area of 3′x 3′! That’s a great way to keep a whole lot of games all in one place.

The Overhead Garage Shelf keeps things up and out of the way, really helps to optimize my garage, and with it’s powder coated white steel, it easily attaches to the roof truss in the ceiling of garages or large walk in closets. Luckily I still have a VCR, because the shelf includes an instructional video, and it also carries a lifetime warranty, which is great piece of mind. Mouse Trap, Operation, Clue, Monopoly, Scrabble, Sorry, Candyland, Chutes and Ladders… I can pack as many games up there as I need to, because the Overhead Garage Shelf holds up to 250 lbs of evenly-distributed weight! I feel almost petty discussing my favorite benefit, but blogs are a place to share, so I’ll share: the shelf height is such that kids can’t reach the games. They can’t. Which is great, because I like to keep my vintage games MINT.

The Overhead Garage Storage Shelf. Highly recommended.

Additional Resources:
Garage Organization Tips