Let’s Organize the Garage!

For years hubby has tried to get me motivated to organize the garage. Usually, I’m game to reorganize just about anything but I knew it would be a big project so I procrastinated starting it. That all changed when my son was getting ready to organize his garage and offered us his garage cabinets. He said he prefers open shelving and was going to be giving them away. I hesitated at first, again, thinking about what a huge task it would be to prep for them, get them from his house to ours, and then get our garage back in shape. I mentioned it to hubby who jumped at the chance to finally get the garage organized! He was SO excited that I figured it was time to get it done.

Let’s do this!

Below are the cabinets in my son’s garage. As excited as we were to get them, we had work to do first. Before we could move the cabinets from his garage to ours, we had to prep the space. Because he was ready to move the cabinets out, we got started right away. Knowing that I would be moving things around in our garage, I took the opportunity to clean the garage, paint the wall where the cabinets would be, throw out or donate things that no longer worked or that we never used, and add other organizational tools.

Decide on location

Wall where the cabinets will go

Paint Shelf

Once I got the shelf out into the open, I cleaned it and painted it black. Using Rustoleum flat black spray paint, I applied two coats. When the paint was dry, hubby and I moved the shelf to the opposite wall in the garage and I loaded it up.

Paint Drywall

The next step was to remove the rest of the stuff from the wall….assorted shelving, tool boxes, mini fridge & freezer, and the tall cabinet. Once all of those were moved, I thought it was a good time to finally paint the drywall! I swept and vacuumed the floor then starting painting. I applied 2 coats of drywall primer then 2 coats of white semi-gloss water-based paint.

Initially, I didn’t plan to paint the peak of the wall due to the height, but I knew it would always bug me, so I did so by attaching a long extension rod to the paint roller and using a taller ladder. Even with our tallest ladder, I couldn’t safely reach the areas closest to the ceiling. I just make it a point not to look up there 🙂

Repurpose Tall Cabinet

While we planned to get rid of (donate) all the miscellaneous cabinets and shelving, we did plan to keep the tall cabinet that had been storage for spray paint, sanding pads, cleansers, etc. Since it was on the wall where the new cabinets would go, I had to make another space for it. We now use it for all our extra household supplies. It is so nice not having all these supplies randomly scattered around the garage!

Enlarge Workbench

Now that the shelf was no longer next to the workbench, there were 2 additional feet between the end of the workbench and wall. With the extra space, I could increase the length of my workbench! At first, I thought I would do that by buying another piece of particleboard and set it on top of the existing workbench. If I did that, my workspace would be 3′ x 7′ instead of 3′ x 5′. After mulling it over, I decided to leave the existing 3′ x 5′ top and add an ‘arm’ to the bench. By adding the arm, the workbench would be 3′ x 7′ and there would be an additional 2′ x 2 1/2′ section to use. The details on the construction are here.

Install Pegboard

One of the best organizing tools for your hand tools is a pegboard. Installing a pegboard is super easy if your garage has no drywall – you just screw the pegboard to the studs. Since the wall I where I was going to hang the pegboard was drywalled, I had to create a structure for the pegboard to be attached to so the pegs that go into the little holes had room. All the details to this project can be found here.

Build a Wood Storage Cart

Part of organizing the garage was figuring out how to store all my scrap wood. When I finish a project, I keep almost every piece of extra wood to be used on future projects. Since I didn’t have a good way to organize all the various sizes and shapes, the pieces were stored in several places around the garage. Now that we were organizing the garage, it was the perfect time to find a way to have all the spare wood in one place. I did a little research on Pinterest & You Tube and found some examples of storage carts for scrap wood, so I decided to build one. Ironically, I didn’t have the right pieces of wood on hand, so I had to buy some. However, I did find several of the pieces that I needed on the 70% off rack! I cannot tell you how fabulous it is to have all the spare wood in one place!!! All the details on how I build this cart can be found here.

Bring on the Cabinets!

Now that the garage was ready, it was time to bring the cabinets from the son’s garage to ours! My fingers were crossed that I had measured correctly, and the cabinets would fit between the new section of the workbench and the garage door! Before the cabinets were loaded onto trucks, I removed the cabinet doors & drawers to lighten the weight. After that, my son his friend loaded them into his truck & ours and we brought them over. To my delight, they fit perfectly along the wall between the bench and garage door! I did make one adjustment. One of the countertops had an overhang that prevented it from butting up to the next cabinet so, using my skill saw, I removed it.

Clean, Hang, Fill

After the lower cabinets were in place & before hanging the overhead cabinets, I cleaned the countertops and doors then reattached the doors. Since the upper cabinets are really heavy, we had to figure out a way to help in the installation. To make hanging them a little easier, hubby and I attached a 1″ x 2″ board on the wall where the bottom of the cabinets would be. Also, so we wouldn’t have to hold the cabinet against the wall while attaching it, we used drawers to support the weight. We lifted the cabinet onto the drawers, which were the height of the support board, then attached the cabinet to the studs using 3″ screws. Having the weight of the cabinet supported this way made the job so much easier! Once the cabinets were hung, it was time to fill them!

Before, During, After

The other side of the garage also looks great!

Organized Garage!

Now you see why I hesitated to organize the garage! I knew it would not be a quick job. However, it was SO worth the time and effort we put into doing it. Everything now has its place; all the tools and supplies are organized, our extra household supplies are tucked away where they won’t get covered with sawdust every time I work on a project, my workbench is larger, the spare wood is all in one place….and…we absolutely LOVE how these ‘new’ cabinets look in our garage! (ps…our electrician added an outlet closer to the fridge & freezer so we aren’t using extension cords).

Supplies Used

• 2 gallons of white semi-gloss water-based interior/exterior paint
• 1 gallon white drywall paint
• Paint roller & pan
• Extension rod for roller handle
• Preservawood oil-based sealer
• 3″ paintbrush
• 2′ x 5 1/2′ piece of particle board
• 20′ 2′ x 6′ (or 2′ x 4′) board
• Clamps
• 3″ star head screws
• Drill w/drill bit & screwdriver bit
• Level
• Skill saw
• Tape measure
• Miter saw
• Shop Vac

For your convenience

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