For most of us, our garage is not just the place to park our automobile. Garage shelving is a very common practice and many of our belongings like gardening tools, automobile tools, vacuum cleaners and other things are usually kept in our garage storage for convenience and ensuring that our living space is free of clutter. But, you must find the right garage storage solutions to get the best out of your investment. As many of us have experienced, organizing the garage is also the first step to decluttering the rest of our homes. You should also understand that Industrial shelving is different from garage shelving, particularly because of the heavy packages or items that go on to the industrial shelves.
Taking stock
The first task before choosing shelves for your garage is taking a look around the garage and making a list of all the stuff you would need to frequently access, items that are used once in a while but still needing access, a vacuum cleaner for instance, and items that can go into long-term storage. If you have a bicycle or two, you will need to access them nearly every day, but your gardening tools may be needed once a fortnight or so and should be easily accessible. There can also be things like old clothing, holiday decoration etc that can go into secure storage. Once this list is ready you are ready to organize your garage and scout for appropriate shelving.
Garage cabinets
Cabinets are your best option for storage of small items that need to be accessed at regular intervals and will include things like cleaning supplies, power tools, assorted hardware etc. Garage cabinets constitute an excellent option for homes with lots of clutter that needs to be stored away but still easily accessible. Garage cabinets will also help you to safely store sensitive items like chemicals and protect them from dust, moisture and light. You can also maximize storage footprint by adding wall shelves to the cabinets.
A wide range of materials is employed in the making of cabinets including particleboard, plywood and plastic. Depending on your budget, you can also choose cabinets in a secure metal of your choice. However, if you are focused on the economy, particleboard cabinets should be your option, but you should choose industrial-grade particleboard in preference to the standard variant because of higher durability.
The plastic or laminated board is a better choice if you have concerns of moisture in your garage. Laminated cabinets are significantly more resistant to water and stronger too compared to particleboard cabinets with no coating.
Wall shelves
Wall shelves are convenient for holding bigger items like gardening equipment, electronics or medium size hardware, small boxes and other things that you may need to access with ease. Wall shelves are more affordable compared to cabinets but perfect storage is when the cabinets and wall-mounted storage work in tandem. But, since most wall storage is open you may need plastic containers for items that need protection from dust and moisture.
Overhead racks and shelves are ideal for storing bulky and large items that should not ideally be crowding the garage floor. Overhead storage is also helpful for maximising the storage by using the ceiling. But, storing items frequently used should not go on to the ceiling storage since retrieving these items and putting them back can be a tedious job.
Let us now also look at some of the additional options you have in garage storage solutions.
Irrespective of whether you are choosing wall-mounted or freestanding shelving, the material you choose for shelving distinguishes it. Prices will also vary depending on the brand, quality, shelf size and material.
Wooden shelves
Wooden shelves are sustainable and beautiful adding style to garage storage solutions and your work. Hardwood like maple and oak are durable and strong while softwood like pine and pressed wood such as chipboard or plywood can be ideal for light-duty storage. But buckling, warping and breaking when a heavy load is put on the wood are problems you will have to reckon with. Nevertheless, you can move the freestanding wood shelves with great ease while the wall-mounted shelving is fixed to the wall using metal brackets and attached firmly to the walls. If you choose a kit for building your shelving, ensure that the kit also contains the required hardware and necessary instructions.
Wire and metal shelving
Metal shelves, generally steel, can be ideal for storing heavy loads and are available in a wide range of sizes. Another benefit of metal shelving is the ease of cleaning. Metal shelves can also be painted or powder-coated with a colour of your choice to protect it from damage and rust. For heavy-duty equipment, you can choose solid steel while wire shelves are strong enough and lightweight. Wire shelves are made of chrome mesh, or steel and formed as connected strands of wire. Heavy items like tools, boxes, paint cans can be conveniently stored on wire shelves. However, care should be taken to ensure that smaller items like screws, loose nails etc are put in a container so that the tiny items do not fall through the gaps in the mesh.
Shelves with adjustable rail
When you need to change the space available on the shelves at regular intervals, adjustable rails offer a great amount of flexibility. The vertical tracks are installed on the wall and slotted along with equal intervals. Metal brackets help in fitting each shelf at the desired height and when you need to change the height, you can remove the brackets, move the shelf down or up according to your needs and fix the brackets again.
