1 Car Garage Makeover

Hello Guys,

I am in need of design ideas for my 1 car garage. The size is about 10x20. I want to build a work bench with shelving all the way to the back but need ideas of what I should do. There is a door to the house on the left side so the shelving and bench cannot block that space. Anybody have links to plans or ideas?

 

In my small 1 car garage that I use for storage, I have a work bench and storage on the back wall... I just got a couple cheap unfinished drawer bases and got a piece of 10' long laminate preformed countertop. I spaced the drawer bases out so that I had a cubby hole on the left, middle and right sides. So there is like 30" of space, then a 15" drawer base... another 30" space, then a 15" drawer base... then another 30" space, which equals 10 ft. Put 2x4 cleats on the wall to provide continuous support for the back of the countertop. I use those 30" spaces under the countertop to store large items, but you could also turn that area into open shelving by putting cleats on the back and sides. (The left and right ends would need 3/4 vertical plywood supports... roughly 24 x 34 1/2" to match the size of the base cabinet sides.)

Then above the countertop at around 60" high I've put up a row of 16" deep Rubbermaid wire shelves that I got at Lowes. You could also put up Slatwall or pegboard. Then above that I put a ledger on the back wall and about 2 feet out I put a 2x6 that spans from wall to wall... it roughly lines up with the front of the countertop. I put 24" wide plywood on top of that to give me a 2' x 2' storage area up next to the ceiling. We put totes, tents, lawn chairs, camping stuff up there. You need a short step ladder to get anything down but it's a good use of space.

 

Based on my experience, I suggest you treat your garage / workshop / storage project as a multi-step work in progress. I built some shelving, and a workbench on wheels. After finishing, I realized I needed a different storage solution. Then I modified the storage, adding some magnetic wall storage solutions some tools, included several bins and even added a wall folder product for manuals.

In short, I believe you should customize your space over time to make it what's best for your need rather than someone else's by trying things, then making improvements.

 

Back when I bought my first house, a small condo with 1 car garage, the challenge was storage so the thing that helped most in that small space was to utilize the height and make that as efficient and easy to get to in place of more shelving/cabinets on the floor!

Think up!

 

Thanks guys. Lots of decisions.

XSleeper,

Would love to see a pic of your set up.

 

This is what I want to do.

DIY Garage Shelves ? Modern Builds


The pic is where I am at. I would like to remove all wood from the wall cover any holes and paint and then put some anchor boards up. Not sure the best way to attach the boards to the wall. I have a house built in 2004 with drywall and very thin metal studs that are hard to find with a stud finder.

 

The Ana White website has some garage shelves that are or can be made completely self supporting (you still attach to them wall to keep them from tipping either way).

As for the workbench, I like the idea that Bob of I Like to Make Stuff had with his workbenches that were smallish, but connected together with magnets to make bigger benches in different configurations. Both are simplistic builds that can be customized to your needs and space.

Oh! Ana White also did a collaboration with Ryobi for an ultimate workshop, you might get some ideas from that too. Good luck!