Shop Makeover – Progress: Wood Storage

Thanks Darren, I appreciate your response.

I just want to say that having the shelf right above my bench is proving to be the greatest boon of this new arrangement. I have always fought having tools in the way on my bench. I am now able to keep it clear and yet potentially have the tool I need right there within reach. I now believe if I did not have the bench up against the wall within reach of a shelf, I would put in a tool tray.

As for bench against the wall, in my shop I am liking the arrangement. I have worked mostly out in the open but this new arrangement is working out well for me. I like knowing tools are not going to get knocked off the back as I move things around. I can still pull the bench away if I need access to the back for some reason. I realize that in a shop like Stu's, because it is so small, having access around the entire bench may be more important.
 
Well, I have made some progress. Work always seems to get in the way, but I managed to reach another milestone. The garage is about 6 feet below the main floor of the house and the kitchen intruded about 2 feet over one section. The builders left alcoves along this wall between the kitchen and garage which allowed me to store "stuff" out of the main footprint of the shop. But it was always very messy, so I got the idea of building drawers and cabinets which would fit into these alcoves.

The result of all of this is below. The design was a little challenging because the three alcoves were all different widths. I proportioned the three doors the same width which I think makes it pleasing to the eye and determined the width of the larger drawers. The face frames were fun as they were placed after the the cabs were set into their spaces. It called for a lot of scribing and hand work with planes to get a tight fit with the drywall. As you can probably tell, the alcoves were not square, but what is now days?

I was able to use up all of my plywood I had around and only had to buy a sheet of 5/8 ply for the drawer fronts and doors. It was an excellent A/C ply whose C side had no knots. I keep asking the clerk at Windsor Plywood, "are you sure this is A/C?" I sanded the C side and made it the paint side, but truly the C side looked almost as good as the A side.

The drawers fronts and doors have a 30 degree chamfered lip around the edge so as to not require any pulls. I also used single demountable hinges on the doors.

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I almost forgot, I used 150# slides which I bought from Hardware Hut.
 
Very nicely done. The proportions work for me. A nice neat use of space that otherwise would have been awkward to use well. I think the elephant just got a little smaller.
 
Very interesting how the kitchen came out into the garage. Those drawers are a great solution to an awkward space. Really looks nice.
 
As I slowly move around the perimeter of the shop with my makeover, I have finally arrived at the corner that will be my wife's space in my domain. This corner will be where her pottery wheel will sit. Problem is there is "stuff" in the way. Moving things around my shop reminds me of playing with a Rubik's Cube, every move creates more problems to solve. The stuff in the way is a bunch of hardwood that I had haphazardly stacked against the wall. The way it was stored took up more room than it should. So to get the my wife's corner cleared so that I could work on, I first needed to come up with a better storage for my wood, in another area.

I found a space and painted the wall before building my solution. I did not have time to cover the concrete foundation wall with wood; I will do that after finishing the wife's corner. The "client" seems slightly excitable lately; something about being 4 months overdue. Amazing how time flies. Anyway, self preservation dictated that I kind of speed the process forward.

I still need to install a chain or two to secure everything. It was amazing how wood I had stuffed all over the shop was able to be consolidated into this one space. Pictures tell the story.

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Thanks Darren, it does and I should have done something like this a long time ago. I have to share a picture I captured off the web of possible wood storage solutions. Not so much for the plywood dividers but the fact they have space for an entire wall of hardwood.

Someday...

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Bill i like that solution. At previous house thats how i stored my wood.
Makes it easier to get at it. When on shelf like i have it now, one ends up having to unload to get at a specific piece. Not great.
 
Great job and very intricate detailing per progress movement. Thanks for that! I am looking for something unique but doable and simple for the living hall. I am looking forward to follow up with your further progress movements from here on so I can use them as design ideas and influences in my next DIY project. Hope you don't mind!
 
Great job and very intricate detailing per progress movement. Thanks for that! I am looking for something unique but doable and simple for the living hall. I am looking forward to follow up with your further progress movements from here on so I can use them as design ideas and influences in my next DIY project. Hope you don't mind!

Thanks Thomas. I have fallen behind on showing progress. I need to post where I am right now. I managed to finish the corner that my wife is claiming, but I still have more to do before I consider myself done with the shop. Right now I am busy with a refinishing project on "vintage" stacking tables (set of three). Personally I don't believe they are worth the effort, but my wife likes them. Requires some repairs and complete refinishing. I look at it as an opportunity to try some finishing methods that I have not done before...using dyes.

And it is also the start of golf season here in the Northern Hemisphere. Or least it is suppose to be, if it ever stops raining. So between work, honey do list, and practicing the swing at the golf range, I am slowing trying to complete this shop makeover.
 
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