Why do we have garages? Is it just to store cars and toys? Most of us have a lot of wasted space in our garage. One of my sons, recently, moved to a bigger house and his new garage had the neatest storage I had ever seen. The garage has a ceiling a little taller than most, about 12', I think. That meant that there was a lot of space over head for additional storage. The previous owner had constructed continuous shelves all around the perimeter that were perfect for plastic bins. My son had already filled up most of the space with bins containing seasonal clothing, Christmas decorations, and seldom used tools.

Derek's Bin Storage

I was so fascinated with the extra storage that I took the idea into my cluttered shop and created a shelf of my own. I used an old wooden door and some scrap steel to hang it from the ceiling to convert my unused space into extra, organized bin storage.

My Solution

It requires a ladder to bring down a bin but it keeps the bins off the shop floor most of the time. I plan on adding more shelves because I still have more stuff that I want to store up and out of the way. My ceiling is only 10' but it still works. I think it would still work with an 8' ceiling.

Other Solutions found on the Internet

These storage shelves can be purchased or made from building materials. I already had the materials so I chose a method that used what I had. Powder coated steel shelves with all the screws and brackets can be purchased. If you hang the shelf from the ceiling make sure the hangers don't block a bin location but instead are between bins. If your desired hanger locations don't match the ceiling support joists or trusses then span two supports with wood or steel to hang the shelves.

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