When we downsized from a four bedroom house to a two bedroom townhome, we had one big problem. Storage.
We tried stacking boxes on top of each other until one day, they buckled and fell over.
So, my husband built this very simple way to organize our stuff, while making the most of our square footage. Here’s a picture of our organized garage.
How to make it work:
1) Purchase plastic containers – They are far superior to cardboard boxes because they a) keep critters out, b) they are all the same size, c) they won’t wear the way paper will. We bought the Rubbermaid plastic containers.
2) Next you’ll want to measure your space and see how many rows of containers you can fit. Our containers measured 11 inches in height each. The wall we planned to store the boxes on was 22 feet high. That meant we could easily fit 4 rows on top of each other (even given the 2 inches of wood in between each row).
3) Screw 2x4s together by using the t-brackets like this:
4) Place your pastic bins on shelving for storage. You’re done! Note: You do not need plywood reinforcement on the beams. These beams will be sufficient by themselves.
5) Don’t forget to write the contents of each box on a label that you tape to the box. I wasn’t a stickler about this, but generally gave an account of what was in the box (i.e. wires, Christmas decor, baby clothes, kitchen, etc). You can use the backside of old business cards if you want sturdy “recycled” paper as labels for your boxes.
See how easy that was? Next I’m going to tackle the closet.
