Organizing 101

Today I want to take you into a room.  Sort of a room, it is the garage and I figure that is a good starting point for my rooms.  We all want the garage to be clean, organized and clutter free but that isn't always the case.  I have a space between the back door and a wall in the garage that was holding shelves.  They were always stacked with this and that and always looked messy. 

It was the perfect space for one of those amazing entryway storage systems like Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs carries.  I just didn't want to spend that much money for the garage!  So, last fall we took out the shelves, I painted my garage and my husband and I built our own storage system.  It was simple.  We started by going to Home Depot and buying a double door wall cabinet (unfinished), a sheet of wainscoting, and some boards. 

 First determine how high you want the cabinet.  Attach two boards (one at top and one at bottom of where your cabinet will be) to your existing wall by using screws in the wall studs for support.  Then using wood screws attach the cabinet to the boards. We used them about every 4 inches top and bottom - you don't want that to fall!  Now measure and cut your wainscoting.  Attach it to the wall beneath the cabinet.  We added a board over the wainscoting for hooks to hang dog leashes and jackets.  The base can be another cabinet you purchased or build a base like we did.  The bottom is just a panel with cabinet pulls for decoration.  The two open spaces were perfect for baskets I purchased at Michaels.  These are used for outdoor shoes and the top is the perfect place to sit and put your shoes on.  We painted it to match the garage and I added the stick on numbers to the cabinet doors for decoration.  Total cost about $100.


The best part is this can be configured to any space, you can customize it as you wish and it just took a little elbow grease.  I love it!