One of the things that was sorely lacking in the new house was any form of garage organization - just a huge, empty, 40 x 18 x 10 foot box.
Next to no organization - piles of boxes and a big open mess.
I did a bunch of research, and looked at the garage storage systems in the big box home improvement stores. My impression of the systems offerred, both in metal and in melamine - was typically of mediocre quality, and a lack of flexibility. Typically, only one or two base cabinets and tall cabinets were offerred, so getting a good fit with my space would be difficult or impossible.
Then I went to Ikea and checked out the Akurum kitchen cabinet system. Here - lots of choice in base cabinets, wall cabinets and tall cabinets. Lots of widths, height, door and drawer combinations. In essence - exactly what I was looking for - full flexibility to implement a storage design taking into account my space available. (Note - I understand that the Ikea Akurum system will be replaced in 2015 by a new kitchen cabinet system - Sektion - but that shouldn't change the principles of implementing a similar solution in your garage).
Here's my post on the Akurum cabinet installation.
Here's a photo of the completed tall cabinet - loaded with racks and gear:
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| Completed Cabinet Installation - Perfect for Skis, Hockey Sticks, Thule Rack Bars |
Empty wall - ready for cabinets.... I had been wondering what I could do with this space between the mandoor and garage door.
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| Bare corner ready for cabinet installation. I had to move an alarm motion sensor up to clear the cabinet installation. |
In order to fit the cabinet - it was a tight squeeze - I had to use the router to remove some material from one side of the cabinet - to clear the ceramic tile installed on the bottom 2 feet of the wall in my installation. Note the plastic levelling feet used - makes installation a breeze.
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A router removed some material from the side surface of the
cabinet to clear my ceramic tile on the lower part of my garage walls. |
A wall mounted plywood strip compensates for the thickness of the ceramic tile on the wall at the bottom. The metal hanging bracket ensures a solid installation - very simple and straighforward to hang the cabinet on the wall.
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| Plywood spacer and wall bracket for securing the top of the cabinet. You can also see the alarm sensor wire has been extended. |
Adding boxes to the initial wall cabinet. Levelling is quick and easy with the plastic cabinet feet.
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| Box installed, waiting for cabinet doors |
Once all the wall cabinets are installed, its time for some doors and drawers. I went for the soft close hinges and drawer slides - makes for a polished installation. I also installed a second cabinet door with extra height to hide items placed on top of the cabinet. This space is perfect for wheel holders.
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| Top door - extra height to help hide items placed on top of the cabinet. |
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| Door installation - checking the height of the shelf with my longest set of skis. |
One tip for making the whole process go quicker - use an air powered trim nailer - brad nailer for tacking the back panels of the cabinets to the cabinet frames - this really speeds up the slowest part of the whole operation.
I also added some velcro ties to help store poles and accessories.
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| Velcro tie - held down with a wood screw and washer. |
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| Pefect for holding ski poles. |
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| Completed installation with the door closed. |
After about 15 months - this setup is still rock solid and very practical. I can't imaging working without it now.
Final touch - was installing a second garage door remote on the side of the cabinet for convenience. I ran all the wires in surface mount wiring channels - to hide the wires and neaten the installation.
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| Garage Door Control installed on the side of the cabinet |
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| Door sensor installed - wiring channels hide bare wires. |
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| Organization of the Thule Rack Parts |
Conclusion
This was a super upgrade. When ever I need to rack up the car - my racks are right near the garage door - no running around and digging up rack components. The skis are also right by the garage door - just open the garage door - throw the skis in the car - and off to the hill. Excellent upgrade and time saver, helps the garage look neat.
Sources and Links
I hope you found this post useful. Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below. I answer all questions. If you're interested, you can help support this site by using the following links to Amazon.com in the United States. Cabinets are available at Ikea - in person or online.
