Our Home In Making

Recently I’ve grown my Instagram family and the most requested tutorial is on our Garage Shelves. We built those about 2 years ago and I never thought I’d be sharing my projects on multiple platforms. So I didn’t record the whole process in detail but I have some time-lapse videos and a few pictures.

It was a great starter project that gave us the confidence to tackle more projects in our home. Even though our garage isn’t always clean and organized, we at least have a dedicated space for all the tools and a hundred other things we own.

Materials:

• 2x4s – 8ft
• Wood Screws – 3″ & 2″
• Wood glue
• Wood filler
• Plywood Sheet
• Brown wall panel
• Tools pegboard

Tools:

• MiterSaw
• Power drill
• Kreg Jig
• Stud finder
• Level

Step 1: Take the measurements

The first step is to decide where the shelves would go. We chose this corner as it has wall space uninterrupted by doors or switchboards. As it’s a corner, we could build L-shaped shelves to utilize this space to its best.

Standard studs are of size 2″ x 4″ x 8ft (actual size 1.5″ x 3.5″ x 8ft) and the plywood is of size 4ft x 8ft. So, we went with 8ft x 8ft shelves to minimize the cuts and wastage. We could just use the studs as is for vertical and horizontal posts. For the base, we just had to cut the plywood in half to give us 2 2ft x 8ft pieces.

Step 2: Plan the Build

We wanted to leave space for our big shoe stand and some longer items. So we came up with a plan that met our requirements. Here’s a rough sketch of our plan:

P.S: Actual measurement of a 2×4 is 1.5in X 3.5in. Keep this in mind while planning the build for any project.

You are stuck with my freehand drawing until I find a better tool to draw 😛

Step 3: Make a cut list

Shelf 1 (refer build plan above)		Count
The horizontal support for shelves	2×4 – 8ft	8
	2×4 – 4ft	2
The vertical support posts	2×4 – 8ft	3
Depth	2×4 – 21inches	18
Base plywood	2ft x 8ft	4
	2ft x 4ft	1

Shelf 2		Count
The horizontal support for shelves	2″x4″x6′	6
	2″x4x3′	2
The vertical support posts	2’x4’x8′	3
Depth	2×4 – 21inches	12
Base plywood	2’x6′	2
	2’x3′	2

Step 4: Mark studs on the wall

It’s time to mark the studs on the wall. I used this stud finder and this finder to make sure we aren’t hitting any pipes—double and triple-check your markings.

Now draw the lines where you want the shelves to be. Keep in mind that, the total height of the shelf will be 8ft. You can always choose to have shelves of different heights. While calculating your desired shelf height, consider the base boards’ height and the shelves’ width.

For example, my baseboard height is ~1ft, and I will have 5 horizontal 2x4s to give me 4 shelves. So my shelf bases would be 3.5″ + height of the plywood sheet ~ 4″. So the remaining space would be 96″ – (12″ + (5 x 4″)

Mark where your shelves i.e., 2x4s would go so that it would give you an idea of how the shelves will look. If you want to make any changes to the plan, now’s the time. By now, you should have the markings something like this:

Step 5: Add the back support

It’s time to attach the studs to the wall. Add the bottom one first and move your way up while marking for other shelves. Make sure they are straight using a level. It’s very important to keep them level, even though the floors are crooked.

To fix a 2×4 to the wall, you should make sure you are screwing into the studs inside the wall. This is where your stud markings will come in handy.

Step 6: Make the Front frame

This is the most important but easy step. You want to build a front frame that aligns with back support EXACTLY. Otherwise, you will have a wonky shelf. So, here’s a hack: Screw in another 2×4 on each of the existing 2x4s. Use 2.5″ screws (let’s call them “X”) just to hold them in place, we will be taking them out soon. If it’s confusing, imagine building a shelf with zero depth. We are doing this to align the front and the back side of the shelf

Now we are going to screw in the vertical posts to the second layer of horizontal 2x4s we just added. Based on your build plan, mark where you want the vertical posts to be. Note that these posts are just for support and do not actually create a separation in the shelves.

Now that the front frame is ready, separate it from the back support. Unscrew the second layer of 2x4s by taking out the “X” screws. This frame will be back on after we add some depth to our shelf.

Step 7: Adding Depth To the shelf

We used 2x4s here as well. Calculate the length of the 2x4s that go in between the front and back frame, based on your desired depth. We wanted our shelves to be 24in deep. So, taking out the front and back frame’s width, the length of these should be 24 – (1.5 + 1.5) i.e., 21 inches.

Place these strategically so that the weight of the shelf can be evenly distributed and you still have space to add in the screws. We made sure they aren’t placed right behind the vertical supports of the front frame, as we can’t drive in a 3″ screw there.

Now to add these, we made Kreg joints for the back support and butt joints for the front frame. You will need a **Kreg Jig to make pocket holes. You can also use L-brackets or other aluminum braces but a Kreg Joint will be the strongest.

Step 8: Attach the front frame back

Now, just attach the frame back by adding the screws to the 2x4s we just added to give the depth.

Step 9: Add the other side

We did the same thing on the left side. Add the screws where the shelves meet in the corner to make them one single unit.

Step 10: Add the base

We used 3/4th inch plywood as a base for these shelves. We added 2″ screws from the top of the plywood, driving them into the 2x4s below. The plywood is quite strong and we didn’t have to worry about the weight. The plywood itself is heavy, so make sure the back support to the wall is secure.

And yes, we stress-tested the shelves as you can see in the pic above 😉

Step 11: Add the Bench

We needed a workbench and wall panel to organize all our tools. So we added an extension to the longer shelf. We built it there because we had an outlet that we can use for charging all our tools. We got a metal pegboard and set it up above the space to organize all our tools

It’s very similar to building shelves. We made a rectangular frame with 2x4s and added legs on one end. We attached the other end to the shelf. We had to add an extra 2×4 on the side of the shelf at the bench height so that the bench had something to screw into. Then covered the top with plywood and covered all sides with the brown panel to give a smooth texture.

Still not pretty, right?

Step 12: Add doors

I immediately knew we need doors, but we didn’t have extra room to open/close such big doors when we put the car in. So we decided to go with sliding doors. I wrote a separate blog post in detail for just the sliding doors.

Once we added the doors, Voila! It’s all covered and our garage looks much more sorted.

Hope this helped you. Feel free to let me know if I missed any details. I’ll try my best to answer.