Today I’m gonna be tackling a project that I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time and that is getting rid of my old crappy shed and replacing it with something new. I need a place to store some tools and materials and right now this shed is just too small, too ugly, and too unorganized. Rats and critters have gotten in there over the years and made a mess of it they’ve made some nests, a couple of them have died in there, it’s just kind of gross so it’s time for me to get rid of it, and get something else. I’m really looking forward to smashing this thing to pieces, but to be honest, I’m also a little bit nervous of what I’m gonna find.
To get started, first I have to take out and remove all the tools, and the mess that’s inside. I’m wearing a respirator for this because I don’t want to be breathing in any of that rat stuff, or anything like that so making sure to protect myself by wearing a respirator. Once I had the old shed apart, the guys from the shed store showed up and installed the new portable storage shed. These sheds can get pretty expensive, very quickly, so I went with a basic 10′ x 12′ portable shed. It doesn’t have any windows or anything fancy on it, I just need something that’s gonna hold a lot of tools and equipment. Something that I can maximize the storage, which is the purpose of this shed, clean up some of the clutter in my current shop, clean up some of the tools that have just been lying around the house, and get everything into one area.
Organization to maximize in the storage area of the new shed I’ve decided on gladiator storage cabinets as well as an Elfa storage solution system. What’s cool about the Elfa system, is that everything mounts to these tracks that you then mount onto the wall, so you can move things around to pretty much any configuration that you want. I came up with a layout that made the most sense for this 120 square foot space, it gave me what I was looking for. The first thing that I have to do, is to assemble the gladiator storage cabinets, and then I can install the Elfa tracks on the wall, and start moving things around to the way that I want them. One of the big issues with the old shed is that I didn’t have any storage space for the lawn and garden tools that I need around the house. I didn’t want them clogging up my workshop, so I just kind of left them out. So now, even some of the newer tools are looking old and weathered.
Over the last year or two, I got me some of the lawn and garden hangers that work with the Alpha system, and it’s allowed me to bring in all those tools and mount them up on the wall. It was really easy, you can just snap them into the track and then push the tool into place and it holds it until you need it you can move them around and figure out whatever configuration works best for you. It’s really customizable, and I love it so far. What I really love about this new shed is the roof height. In my old shed, it was really low, and I used to bang my head all the time getting in and out of the shed. It allowed for very limited storage, but now in this shed, I have really high ceilings, so I can maximize storage. I can get things off the floor so that I can walk around, and still have a lot of areas to store things. I even built the loft over the cabinets and the shelves, so that I can move some of the family stuff that I have taking up space in my shop, into the shed. I actually have a lot more space and perhaps I’ll even tear down the closet that I have in my workshop. I like to keep tools for certain types of projects like drywall electrical plumbing painting kind of in their own tubs so that I know when I’m working on a project I can just go grab that tub pull it out, and I’ll have the majority of the tools that I need.
What I like about the Alpha open shelving system is that I can put those tubs on the shelf, see where they are and pull them off when I need them. They are easy to put back, so that they’re not buried in the back corner somewhere. I don’t have to dig for them, and I can just slap a label on them to know which tub is which.
I personally love the durability and the look of the gladiator storage cabinets, and though I wasn’t initially really sold on the Elfa system, as soon as I put it up and started using it, and saw how customizable it was, I absolutely loved it! It took me a day or two to organize the shed, and I’m still working on it. It’s gonna be a work in progress for a while, but I’ve been able to put more stuff into the shed than I actually thought I would be able to. I’ve been looking around the house for other stuff that I don’t need all the time, that I can get and put away and organize, before I can call the shed finished.
I still had to paint it because I chose not to order a painted shed because it was pretty expensive, and since I have Graco paint sprayers, painting it is a pretty easy task. My buddy Joe came by to help me out with it, and we were able to knock it out in a couple hours. We painted it to match the rest of the house and I’m super happy with the way that it turned out. I love how organized it is, my wife loves it, she loves that we can get rid of all this clutter. All the tools that I’ve had laying around the house for the last couple years are now in the shed, so she’s super thankful. If you need more storage you may want to consider a portable storage shed too!