There was once a time when the garden shed was used purely as a place to store the necessary pieces of garden equipment. Lawnmowers stood side by side with trowels, spades and weed killers, but often the space was never used to its advantage. Now, people have caught onto the idea of using the garden shed for anything from a studio to a home office, and with the right storage additions it’s perfectly possible to achieve.
All it takes is a few carefully-placed racking options for the full potential of the humble garden shed to be realised. Racks can be used to store anything necessary from books to tools, and with plenty of options there’s no end to the different types of rooms that can be created.
Heavy duty shelving options would be ideal for a potential workroom to store any heavy pieces of equipment whereas simpler and more appealing options would be perfect for a home office or studio – any look necessary can be created, and with the addition of the right desks, benches, chairs and furnishings you can create your own personal haven.
With the right equipment and a little know-how, anyone can turn their garden shed into anything their heart desires. The right racking can make all the difference by providing somewhere to store everything necessary, and with so many options you’ll be spoilt for choice. You’re bound to find just what you’re looking for to offer the storage space that you need, letting you turn your shed into a room that’s totally usable.
Designing a kitchen is not the complicated task some people would have you believe. In point of fact, there are some basic rules that only need simple adjustments to suit your needs.
If you have an uncomplicated design to work with, and not a lot of money to spare, then it is perfectly reasonable for you to deal with the job yourself. There are also plenty of Internet websites produced by suppliers of kitchen equipment, that will help you decide how to plan it.
The layout of the kitchen will be dictated by its dimensions. Do not be too restrained by the size if you are planning to build an extension. It may be a good idea to begin with a drawing of what you consider to be your perfect kitchen, in spite of the fact that it bears no relation to the available space you have at the moment.
In any kitchen, the layout should have an uninterrupted line between three areas for food preparation, cooking and serving, as well as allowing room for storage. Where possible, there should be little or no chance of movement between these areas being interrupted by anybody walking through the kitchen.
If you have enough space, try not to fit wall units or shelving units, they can make the room feel too enclosed. A large larder is ideal for the storage of fresh and tinned food as well as china.
The best place for the sink would be next to the window. Blinds take up the least amount of room as well, allowing more room for storage, perhaps on the window sill.
Over the last couple of decades, architects have been concentrating more and more on making every inch of homes count as far as storage and living areas are concerned. In semi-detached and terraced residences in particular, there are restrictions on the amount of extending you can do. So you need to reach for the sky, to borrow a phrase.
Converting the loft into another room that can be used as a guest room, office, hobby or play area seems to be a good idea. However, if there is not enough room to be able to stand upright, then you need to consider a roof extension.
The cost of this kind of project will differ depending on the size and specification. However, undoubtedly, an investment in a well designed roof extension, particularly if an en-suite bathroom is included, will reap great benefits should you decide to sell the house.
For this job, it is wise to hire the services of both an experienced architect and builder. You need to remember that the appearance of the house will be changed significantly, and the extension must be completely watertight or you will have years of costly misery ahead of you.
Once the job has been completed, you must now consider the problem of furnishing the room. The sloping ceiling is best tackled by installing ceiling to floor closets or shelving units. As a home office, you could add to its versatility by adding a sofa bed for the occasional overnight guest.
Woodworking hobbyists or indeed professional carpenters will use the shelf storage area under their workbenches to hold a variety of things. It is also a useful place to store the tool box. However, even the most well organised toolbox can become overfilled after a while and, at this point, the woodworker may consider building a purpose made tool cabinet.
The great advantage to building your own cabinet is that you can make it as large or as small as you like depending upon your anticipated needs. Even the insides of the doors should be made use of as a storage place for a handsaw and a tenon saw. Shelf storage room inside the cabinet can be made adjustable to cope with any future acquisitions.
A drawer for screws, nails, drill bits and other odds and ends is a good idea and need not take up too much room in the tool cabinet. When finished the tool cabinet will probably look best in its natural state. However, be sure to treat it with preservative before coating it with a clear varnish. Not forgetting to apply both substances in a well ventilated area of the workshop.
Attach it to the workshop wall by drilling four holes into the cabinet’s back, one at each corner. Hold it against the wall, then use a spirit level to check it is straight and mark the position through the holes. Prepare the holes using rawl plugs and fix the cabinet in place using two inch woodscrews
There are plenty of portable workbenches and work tables from which to choose, but the more serious woodworker will probably want something more heavy-duty, with a proper carpenter’s vice attached to it. It should also have a work-surface that is long and wide enough to work comfortably even when making larger items. It should be positioned to make the most of natural light.
The traditional workbench has four sturdy legs held together by rails at its top and bottom. The bottom rails will support a lower shelf on which spare pieces of wood, tins of wood stain, varnish and other odds and ends can be stored. The front rail, typically, is six inches deep, twice as deep as the side and back rails. The reason for this is that the front rail will need to have a vice attached.
Workbenches usually have oak working surfaces and this should have a good sized tool tray recess as well. Making a decision on which vice is best for your woodworking requirements is not easy. There are a great many vices available and their price varies according to their size, strength and quality. An expensive, strong model will last for a good many years, but a cheaper version may be adequate for the amateur woodworker. An average woodworking vice must be fitted securely into place. It should always be remembered that a poorly fitted vice could cause a serious accident, especially when power tools and sharp instruments are being used.
The hobby of wood working is still very popular. Some regard it as therapeutic, others as practical. Even a simple piece of furniture handcrafted by the householder has a certain style of its own. There is also the feeling of satisfaction in the knowledge that you made that footstool or table. Furthermore the woodworker can tailor make shelving units, for example, to the exact dimensions available in his or her home.
The garage or the garden shed are the most popular places for an amateur woodworker to set up a workshop. A garage, typically, will have the advantage of a solid, concrete floor, plenty of light and a power supply. Should the garden shed be the only viable option, check the floor will be able to stand the weight of the work bench or work table. If necessary you may wish to reinforce the floor with more timber. You might also want to run a power supply from the house. However, this kind of work, even the installation of an electric light can be potentially dangerous and should be left to a professional electrician.
Fitting out your workshop to suit your needs is the next important thing to do. There are a good many portable workbenches on the market which are ideal unless you are going to be making larger items, when a more solid workbench is required. Shelf storage room or shelf racks to store tools will also need to be considered, taking into account the amount of space in the workshop.
In a small kitchen, every part not being used needs to be utilised in some way as a storage area. With this in mind, a side rack could be made and be used as a storage rack for holding, utensils, cups and crockery. Its strong oak frame will hang on securely fitted wall hangers. It can be built to any length since it has a repeating dowel pattern.
Measure the wall area where you want to hang the storage rack and mark it off with a pencil. Cut the shelf, wood or plywood is suitable, to the length required and nine inches wide. Then cut two top, two bottom rails and two face boards to the required length. Four side rails, 12 inches long will be needed as well. Cut three eighth by three eighth inch grooves along the centres of the bottom rails.
Mark points at six inch intervals along the centres of the narrow edge of both bottom rails and the face of each top rail. At each of these points, glue the dowels into the holes. One 12 inch side piece should be fastened to each of the top rails. Slip the shelf into the grooves cut into the bottom rails, secure the other side piece into place.
Mark across the top of the upper rails six inches apart. Place one slat across each point and fix with glue and one screw per joint. Fasten the face-boards to the top and bottom rails. Fasten hangers to the wall ends of the upper side pieces.
The three shelved bath valet only takes up a one foot square area in your bathroom but is capable of offering a quite large amount of storage space. Its other advantage is that it offers much needed dry storage space which is always welcome in a humid bathroom. White pine is recommended to be used in the construction of the bath valet.
When assembling the unit, you have the option to fix the shelves in place and use three separate doors. On the other hand, you may want to make the shelves adjustable and simply use one door to cover the front of the valet. Whichever decision you make, having a glass panel in the door or doors will enable you to tell at a glance what is being stored inside the unit.
To add to the valet’s usefulness, you could fix a towel rail to one or both sides. A shallow ledge around the unit’s top will be a handy addition as well, since it would make a convenient storage space for items such as deodorant, after-shave, shampoo and other such items.
A plastic storage rack with multiple pockets to hold various smaller items such as spare razor blades, hair grips and other miscellaneous bathroom necessities could be hung from one of the rails.
The unit will, ideally be mounted on four legs. The leg pieces should be cut to two by two inches square and about four inches in length and tapered to a one inch square at the base
If you have converted your loft but retained the slanted roof with just a window installed, that particular floor space under the slant could be used as storage space by installing a shelving unit.
However, with a little imagination and creativity it could be an excellent place to build a podium bed. The advantage of this arrangement is that it can be used not only to hold a comfortable mattress or a pair of mattresses depending on how much room there is available.
It can also be utilised during the day as a work surface, snack table or a place to generally relax after a hard day at work with the use of throw cushions.
First measure the floor space from wall to wall, making sure that you have at least eight feet by three and a half feet to accommodate the mattress.
Mark out vertical lines 16 inches above the floor. Once the frame has been built, leave a gap roughly a foot and a half in from the side wall for the mattress wall. In this gap you should secure three quarter by one and three quarter inch hardwood bed slats roughly two inches apart. However two of these slats should be fastened together to form a head support.
Lay the platforms over the rest of the frame but leave also room to install hatches further away from the front edge of the podium. This will make better use of the storage space beneath the podium, since it would be impractical to build long enough drawers.
If you have put boards down in the loft to allow you to move about more easily, it would also be an idea to maximise its potential as a storage area. The simple addition of a shelf along the rafters will set up a long narrow storage space for seasonal items such as skis, the Christmas tree, tent poles or fishing rods.
You may already have, lying around in the loft, some materials that will make this a very low cost project. A length of sturdy chipboard, wood or thick plywood for example will be ideal as the ‘floor’ of your storage space.
Measure the distance along the top of the collar tie between the rafters. Measure from the wall forward to the nearest set of rafters to place the tie with enough room to hold the items you are planning to store there.
Cut to the length of the span of the collar tie you just measured a piece of three quarter by two and a quarter inch strip of wood. Trim both edges to match the angle of the existing rafters. Fasten this to the rafters using wood glue and one and a quarter inch screws. Repeat the process for each set of rafters along the length of the intended storage area and secure a length of wood to the wall at the same height as the rafters’ strips.
Finally, cut the ‘floor’ piece to the appropriate length and secure it to the strips using glue and screws.