12 Storage Tote Shelving System $50.00

Hello all! Today I wanted to share with you how I made my storage bin shelving system for my garage. It holds 12 totes! Here is a short story why I made this instead of purchasing one.

I have over 40 totes in my garage. I needed a sturdy shelving system to organize them so I could still get to one on the bottom without moving all the other totes off of it. I went online and priced them at all the hardware stores and garage centers I could manage to find and almost got sick because the cheapest I could find worth a darn was over $130.00!! No way could I afford 4 of them! They did hold 12 totes which I needed but for the price I was heartbroken.

I decided to make one for a lot less then the going price so I went to my home improvement store and did the measurements! My totes size was the first measurement. This should be your first step. Mine were around 12 inches high. Next tote width which were 17 inches wide, followed by the depth which runs about 22 inches. With that in hand I needed to factor in how tall I wanted the unit and how long. How many totes I wanted it to hold as well. Here is what I came up with. It’s a good starting point. It’s all in the pictures. I took a lot of pictures of this project with my husband’s camera and took 2 with my phone camera and my 5 year old son accidentally deleted ALL my pictures off my husband’s camera before I could down load them to my laptop so I am stuck with the 2 off my camera and the ones I took after the fact. I hope I explained it well enough in the photos and if you have any questions please ask. This is an easy project and for only around $50.00 a fantastic deal! If you like this project vote for it! Thanks again! Enjoy!

Remove these ads by Signing Up

Step 1: What you will need.

Material:

12 pieces of 2"X4"X10'
20 feet of 1"X2" for supports

Tools:

DeanAshby says: Jan 27, 2013. 9:03 PM

Working in the storage business, I have also been looking at various storage systems that I could use at home. Though I don’t actually work inside a storage facility as my work gets me to move across Australia, I like to find tips on finding storage systems that are cheap. This article just gave me the idea on what I can do inside my garage and it helped me organize my totes!

ebosloor says: Jan 27, 2013. 9:02 PM

babyruthless says: Dec 20, 2010. 12:03 PM

I NEED one or eight of these! Could you just come over and make one for me?? lol! Great instructable! My boyfriend beware!

Hobbler in reply to babyruthlessJan 24, 2013. 5:02 AM

Hey Babyruthless.......I've actually started a business doing just that. www.GarageDecker.com. If you are in the southern Ontario region, look me up

TabbyDeAnne (author) in reply to babyruthlessDec 20, 2010. 12:33 PM

I would but I'm busy that day! lol! Thank you. Enjoy your weekend! And thanks for the Vote! If I do win my husband and I will have the best Christmas EVER! lol

rlgjr says: Dec 28, 2012. 6:26 PM

I would put three stretchers even and in the middle between the long horizontal supports for each level. This would allow the totes to rest on the stretchers as the totes were pulled out and put in. This still keeps the costs down. The alternate would be to do as Nick.D suggested to use Plywood but the would raise the costs significantly.

Nick.D says: Aug 9, 2011. 11:28 AM

Looks good! One addition I would make would be to add plywood along the bottom of each shelf so that you can easily slide each tote in and out.

markstutzman says: Feb 4, 2011. 2:06 PM

Nice. I built something similar for my garage, with extended legs, so the tote shelving portion is raised up a little over 3 feet off the ground, and my table saw rolls underneath for storage.

TabbyDeAnne (author) in reply to markstutzmanApr 28, 2011. 10:16 AM

That's a fantastic idea! I may have to make another just to try that! Have you an 'ible for it yet? It's a must do! Thanks.

all thumbs1 says: Dec 21, 2010. 12:59 PM

amazing and very well done . i finally can store my totes instead of using them for tables. :)

TabbyDeAnne (author) in reply to all thumbs1Dec 21, 2010. 1:28 PM

Thanks a bunch! I was using mine as seating! lol! Have a great week!

karossii says: Dec 14, 2010. 2:22 PM

I had a friend purchase a very similar unit from the 'SkyMall' magazine (that overpriced sales paper you can see on a lot of planes)... it was made from PVC pipe, and came with 12 matching storage tubs. He paid $200 plus shipping for the whole thing, and still had to assemble it himself.

I duplicated it, with sturdier storage tubs and PVC, for a mere $100 including the tubs. I believe the tubs were larger than yours, at 18"x36"x18"; so a smaller unit would cost proportionately less and be closer to your cost.

TabbyDeAnne (author) in reply to karossiiDec 14, 2010. 3:44 PM

Well played! I just couldn't see paying that much especially when I needed several units to hold all my totes. Do you have a picture of your finished unit?