in which (Mostly) Everything Goes Back

First, let it be known that I am a Wench with a Wrench. I own tools and I know how to use them. In fact, the literal last time Hubby bought jewelry for me, I returned it and bought a reciprocating saw and a table-top miter saw with the money. I mention this because getting this garage put back together wasn't simply a matter of rearranging pieces. Some adaptations were made, thanks to the plethora of saws and other tools I had at my fingertips.

Truly, the best kick in the butt I got to getting this garage into a workable condition was being forced to move nearly everything out of its place. From there, I could view that corner as a blank slate, a clean canvas, and fill it to suit our needs, not what had always been.

There were 2 non-workable and large items in the previous configuration: the work benches. One (on the left wall) served only as a horizontal surface on which to dump stuff, and took up valuable real estate in the process (as well as blocked off a portion of the main bench). It was moved to the back porch, which really did need another horizontal surface on which to store a large table saw. That's fodder enough for its own post!

The main work bench, as built by Hubby, was limited/hobbled in its placement by the pipes sticking out of the back wall (left portion of this picture). The bench had been built around them, leaving quite a large space between it and the left wall. I wanted it to sit nice and cozy-like in the corner. To that end, a segment was cut out of the bench's back support beam to accommodate the lower plug protrusion, and the bench was wrestled onto the step and flush into corner.

 

The bench also had two long, narrow, unsupported shelves that added little usefulness to the space, so they were eliminated and a pegboard attached to the wall behind instead.

In my former job, I collected items that were cast off as equipment became unwanted. These shelves found their way home with me, and 3 of them replaced the thick, ungainly, particle board segments that had covered the workbench horizontal support beams. (A metal-cutting disk on my hand-held grinder was used to cut corners out so one shelf would sit neatly on the right side between the legs.)

You can see in one of the pictures above that I repaired and relocated the 7' cabinet (sans shelves at first); that, and the workbench, became the focus of my putting-everything-back stage of this project. With the new shelf under the workbench, I had a place to collect all my hand tools (drill, router, belt and hand sanders, grinder, reciprocal saw, jigsaw, air-powered tools such as stapler and nail gun, and my plumbing bits and bobs). They didn't need to live in the cabinet any longer, nor did the home repair books and woodworking magazines (they were moved indoors).

Cabinet shelves were now available for grouping adhesives, car products, electrical bits and tools, painting miscellaneous, poisons (wasp spray, mainly), bike products, and so forth.

As I selected an object from the center mass collected in the garage, I determined first if I wanted to keep it. If not, I either discarded it, or set it aside to sell on Craigslist or return to the store from which it was purchased. There was an embarrassing amount of things bought and never opened (for which I won't take full blame, but the clutter made it difficult for anyone to see what we really had). A set of bocche balls, large tongue-and-groove pliers, an unopened box of IKEA snap-and-lock flooring, and chainsaw chains were set aside for Craigslist (most of which sold).

If I did want to keep an item, it needed to find a home. It soon became clear that a series of bins would be needed to help corral like-items such as drywall screws, bolts, washers, and allen wrenches; basically, all the bits that had been living on the flimsy narrow shelves. Another trip to The Pot*, and this was the arrangement that fit my needs:

All my immediate-needs tools went onto the pegboard behind the bench. All the not-so-much, hangable stuff went onto the sides and front of the 7' cabinet (did I ever mention that I built that thing?) The nice thing about pegboards is that they're so rearrangeable! (All the specialty hangers and baskets came as part of a pegboard kit. Love 'em!)

Muffin tin: a must-have for assembling IKEA products. Sort all the bits and bobs into that, and you're good to go.

Ladle? Much neater than pouring paint from the can into the paint tray. The apron is a souvenir from a trip to London, England: it has the map of the Underground printed on it.

One item that was a big question mark was the teal trash can. It held an odd assortment of objects, the most memorable of which was scuba equipment from 40 years ago, and rope. Lots of rope.

Seriously, was I going to go scuba diving again? And, who would want plastic/rubber equipment that was over 40 years old? I cut that cord, hard as it was, and threw away the booties and all the old, distorted flippers.

The rope got sorted, tagged, and put into its own bin (these are representative. There was more. Lots more. Lots.)

The trash can has a home now, alongside the workbench, serving as a--wait for it--a trash can!

Wood. I'm a whore for wood and have the hardest time throwing it away. It holds so much potential!

We managed to collect many long lengths, which I hope to put to use someday (project to be named later). In the meantime, they have a home out of the way, yet easily accessible:

I like to find space where one wouldn't think any more space could be found. We have a furniture-moving dolly that I tucked in front of this set of shelves. Onto it I strapped some large 4x4 hunks of lumber--the footprint had already been established; the wood just filled in the blank spots!

Another pegboard alongside the bench to hold the ungainly gardening tools, hooks to hang the seldom-used bicycle, and that corner was complete. There's a brand-new, disassembled grill tucked under the workbench, to the left of the middle shelf, that'll eventually be listed on Craigslist. Hubby's gone vegan--that grill will disappear with his blessings.

The previous shot was taken in October. This shot was taken this month, after 5 months of hard and constant use of my New! Improved! work space (ignore the apparent curved surface--trick of the camera angle). I spend a LOT of time disassembling equipment, stripping it of metals and mother boards (for recycling--a fundraiser for my Sweet Adeline chorus), and usable parts (for sale on ebay, proceeds going to my Sweet Adeline chorus). The old cutting mat is a handy reference when I take photos of parts. The black and red toolkit was my gift to myself when I retired: my tool box where I worked was literally that--a cardboard box of random tools. Many of the tools have been tucked into my toolkit for instant access, which is why there are spaces on the pegboard, but little else has changed. I'm happy enough with the set-up that I'll be hot-gluing the hooks into place (keeps them from pulling up and out of the pegboard when I grab a tool), and drawing outlines of the tools onto the background for easy replacement.

Final shots:

Parked for The Win!

Much of the stuff stored along the right side of the car is temporary and goes away when I accumulate a car-full of recyclable metals. You'll notice a gray object under the table saw in the right corner of this photo--that's a kitty litter tray, and there's been no noticeable rodent byproducts since I put it there (with a deposit of used litter to make it believable--also, the cats seem to like having it there when they explore the garage).

There's still much that can be discarded eventually, but for now I can easily find anything I wish, and I can step up to the workbench and start working immediately, without spending several moments clearing a space and finding my tools. I'm happy!

*When we lived in The Valley, a new Home Depot was being built nearby. For a long time, the center portion of the sign wasn't working, so at night the store sign read, "The [.... ..]pot". Works for me!