Garage Storage Buying Guide

If you know a fair bit about durable metals, then chances are, you know what you are looking for in a garage cabinet, garage shelf, or work bench. Stainless steel cabinets are shiny, nearly indestructible, and prohibitively expensive for most. Aluminum is rustproof, tough enough for most uses, and affordable for a serious garage dweller with some disposable income. For the average homeowner and weekend handyman or mechanic, though, a complete garage storage system is only affordable in durable, rugged plastic.

Steel, Aluminum, and Diamond Plate With materials like these, even the simplest garage cabinet is going to cost four figures before it even gets to your door. This option is for serious handymen and mechanics who plan on living in the garage with their tools. The diamond plate cabinet and garage shelves run the most expensive, and for good reason. A basic, full-size garage cabinet costs just under $1,000 and will last much longer than you. The kits, including a number of cabinets and perhaps a work bench, range from 1,500 to about 5,000 dollars. Tough Plastics A homeowner can really trick out a garage without dropping 1,000 dollars on a single item. Wall panels are becoming the basis on which most garage renovations are started. After installing paneling around all or most of your garage, you can hang a wide assortment of cabinets, hooks, garage shelves, and workbenches.

And while the metal options discussed above may survive a direct hit by your SUV, we simply recommend you avoid that situation altogether. These products are tough enough to withstand years of hard use. And if a ding occurs here and there, who cares? It's a garage, right?

Overlooked Solution
The overhead garage storage option is often not considered, as it is too simple and often too inexpensive for manufacturers who want to sell more expensive items. An overhead storage rack can be purchased for as cheaply as 90 dollars, and let's face it, you've got a lot of stuff you'd like to see completely out of the way but can't completely dispose of. Ranging in size from 4 feet square to twice that, there isn't much that won't fit. Check out the nicer models with a lowering system so you don't have to climb a ladder.