As much as I love mediocre woodworking and projects that require power tools, our garage workspace did not reflect that. This has been my workshop setup for the past year. Ugh.
I really want to build a dining room table soon, and I knew I'd need a good workspace for that to happen. So I decided it was time to fix it. Because this was just embarrassing.
STEP 1
Build a workbench.
"Umm, what?" I can hear you asking. "Just build a whole workbench? That's step 1? This is wildly unhelpful."
I agree. But here's the thing, I built my garage workbench and I did NOT do a good job. I mean, I did an ok job, but it was not a good job. It's not square or even, I must have measured wrong at some point because once I attached the legs to the bottom frame there was like a 6 inch gap I had to fill to make the top frame fit. It was a mess.
But fear not! I will not leave you completely empty handed in the garage workbench arena. I used these plans from Shanty2Chic and I LOVED them. The directions are super clear, they even give you an exact lumber cut list. It's magical. So Step 1 is build a workbench but use the Shanty2Chic plans because I do not trust my work bench building skills enough to share them with anyone else.
TA DA! It's a poorly constructed work bench in a very messy garage!!
STEP 2
Pegboard!
Pegboard is a magical invention that lets you hang all your things on the wall so you can grab them whenever you need them. I used these pegboard hooks and things because they were cheap and had a bunch, but they actually work really well and I was happy with them.
So buy some pegboard (I got mine at Home Depot) and screw it into your wall and hang things on it! But please crew it into the studs. Studs are surprisingly important when hanging things on a wall.
STEP 3
Organize!
I don't have tons of time to work on my projects (because apparently giving a one year old power tools is "frowned upon") so in order to make the most of the time I have, I need things to be organized. I need to know exactly where I can get a 2 inch screw or a drill bit or a secret candy stash I hide from Ben.
I knew I was going to need tons of different sized containers. And everything at WalMart and Target was crazy expensive. But guys...do you know about Dollar Tree!? It's a magical place with lots of fun things that cost a dollar. But they have TONS of organizational things! So many containers in so many sizes. I bought all of these for $20!!! $20 total! Dollar Tree is a magical place.
It also helps that I have a Cricut and I could make vinyl sticker labels for all my boxes. But if you don't have a Cricut just use a sharpie or printable clear labels!
And there you have it. A garage workspace makeover, complete with a hilariously poorly built workbench of which I am embarrassingly proud.
This project's imperfections: I mean, look at it. This entire workbench is a mess. I tried to do pocket holes for the first time and I did not measure correctly so none of them worked. I didn't have a big enough piece of MDF board for the top so I had to Frankenstein 3 different pieces on there. The one at the far right is a quarter inch higher than the others. I'm pretty sure the whole thing leans 15 degrees forward. But it was a great trial run for my dining room table! I learned a lot and it will do what I need it to do, which is mostly just hold things.
And there you have it! A (sort-of) 3 step garage workspace makeover!