Built To Last: Metal Storage Cabinets
Organize Your Garage With Metal Storage Cabinets
Metal storage cabinets can be a fabulous way to organize your tools and handiwork implements. With the majority of people that enjoy home DIY work, the tools and accessories they use to do their work build up gradually over a long period of time. Generally, the stuff you’re collecting doesn’t seem to be enough to be worth organizing, except perhaps by tossing it all into a basket or box labeled ‘handiwork stuff’. If you’re a true fanatic, though, then soon enough that first small basket will be joined by another, and another, until you’re surrounded by a swarm of tools with no order to them other than the one you remember.
No Need For Any Hassles Anymore
If you’re like most people, your grasp on your memories of where things are will deteriorate with the more things there are to remember, until the stuff around you looks like just another mess, and the sinking feeling you get when you try to imagine finding anything in the mess keeps you away from the hobby you’d come to love and enjoy. The best way to resolve such a silly situation is to get yourself a few good new or used metal storage cabinets, organize your things, and you’ll never need to worry about being unable to find anything ever again.
Looking At Metal Storage Cabinets
Typically speaking, welded metal storage cabinets of the kind sold by Garage Monster and Coleman are fitted with numerous compartments, which allow you to separate your
- nuts
- bolts
- drill bits
- spanners
- ratchets
- nails
- and so forth
into as many categories as you please. Of course, once you’ve done this, it’s always a good idea to take a run down to the stationers, buy some labels, and leave a note on each of these drawers so you know what’s inside – searching through drawers, while a little better than fumbling through boxes and piles of trash, isn’t an activity that’s really conducive to maintaining the flow of your creative endeavors.
Moving Your Storage Cabinets Around
The truly fantastic thing about metal storage cabinets, whether they’re used to store old tax statements, books, tools, or art supplies, is the way they allow you to effortlessly move things from one side of your garage to the other without any spine-straining dead lifting to contend with.
- If your cabinet’s castor wheels are too small or flimsy to be up to the task of moving its load across the garage, well, you probably shouldn’t have bought the thing in the first place.
- If the damage is already done, however, don’t despair. Most hardware stores sell loose castor wheels in sizes ranging from the circumference of a dime to that of a tea-saucer, and the largest of these are just about strong enough to take the shock your cabinet might incur bouncing over potholes in a Downhill Extreme race.
- They tend to cost about as much as a pack of cigarettes, so buy some and fit them where your old wheels fell off.
- If you need to drill new holes for the wheel-bolts, well, if the cabinet’s aluminum, your drill bit may be able to make it through (be careful, though). If it’s stainless steel, on the other hand, you’ll need to get it professionally machined.
Aluminum Vs. Stainless Steel
That last line brings to light the most practical decision you’ll need to make when taking your pick of the metal storage cabinets available. Aluminum cabinets are cheaper, and are actually more corrosion resistant, but stainless steel cabinets are stronger, and tend to be better looking. It all depends on how tough you need your garage storage cabinets to be.
Go For Wood
If your garage has a smooth tiled or concrete floor, there’s no reason not to go for garage storage cabinets made of wood. Beautiful options in maple and oak are available from Coleman, and may better suit a more old-fashioned, country-style home. Of course, if you’re going to go that route, you may also want to consider making your own. Manufacturing your own garage storage cabinets allows you to customize the size of their storage areas to suit your own needs, and really won’t call for anything more than a bit of lumber, a few power tools and some screws and some hinges. Check out ehow.com for full instructions for building your own cabinets.
