I’ve never had a problem collecting stuff. As long as there was free space, I could collect a little more. The problem is keeping sorted, accessible. When Diane and I moved into our current place, we had an extra bedroom and a garage to fill into. We managed to stack large plastic tubs four high and three stacks long in the garage. Getting at seasonal clothes, holiday ornaments or that one thing that’s one needed once a damned year was a Tetris challenge. Then there was the “work bench” in the garage. The previous tenant took scrap wood old nails, and built one of the poorer excuses I had seen for a bench. The bench top was layers of cheap plywood stacked to make a single work area. It was set on a 2/4 railed screwed into the back wall of the garage. The front edge was held up by 2x6s jammed under it to act as legs.
After four years of living with the teetering mess, I set out to build a new work bench and some storage shelves. I’m not a carpenter by any meaningful standards, but I recall quite a bit from grade school shop classes. And I have a few new tools under my belt.
I started by taking detailed measurements of the garage and made a 3D model of the space. Then I made some sketches of the shelves and bench I wanted to have in that space.
Then the fun part: building. It took about a week of spare time to cut, screw and install two shelves. It took another afternoon of stacking and packing to get everything back into place. I now have shelves that keep stacks from getting too high and work bench that is level, sturdy and provides additional storage.
