6 Slick Solutions for Your Garage, Storage, and Tools

Maker ingenuity extends pretty far in all directions and interests. Many makers would agree that the garage or workshop is one of the biggest hubs of those activities. Here are 6 projects to improve your workshop and storage.

Japanese Toolbox

Where better to start with your storage projects than an incredibly elegant box. this Japanese Toolbox has a clever lid mechanism that is useful and fairly simple to build.

Tardis Tool Shed

Any Doctor Who fan would love to have a Tardis of their own. Decorating a storage shed to look like the Tardis is an easy way to achieve this. Alternatively, you could build a custom storage shed for your garden tools and make it look much more like the original. Unfortunately, this Tardis is not bigger on the inside.

CNC’d Shed

For those who want a little more space, and maybe a little more power tools, a giant CNC’d shed might be the perfect answer! Assembling this thing is a breeze compared to building your normal framework, but you’re going to need a 5’x10′ CNC mill to get started.

Zombie Preparation

Sure, garden tools are great for gardening – but that’s not as fun as zombie preparation. You’ve got to hang your rakes, shovels, and other implements for fighting off zombies somewhere. Why not put them on easy to access hooks under a clearly marked “In Case Of Zombies” sign. You never know when the zombie apocalypse will begin and you should always be prepared, for zombies or yard work.

This project is very simple to complete and shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. A little paint, some hooks and a few garden tools is all it takes to complete your zombie preparation station.

Smartphone Garage Door Opener

It seems there’s an app for just about everything, except the garage door – until now. There are two well documented ways to transform your phone into a garage door opener. First, you could use some X10 gear and an app to get the job done. Alternatively, there’s always the Raspberry Pi and a little hacking. Whichever way you choose to get your phone setup to open your garage door, this can be a very useful app. The next time you go out for a run or take the dog for a walk, you won’t need your keys. Just grab your phone and go.

Hide Your Garage Door Opener In Plain Sight

This quick and easy project not only conceals your garage door opener, a common target for thieves, but makes you feel like a secret agent! When you want the door open, act casual, and pull your cup out of the cup holder so that you can activate the big button. Doesn’t that sound awesome? We thought so. Go ahead and make one, you know you want to.

6 thoughts on “6 Slick Solutions for Your Garage, Storage, and Tools”

Chuck Stephens says:

February 22nd, 2015 at 12:36 pm

I took a cue from the Myth Busters and bought a bunch of big plastic tubs. I use them to sort and store things as I acquire them. There’s a tub for motors and servos, welding supplies, air tools, art supplies, carving and sculptural tools, electronics, cameras, fasteners, consumables, bits and blades, etc. I have an old grocery shelf that hold 24 tubs plus another 8 under my workbench for tools and materials. It really helps me find things at 4AM when I’m madly trying to finish a project. Unfortunately, it frees up a lot of space that magically fills back up with more stuff, so to access the shelf full of tubs I have to move two compressors, a 4’x2′ DIY spring reverb, the new bathroom cabinets that are waiting to be hung and an exercise bike that I’m going to turn into a multi-device emergency charging station one of these days. Sigh.

A collection is curated, a hoard is just collected.

Tim Dolan says:

February 22nd, 2015 at 1:28 pm

Thanks for the last line. Currently I have a hoard which I am trying to upgrade to a collection.
SmokeyBehr says:

February 23rd, 2015 at 11:47 am

I have lots of plastic tubs with supplies, parts, cables, etc. and special purpose kits with all the pieces in an appropriate-sized tub. I have from shoe-box size all the way to the 100 quart size.