Cleaning Up (Part Two): Garage Organization and Grill Repurposed

Oops!  It’s been two weeks since we finished the garage reorganization, and I published part one about cleaning up the yard.  But here’s part two: organizing the garage AND repurposing our old, rusted out charcoal grill.

Garage Organization

There is no before picture because it was truly awful.  Not really, but I just didn’t get to it before we started pulling everything out.  The first, and most important thing to do when organizing a space is to pull everything out of the space, and see what you actually have.  We were ruthless in deciding what we no longer needed to hold on to and made a trip to the recycling center and to Goodwill.  Realistically, I’m never going to use those roller blades again, and I am far happier thinking of some kid getting some enjoyment out of them.

What we were left with was a bunch of gardening tools and supplies, some weed killer, and some left over pieces of lumber and melanine.  We knew we wanted some place to hang up the gardening tools- rakes, shovels, tree trimmer, etc…  And we knew that we did not want to spend a lot of money on some fancy piece of storage equipment from the home improvement store.  So this is what we did, for FREE:

Tool Storage Detail

We already had the screws and extra lumber.  We found two pieces that were relatively even, and cut them the length of the wall.  We pre-drilled the screws at 3 inch intervals on the piece we wanted to be out from the wall.  We sunk the screws into the wood at the same depth, using the screw box as a template.  We found the studs on the wall, levelled the other piece of wood, and then screwed it into place.  Next, we put the other piece on top, and screwed it in until it felt really secure the whole way.

Tool Storage – double lumber

The reason we chose to use two pieces of lumber- (2″ by 3″s) was that we wanted to make sure the tools had some room to rest on the wood if need be.  It also makes a nice little ledge that’s handy for some specific tools- like the crowbar.  (Barely visible at the corner).

Garage Organization

This made such a vast improvement in the space, we were quite giddy with excitement.  Knowing that we spent nothing, we felt we could splurge on a little something to keep the power cords up and in place.

Outdoor Cord Storage

So at the gardening center, we found a pack of two hooks (meant for holding a window box) for about $4.  They are the right size, and have a long enough arm to hold several cords each.  Again, we just found the stud and screwed it in!

And now for the project we are most proud of, converting our nasty old rusted out charcoal grill into a gardening bench.

Grill Repurposed into Potting Bench

It had been sitting outside on the edge of the property, waiting to be taken to the dump.  But I kept stalling because I had some different ideas that I thought were worth trying.  My first idea was to turn it into a planter.  The bottom tray rusted out a few years ago though, and the only thing left on the inside was a charcoal platter- full of large holes.  I looked at it and thought about it, and if I really was determined I bet I could find some material to make a new bottom for it that would work with dirt and water.  But then I realized it would be far easier, and more productive as a bench in the garage.  So we detached the lid, sprayed it down the hose, let it dry, and then spray painted the rust spots.  We already had the spray paint- left over from the first time it needed some TLC.

Inside old grill – now storage

We had a few pieces of melanine left over from adding more shelves to our kitchen, and they were all perfectly cut to size!  We just put a large piece on top, and then added two smaller pieces on the bottom for extra support.  The shelf on the bottom was OK, but it was also really rusted out and starting to warp.  We notched one of the smaller pieces to fit over the wheel, and BAM, instant potting bench!

Grill Repurposed into Potting Bench

At some point, I’ll add some large hooks over the collapsible sides for more tool storage (right now they are just sitting in a bucket on top).  We didn’t screw any of the melanine into place.  The top is so heavy and solid I don’t think it needs it.  But if I want to, in the future, there are a few places to add a L-brace underneath on the sides.

This was such an easy project to do, and has made such a difference!  I’ve caught Mr. Lucky just staring at a few times, with a slight smile on his face, so happy that we could repurpose this object instead of just throwing it away.

Linking up to these parties:  House of Hepworths, Thrifty Decor Chick, Remodelaholic