They did a study once where they scanned customers brains before entering The Container Store and then again leaving (with all the organizational goods) and found that dopamine levels had spiked – and not just because of shopping (which as we all know, does give you a high) but they concluded it was due to the hope/prospect of a more organized version of yourself is just so thrilling. Now, that might be an urban legend, but it rings true to me. Take this, for example – we have the most rundown garage ever (close to 200 years old and not maintained) and then a “hoarding house” next to it full of so much stuff (the goods and bads) that it can’t possibly stay organized. So while this garage rehab was quite the business investment, the value that I’m getting out of it is not just good for business, but incredible for my emotional inner world. I’M SO EXCITED. If you want to be a gold star reader, you could watch the Youtube that we made (Gretch and Marlee are killing it at this!!) and please, please, please like and subscribe (it’s so good for the algorithm which helps other people see the video – it’s rough out there!).
The befores are pretty spectacular – “rundown” being a wild understatement. So my brother’s company (Afore Construction) set off to restore it, using the same footprint, the same structure, most of the original wood and posts (shout out to old growth wood – while some were too rotten from rain and had to be replaced or scissored, a lot were solid and remained in tact). It took a few months and cost far more than I want to publish on the internet (over six figures), but she is incredible now. She is weatherproof, with functional electricity, a new concrete floor (in one bay), new doors (on all), cadet heating for winter, and super sealed up. Spider proof!! (We hope… those harmless yet terrifying wolf spiders are INSANE).
We ended up cladding all walls and ceilings with pine tongue and groove to ensure that it’s a finished out space that allowed for the most flexibility, while being obviously really pretty. The end use is definitely prop/tool storage, but it’s pretty big, so in the summer, the team might work out here and certainly do DIY projects.
So, essentially, we have three walls that we could put storage on. But what kind of storage? Deep Shelves? Cabinets? Drawers? Bins? Peg Wall? So I made a list of what we really needed to store and what would be the best way to keep them organized long term, while being easy to access.
In the big storage unit (not in this garage, the next garage): furniture – vintage and furniture line samples, rugs – big and small, camping stuff + sports stuff, all holiday, bins of memorabilia, vintage stuff that I can’t seem to quit.
So I set off to shop for storage furniture that would provide both cabinets, drawers, deep shelving, and more shallow shelving, closed and open, AND ALSO LOOK GOOD. I knew that a whole room of open shelving would look busy and messy (and I’m not great at say, putting things back in bins on a daily basis), so a combination of open, closed and some with drawers was the goal – some easier access, some labeled for more specific use. I know that our needs are specific – most people just want shelving and maybe a tool drawer in their garage. I landed solidly at IKEA due to price, availability, design, and a lot of options that looked good together (non-spon or traded). But I still had to check dimensions, lay it out, price it out, and triple-check my work. I came up with the plan:
This felt like a solid plan that checked all my functional boxes while still being aesthetically pleasing. This wouldn’t be a garage with 80s Porsche posters over bins of screws – she would be as pretty as she was functional.
Due to the depth possibility and the shorter ceiling, I thought this would be the best place for a wall of streamlined cabinetry. I chose the IKEA PAX closet system, but designed for shelving and drawers, not closet rods. The kicker here? The green door fronts are so pretty, and I knew they would look good with the below shelving and pop off the pine so nicely. Their online design program was an excellent user experience, and everything was added to cart, including every hinge, shelf, bits, and bobs. Incredibly easy.
I chose the 39″ cabinets (wider than the slimmer ones) and, as you can see, chose shelving on top and drawers on the bottom. I winged it a bit, opting for mesh drawers on the bottom, not really knowing why, but figured maybe something would be good to put in those (paint materials? dirty drills? prop slippers?).
Once installed, you can see how it worked IRL, which is exactly like the design. And yes, we hired IKEA Task Rabbits to put everything together (took one day, although we put on the doors later so that we could shoot it open like this at first and waited on the shelves to plan out what height we needed with specific props).
For whatever reason, this was the wall that I dedicated to deep shelving – not 12″ or 18″ but tall, wide, and deep for big bins and lamps. Obviously, there is a lot of flexibility here, and it’s not like I measured every lamp or pillow. I love the green and black design of this BROR unit (thank you, IKEA, for caring about aesthetics).
This wall is shorter, having the door to the other garage along this wall. This seemed like a great place to have a combination wall – shelving on top, cabinets on bottom. And here is where I wanted slightly more shallow shelves because I have found that trying to reach back really deep to grab a vase can be annoying (or things can break easily). So here we chose the BROR line as well, in green. I definitely considered the rolling cart/table, hanging cabinets, peg wall – all the other options in the line, but I knew that we would have a huge worktable in the middle, and I’ve had peg walls before with less success. We needed pretty open storage for my pretty things, and the BROR shelves created that.
Once installed, we spent 2 days bringing over everything we needed (and purging). I gave so much stuff away to neighbors/friends, Aurora Mills (OG architectural elements – doors, bathtub, original built-ins), Rebuilding Center (random lighting, pedestal sink, bathtub), and then a decent amount of just gross spider covered pillows or random junk had to be donated or thrown away. We stored all our backup tile, paint, and window screens in our basement since we really will only need those in an emergency. I’m VERY excited to show you the results in a couple of weeks. I find myself going into the garage in the morning with my coffee and just tinkering, rearranging, admiring – it’s such a dream and will be so good for shoots, as well as my mental health (LOL).
Again, don’t forget to watch our Youtube video all about it. It’s so fun, I promise:)
*Prettier Photos by Kaitlin Green
I love your plan and hope to do something similar in my garage. Why did you choose Pax over Sektion kitchen cabinets?
See my post above. I definitely recommend Sektion over Pax for heavy duty storage.
Ruh roh. well hopefully i made the right decision for us. I honestly didn’t consider the sektion (perhaps i felt that kitchen cabinetry would be more expensive and harder to install?). So we’ll see!
it is more expensive! for sure
We have a similar setup in our basement. Not as pretty, since we had a leftover Paxcloset in white und while we considered Bror, we ultimately went with a similar system, but one that could go higher (our basement has quite high ceilings), but unfortunately ist just plain metal. Can’t have it all, function over form in this case 😉 All that to say: we’ve been using that setup for over a year now and it’s super practical, still very happy with it.
Oh, and concerning your “opting for mesh drawers on the bottom, not really knowing why”: because IKEA forced you to, is why 😉 With sliding doors, you can do closed drawers till all the way down; with hinged doors, you can only use mesh ones on the bottom (or, of course, start above the lower hinge, but that would be a waste of space).
As someone who just finished designing a Pax closet, I thought the same thing about that bottom mesh drawer – it just is what it is!
Oh really?????? For me I didn’t even try to put the white drawers on the bottom, i don’t think. I remember thinking would be good for things like used paint rollers or things that like flake or get dirty? or need to breathe?
I adore IKEA Pax for closet use and have used the Sektion line in multiple kitchens. When I used the Pax 39” wide units in my garage, it was an epic fail. The shelves were just not sturdy enough to store heavy items like tools and bins and the sides and shelves bowed over time. We ended up having to reinforce the interiors. If I had to do it again, I would have definitely chosen the Sektion line for the garage instead. Their shelves are rated for much heavier storage. I wish you luck! They do look beautiful and maybe having several interior drawer units will help shore up the unit.
Yeah, that’s a point I forgot in my “very happy with my similar setup”-story: we only use the Pax in our basement for storing stuff that’s not so heavy: our skiing gear, winter coats, shoes… On top we store empty boxes that might be needed again. The bigger shelving next to it, is for the sturdier stuff like tools. Our basement also functions as a kind of pantry and all the heavier glass or metal containers are also on the bigger, sturdier, metal shelving, not in the Pax unit.
Well, I think you are inspiring me to go out there and remove the stack of dishes – VERY heavy. The rest of the shelves don’t have super heavy things on them (like maybe a box of fabric samples or a box of command strips) but that stacks of platters might be too heavy. Sure wish I had done an ask the audience before hand!
I came here to say this well! As a former IKEA employee, I can attest that the shelving for PAX is rated for storing clothing items, not for heavy items. The shelves will definitely sag over time if you’re using it for heavy-duty storage. Sektion would be more appropriate for the use case, but it looks like it’s a bit too late to make the switch. Perhaps you handyman can find a way to reinforce them. Best of luck, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished space.
Yeah I load weight capacity is important.I have this in mind because I’m about to replace the janky vintage credenza that holds my tools with a metal tool chest / workbench with proper capacity but I’m feeling MOODY about spending the money !
I am here for these videos. They are so cute!
ah thank you. Gretch and Marlee did such a great job!
The green color is amazing!! Love it with the wood.
Is the garage really almost 200 years old? That seems quite old for Oregon!
WE don’t totally know. we know that it was a carriage garage and a sheeps barn. we know that the carriage house (or so we are calling it) is roughly from 1850 and we think part of the garage was built around then. Definitely old for Oregon, but no, we don’t totally know!
This looks fantastic! I just installed a Pax wall in my guest room. I also renovated my super old freestanding garage… did mine during the pandemic when I needed a good WFH spot. Like you, I needed a lot of storage space. I went with Sektion out there instead of Pax. I did 17 feet of lowers only, and left two spaces open for desk chairs, then topped it with butcher block. I ran narrow shelves above with super sturdy iron shelf brackets I found on eBay. On the opposite wall, I ran a narrow ledge and use it as a gallery wall for paintings that aren’t on rotation in the house. Not the best picture, but you can kinda see my situation here. I work onsite again, so use the garage as a party/game/puzzle space.
It is beautiful and I hope the shelves will be able to take the weight! You have so many, I’m sure you will be able to spread the weight out. I’m curious, you said you spent over six figures on the remodel. $1,000,000 seems crazy high! Am I misinterpreting the over six figures sum?
Six figures would be $100,000-$999,999. Still a ton of money for a garage, but they basically rebuilt the whole thing.
Thanks for the clarification! I thought I had read over six figures! For that I would expect custom shelves! LOL!
I think “six figures” means in the hundred thousand range, not the million range, as that would be seven figures/numbers.
OMG, get out of my head! LOL… We’re doing the same thing, down to the green, right now. I was just at Ikea last week laying it out. It looks great!
pro tip from an owner of similar (kitchen) cabinets- those green matte doors show greasy fingerprints so you’ll want to keep a microfiber cloth handy or strongly encourage handle-only use. (Or just get over it)
Looking great! Love the green doors with the green Bror!
Any details to share on the wheeled art rack in the video?
You forgot to mention the video also nicely presents the magical jumpsuit. Twice!
It looks like so much fun too! Makes me want to tackle that kind of thing myself, just not with my own piles of stuff 😅
Emily, I hope you take this in the spirit its meant. I wasn’t more than a few seconds in before clocking the ADHD sparkle and it was so endearing. I know you’ve been open about having ADHD but I never quite understood how?? when you juggle so many things at once, and successfully (I could never) but I guess I was just dazzled by your accomplishments, which I failed to recognize were achieved by merit of hard work and of ADHD, not despite it (obligatory “does that make sense?”) Probably this is rambly and under-coherent but I just wanted to put it out there.
The green is gorgeous :)
nvm, it’s a different romper but still super cute
Can I just offer mad props to both the EHD team AND the commenters here for the respectful concern over weight capacity / Pax vs Sektion!? Emily and team are like “ooh! Thanks for the heads up” and people are like “we’re just worried for ya” and BOTH are being very normal and civil and adult about it and it’s SO REFRESHING!! EHD community is awesome.