Garage Cabinets

If you’d prefer to keep your garage storables behind closed doors, a set of cabinets might be just the solution you’re looking for. Any interior kitchen cabinets can be used in a garage, including both base and upper cabinets. Base cabinets really offer several benefits: deep inner storage for large items; drawers for fasteners, hardware, or other small tools; and, of course, a convenient flat work surface. If you’re upgrading your garage storage on a budget, utility-grade melamine or unfinished cabinets are actually quite affordable. You could also shop at a second-hand building materials outlet or put to use cabinets removed during a kitchen remodel. If you have limited floor space in your garage, look for utility cabinets with a shallower base. Some manufacturers offer a 15"-deep model that’s 9" shallower than a standard base cabinet. As you plan, make sure there’s still room to park the car, bikes, and other yard and garden equipment.

The process for installing cabinets in a garage is the same as in a kitchen. Cabinets must be firmly attached to wall studs, and they should be level and plumb. Using a level as a guide, draw reference lines along the project wall to indicate the locations of base and wall cabinets. If your garage floor is uneven, find the highest point of the floor along the wall and use this as your initial reference for drawing the other layout lines.

The best way to ensure an even, level installation of upper cabinets is to install a temporary ledger board to the wall, and rest the cabinets on it when fastening them to the wall studs. Many pros install upper cabinets first, to take advantage of the full wall access, but you might want to begin with the base cabinets and use them to help support the uppers during their installation. If your garage cabinet system will include a corner cabinet, install it first and work outward to make sure the corner cabinet will fit the space properly. If your garage floor tends to be damp, it’s a good idea to install leveler feet on the base cabinets beforehand.