Curtains for Garage Shelving

Put curtains on your Husky or other brand modular type garage shelving! Hides clutter and protects your stored items from dust and light. Simple fix that costs less than $10 per shelf, plus the cost of curtains of your choice.

I created these to work with a Husky brand 48 in. W x 24 in. D x 78 in. Steel Shelf. If you have a different brand, you may need to add a little length to the wood strips, or pick a different type of mending strip, etc.

You will need:

2 x 2 inch wood, cut into 12 inch lengths (I used furring strips-- $1.85 each at Home Depot)

Mending Plates ($2.78 for a pack of four at Home Depot; make sure you pick ones with holes which align with the holes on the shelves)

2" wood screws (these must be small enough to fit through the holes in the Mending Plates)

Saw

Drill

Curtain rod set in at least the same width as your shelves (For my 48" wide shelves, I found 48" wide curtain rods at Big Lots discount store for $6 per set of rod and brackets)

Curtains that are longer than the shelves are tall (My shelves are 72" high, so I chose 84" curtains to hide items stacked on the top shelf)

Attach your curtain brackets to the very top and center of your strips of wood. If you, like me, have several shelves adjacent, you may need to stagger the heights of your curtain brackets so the decorative ends of the curtain rods don't sit at the same height-- they won't be able to fit.

I made one pair so that they had brackets at the top and center as shown, and the other pair had centered brackets placed 2" lower.

You need to carefully place and mark your wood pieces so they sit level with each other and so you have pilot holes in the right places to attach them to your shelving.

Hold the wood strips so about 6 inches of the wood is above the level of the top shelf. While it is flush against the shelf, mark in the back with a pencil the areas where you will put holes through the gaps in the shelf support. Also, make a mark along the back of the strip that is flush with the top shelf, so you can make sure it sits at the correct level.

Take your wood strips down and match up the holes in the shelf with the holes in your Mending Plates.

On the back side of your wood strips, mark and drill two pilot holes to match the Mending Plates.

This is a two-person job, or you'll need a clamp at least to hold the wood in place. Place the wood strips just as you measured earlier, and from the back side put a screw through the Mending Plate, then the shelf support, and into your wood strip at the pilot holes.

Be careful that the wood strip doesn't spin around and hit your fingers!

Attach the matching strip to the other side, being careful to have it at exactly the same height so your curtain rod sits level.

You may now remove your dog from your curtains, thread the curtains onto the curtain rod, and place it into your two level brackets. The curtains will hide your clutter, protect your stored items from sunlight, and reduce dust on your storage shelves.