Easy Wall-mounted Sports Balls Holder

My garage is running out of space, and that makes floor space come at a premium. So, I'm using the walls as much as possible.

Having bare, unfinished, garage walls allows for a lot of creativity. I recently hung a 3/4" sheet of plywood up to being organizing the types of things that were too big or too heavy for peg board.

Since the kids' balls were always rolling out of the garage I decided to get them off the floor--on a budget. I only made one purchase for this, and most of that purchase will yield supplies for the next project.

I've seen this design at The Container Store and the like, and I really liked it. I can fit four balls inside.

(4) 24" Bungee cords. I went to the sporting goods store, camping section, and found a plastic jug of 10 or 12 different sized cords. They came in multiples of each size. The jug I found was $9.

(2) 30" bungee cords

(4) 12" sections of 2x4 stud (this was scrap I had lying around)

1/2" wood boring drill bit

cordless screwdriver / drill

(4) 2.5" deck screws or wood screws

(9) 1.25 to 1.5" wood screws

(5) 1/2" to 3/4" wood screws

(1) shelf bracket

(1) 10x10" cut piece of 3/4" plywood

(1) strip of wood 1x1". 2x1" will also work.

Pliers

Cutters

Knowledge of how to tie a figure-8 stopper knot

Pencil

Measuring Tape

Level

Hot glue gun (optional)

Like I said, it's quick and dirty. I trimmed a square of plywood down to size and cut 4 small pieces of 2x4. That's it. Remember, I already had the plywood wall up from another project.

Cut a 10"x10" square of plywood and mark the four spots in which you will drill the 1/2" holes. Because my kids use youth-sized balls made my holes at the corners 1 inch in from each side.

Cut the (4) pieces of 2x4 to 12". Screw them together in pairs, making (2) L's that you can slide down behind the plywood wall.

Use the boring bit to drill holes through the ends of the 2x4's (about an inch in). Also drill through the end of the 2x4's, about an inch from where your plywood wall will be.

Measure their placement to make the outsides of the 2x4's match the width of your plywood square. Mine was 10"--you can size yours more or less for your needs. Use three wood screws for each "L" to hold it to the back of the plywood.

Lastly, I centered the single shelf bracket to the underside of the plywood square. This gets affixed to the wall later on. The bracket I had was just a tad too close to the edge, so I opted for a small machine screw and washer/nut to prevent splitting. But, if your bracket has room, a screw will be fine.

Use the cutters to snip off the ends of the (4) 24" cords--ONE END ONLY. You can then slide the cord out of both curly hooks from the other end. This saves time.

Save the curly hooks; you might want them later.

Tie a figure-8 knot at the end of each of these cords, trying to get it as close to the end of the cord as you can. A figure-8 is a good stopper knot. Ultimately you can choose the knot too.

Slide each knotted, cut, cord up through the plywood square, slide them through the 2x4s, and tie figure-8s on the top of the 2x4s.

We'll stretch it down and mark the spot for drilling to the wall later (this makes the cords tight and do their job).

I needed my hands for this, so no photos.

But,

I applied pressure to pull the base (plywood square) down as far as I wanted it. I made the cords pretty tight.

The following is the small 1x1" strip that I use to help keep the plywood square from coming up. Using my pencil I made a mark across the top of the plywood square then did the following:

1. cut a 1x1" strip of wood to match the width of my plywood square (10" in my case)

2. lined it up on the wall (left to right) with the 2x4s up top as well as SIT IT on the pencil mark I just made

3. screw one end of it to the wall

4. place my level on the strip to fine tune it, and

5. screwed two more screws (one in the middle and one at the other end)

Holding the plywood square to the wall, under the 1x1" you just screwed on (which makes it easier to hold it in place now), make a pencil mark through the bracket's holes where you need to screw.

I tapped a small starter hole using a screw, by hand, to get a stronger start and reduce a wobble.

Screw the remaining screws of the bracket to the wall. Mine had three screws to be done.

Because my kids need youth-sized balls I needed to bring the vertical cords in a bit.

I took two of the 30" cords and simply tied overhand knots around each cord, making a "boxing ring" so to speak. I started in the rear left because you'll end up back there (two knots over each other), and it looks neater.

The knots are just tight enough to hold into place, but I can also slide them up and down as needed for different balls being put in there. And, because they are tied independently at each corner, you can slide any side up or down--independently of the others.

Note: conserve cord. You have to make it all the way around so try to tie that first (left rear) knot with as little hanging out as possible.

I also use the hot glue gun to glue the lid from the bungee jug to the base to help hold the bottom ball still. This is option as I've tried it both ways with success.

That's it. Feel free to tweak this as needed. If I had to purchase everything, including a small 4x4 ft plywood piece to cut down myself (around $12 for that), I'd say less than $28 for the entire project. Finding all these things in my garage kept it down to $9.

Thanks for viewing.