Under Stairs Shelves

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Somewhere in your house, shed, barn, garage, or whatever, you may have wasted space under your stairs!  Spiders are the only occupants taking advantage of this space.  I had some stairs in my garage leading up to a bonus room that were perfect wasters of space....until I made my shelves.  It is easier to get organized if you have a place to store the stuff that you are trying to organize.

I had a very small window of time between work, sleep, and playing with the family so I did this quick and simple.  In the process, I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do so you will have to use your imagination.  The good news is that the shelves you make will be your own.

  I used some 3/4" thick plywood for the shelves (you might have some 1/2" plywood laying around, or some planking pulled from a pallet, or some really thick cardboard, or carbon fiber)  You get the idea.

For My shelf supports  I ripped some scrap 2x4's into 2x2's, and fastened them to the stringers with some #8 wood screws.

Along with the normal safety equipment...Safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection and proper clothing I used very few tools.

A circular saw (handsaw would work fine, but would take a bit longer)

Drill for drilling and countersinking holes and for driving the screws.

Sandpaper for smoothing the edges (power sander would be quicker but louder)

A measuring tape, carpenters square and pencil for marking.

I also had a workmate (clamping table) that made things easier.

Measure to see what size to make your pieces.  I was able to make all the supports the same length, but my shelves varied by almost half an inch overall!  To make the shelves easier to keep track of, and to have a tight fit I measured and made each one, one-at-a-time.

Time to get repetitive.  I cut all my shelf support pieces square on one end and cut at a 45 degree angle on the other (just to be a little fancy)  I then drilled and countersunk my screw holes and sanded them all down.

I held the shelf supports in place and transfer drilled the screw holes into the stringers.  I then used wood glue and screws to hold them in place.  I then cut out and placed the shelves one-at-a-time.  I made the shelves so they fit just tight enough to hold themselves in but loose enough that I could take them out for easier cleaning.

Now you will have shelves to organize some of your stuff.  Kind of haphazard in this photo.  I later made some sloped sided organizer boxes https://www.instructables.com/id/Sloped-Sided-Organizer-Box/ and put some like items in each box.  Now when I need something like safety equipment I just grab down the box that has my gloves, glasses, and ear plugs, take them out and put the box back.

I hope you have fun making and using your shelves and as always....Thanks for reading and Enjoy!


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