For most of us, the garage is more than just a parking space. It’s also storage space for outdoor toys and gardening gear and a workshop for home projects and hobbies. With its cabinets, open shelves and countertop, this wall system is designed to suit all those additional needs and still leave room for parking. And because it’s built around standard cabinets, installation is simple. If you can screw cabinets to the wall, you can build this system.

Reader's Digest This is the ultimate garage wall system.

Adaptable, versatile, simple

Create a customized system by arranging store-bought cabinets any way you like.

You can install the cabinets, countertop and shelves in a single weekend. If you add extras like we did—a fresh paint job, a backsplash shelf, hooks and other hardware—expect to spend a second weekend completing the job. You’ll need standard tools like a drill and circular saw. A table saw will come in handy but isn’t absolutely necessary. We bought all the materials for our 24-ft.-long wall system at a home center for a total cost of $2,400. That’s about $100 per linear foot. If you use inexpensive cabinets as we did, your per-foot costs will be similar.

Shop first, then plan and buy

Before you plan this project, check out your cabinet options at a home center. Most home centers carry several styles of inexpensive standard kitchen cabinets. Other options are unfinished cabinets, which you can paint or stain, or “ready-to-assemble” cabinets that you assemble yourself. With either option, ask for a list of available sizes. You’ll need only “upper” cabinets, which in a kitchen typically hang above the countertop. Most upper cabinets are 30 in. tall, about 12 in. deep and available in various widths. We used mostly 30-in.-tall cabinets, including two corner cabinets. We also used three short “refrigerator cabinets” (designed to fit above the fridge in a kitchen).

Reader's Digest Ultimate Garage Wall System

While you’re at the home center, also look at countertops. You can choose from a small selection of in-stock colors (about $10 per linear ft.) or order any color imaginable starting at $20 per linear ft. If you special-order, you can have the countertops made to the width you choose and avoid cutting them. We also used butcher block ($35 per linear ft.) as one section of our countertop to provide a heavy-duty work surface.

With your list of available cabinet sizes in hand, you can plan the cabinet layout by making a scale drawing on graph paper.

Or you can experiment with different layouts right on the wall, using masking tape to mark cabinet locations. Don’t space cabinets more than 36 in. apart or the countertop and shelves may sag. You may want to leave out the countertop in one or two spots so you can hang shovels, rakes and other tall stuff on the wall. The countertop can be anywhere from 13 in. to 16 in. deep—just be sure that it won’t interfere with parking the car or opening the doors. When your plan is complete, make up a materials list using our list as a guide.