The Ultimate DIY Basement Storage Closet

Why don't more homes come pre-built with storage? Not just generic closets here and there, I am talking intentional storage. For example why not include storage for the exterior garbage cans, or a little storage nook inside the front door for keys, or even standard shoe and boot storage? I could go on and on.

When we purchased this house there was a large unfinished area on one half of the basement. The first thing we thought of was to add a room (which we will talk about in another post) and a storage closet. For storage our requirements were:

• Must be able to store many large totes for holiday decor and other things.

• Must be able to store Christmas tree.

• Must have a light.

• Must have a small workbench with tool storage.

• Must have a storage location for the wet/dry vac.

• Must have hooks and things to store some brooms and things.

Once we knew what we wanted we started sketching ideas onto graph paper. Eventually we laid painters tape out on the floor to play with the size of the new storage closet.

(OK, Chris here with a point of order: When we moved in we had boxes. Lots of boxes. And no specific storage area to store them. So the first week after moving in was building the storage shelves. That covered the first two requirements above, but the other requirements did not come into play until months later.)

So anyway... Chris ended up making the dream real by building a great storage closet. But the best part is the barn door. Chris built that from scratch!

Now we have storage and a workbench. :) Requirements achieved.

Slide show:

Before picture of our basement

DIY Barn Door storage area

Deep shelves lots of room

A little workbench