This was a low-glamour project, but so satisfying. While struggling for the billionth time to find some job-specific tool we knew we possessed but couldn't locate in the ongoing renovation upheaval of our home, something snapped and we knew we needed to get organized. And so we decided to channel our inner grade nine shop teacher and turn the outside (and out-of-sight) wall of our basement bathroom into a tool wall.
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| The new tongue and groove wall during construction |
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| The dry run |
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| A place for everything (note hacked IKEA plant stand for safe chisel storage) |
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| A little visual punning: cans for cans |
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| We used outdoor light fixtures from Union Lighting in Toronto (under $20 ea) |
Once the wall was organized there was no stopping our quest for order. We decided to put a bank of drawers across the corridor from the tool wall. We purchased IKEA base cabinets: four drawers per cabinet--3 shallow, one deep, Harlig drawer fronts (plus added soft close mechanism which is non standard only for Harlig), a Numerar countertop, card bin pulls from Lee Valley tools. Et voilà:
Our bank of drawers (the pink glow on the walls is F&B floor paint primer leftover from the floor)
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| labels! |
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| No more futile searching for the perfect drill bit |
Tool wall and drawers were in place, but we had more organizing to do. One small parts storage unit (steel case, clear bins) from an industrial supply store in Mississauga, plus several oddly satisfying hours of sorting and labelling our small parts, and:
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| Our very own home depot |
Truth be told, "a place for everything and everything in its place" has not been a mantra of ours. But for now at least we can face the new year fully confident that we can find any tool or small part we need for our future projects.
We'll see how long order reigns.
