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D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Remarka6le
Amassing an Audience

D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

An easy-to-build workbench with a massive amount of workspace, pegboard storage, top shelf storage and room underneath for items / storage. 

PXL_20220126_052843284~2.jpg

THE SCENARIO

My wife is the DIY person of the house, easily more tools savy than me, however she is also 6 months pregnant and her shed is an absolute mess in my eyes (Note: It's one of those situations where it's organised in her way so finding items was easy for her). I wanted to build her something that had some heart in it, looked nice and was practical. I never took a picture of the shed before, but here is how it was laid out:

Previous LayoutPrevious Layout

The above layout was chaotic, things were stored everywhere, it didn't function and you couldn't do anything in there, things poked out (like the lawnmower) and it was just bad, cue my new design:


New LayoutNew Layout
As you can see, things are much nicer. 

THE LOCATION

The Bench will be inside our shed, an Absco Space Saver Single Door Garden Shed

THE PROJECT

I Researched a ton of designs and eventually came up with the following: 


Bench Design & MaterialsBench Design & Materials

 

The idea was to have it tall enough to be a good workbench, with the top shelf being low enough to accomodate the sloaping of the Absco shed so that you could easily store bulky items + reach and grab them. There would be a large pegboard along the back of the workbench for the majority of storage, while two smaller pegboards would cover the front top shelf supports. The height of the bench ensured we would be able to store items such as the scarifier and mower under it with ease. Late in the process, my dad suggested we place a third support on the frame in the middle to make it more stable and support the pegboard better. 

THE TOOLS

I used the following tools:

 

THE MATERIALS

I purchased the following Materials:

 

THE BUILD

Due to the nature of the small shed, the project was built in stages before moving it into the shed and installing. I first spray painted the pegboard. Using the 70x35mm Pine I created the Left & Right supports first, these were secured to the sheds floor & walls for extra support. The Third support beam was then added before the two horizontal pine pieces were installed to complete the basic frame. We then cut the Plywood to create the main bench and secured it into place. Finally, the top shelf including the front support and back pegboard support was created, installed and secured, ensuring everything is level. We then cut the Plywood again to create the top shelf bench. The Bench was finished off using the Pine Moulding to give it a nice finish. The Pegboard was then cut to size and installed, with the leftover material created into a backboard (mounted using the Pine DAR) which houses some of our long garden items. 

PXL_20220126_052849830~2.jpg

PAINTING

Even though it's in a small Shed, I wanted the Bench and Work area to look like an inviting place to work, so I opted into the following:

 

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The Contrast of all 3 colours played out so nice, I was especially happy with how the Black Moulding created this nice black line in between itself and the Varnish. 

271919833_992549718140326_2194677151851782241_n.jpg


I wasn't really too fussed on being clean at this stage, in the end this is a shed, and most of it will be covered with items. Once the Varnish Dried I did go back and fix up a lot of the Varnish that had gone onto the pegboard. 


272205678_1695462744136896_4378132356734233235_n.jpg

 

272209104_645622096677240_5909363159125519789_n.jpg 

 

Filling & Finishing Touches

 

Once this was finished, it was up to my wife to fill this as she pleased. 

 

PXL_20220126_052857306~2.jpg

 

We ended up having two spare LED Cabinet Lights with Twilight Sensor that we picked up from ALDI last year, these are no longer available to my knowledge. These lights are bright enough to illuminate the shed in the dark, and turn on as soon as we enter.


PXL_20220127_052211320~2.jpg

 

We also installed two large Pinnacle Large PVC Coated J Hooks to hang our 2 Saw Horses up, who never had a home prior to this. 


PXL_20220127_052224550~2.jpg

 

The Final piece of the puzzle was some storage shelves for our smaller items such as screws and wrenches, we were originally going to build these under the unit but opted to just purchase the Craftright 24" 6 Drawer Rolling Cabinet And Chest to finish it all up. We are super happy with the project, it's something I take a lot of pride having completed and look forward to the additions we make to it in the future. 



PXL_20220126_052843284~2.jpg

 

Remarka6le
Jason
Community Manager
Community Manager

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Great work @Remarka6le. You might soon take over the mantle of D.I.Y. guru in your house. And I'm sure your handiwork will inspire plenty of Bunnings Workshop members. 

 

Congratulations on making your first community post and for sharing such a terrific project with us. We're looking forward to many more. Please don't hesitate to post whenever you need a hand or have something to share.

 

Jason

 

 

 

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Remarka6le
Amassing an Audience

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Cheers @Jason! I'm not sure I'll ever be able to surpass the D.I.Y. Goddess who does everything else in this house, but I'll certainly keep contributing :smile: 

Remarka6le

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Remarka6le. It's awesome to have you join us and many thanks for sharing this wonderful project.


You've done a bang-up job there with this bench and shed makeover. Truly an enviable result. I've got a similar sized shed full of rubbish that needs to be cleaned out and scrapped. You've provided me the inspiration to give something like this a go. If it ends up half as good I'll be very pleased.

 

Our members always love a good workbench project and I trust yours will be receiving plenty attention.

 

Many thanks for sharing.

Mitchell

 

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nparrella95
Cultivating a Following

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

This looks amazing ! Well done. Looks like you have utilised the space very well! Love it. 

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Thank's @MitchellMc

It was certainly worth the effort, it's amazing how much stuff you can cull when you take the time to just go through things, especially in a small shed like this. Getting the mower used to be a mission and I struggled to find or reach anything before but now I can just go in, grab what I need (or do it at the bench) and be on my way. Would love to see what you come up with for your own shed :smile:  

Remarka6le

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Thank you @nparrella95, It certainly makes life easier :smile: 

Remarka6le
TempestSkye7
Having an Impact

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

I'm not sure what I love most - the end result or the fantastic level of detail you put into explaining what you used and how you created this. Thank you for sharing with us!

 

As @MitchellMc said, there's a lot of us in the community who love a good workbench instructable 😆

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

Thank you @TempestSkye7, it always killed us whenever we saw a project we loved and we were left to figure out both the process and materials for ourselves, so I thought I'd be as detailed as possible, just wish I took photos during the construction rather than just the finished result :cheeky: Oh well, next post. 

:smile: 

Remarka6le
Ritar
Cultivating a Following

Re: D.I.Y. shed workbench makeover

@Remarka6le 

 

You have certainly inspired me. Looks great. I'm sure you know where to find your wife now when she is not inside the house. 

 

Where did you get that shovel/broom stand from? Looks very neat?

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