This project has you covered for a way to store paint and stain in an organized way. This easy DIY garage paint storage system will display your paints and stains and keep you organized!
Get the free plans at the end of this post!
If you’re like most people, you have a stack of 3/4 used paint cans in your garage. You don’t want to throw them away because you might need it!
If you do a lot of woodworking, you probably keep all of your stain colors stacked on a shelf too.
This DIY garage paint and stain storage rack is a perfect way to store and display all your colors!
How to store paint in your garage
Our stain collection is ongoing. We like to make our woodworking projects cohesive so the stains all complement each other.
We also store all our old paint. If we paint something in a room, we might want to paint something else with that same color, so we keep the half a can of paint.
Check out the color-block wall we did in our old guest room!
The problem is that it’s very hard to see paint cans stacked on a shelf.
This woodworking project takes just a single sheet of 1/2″ plywood. This storage solution stores dozens of cans of paint and stain and allows you to clearly see everything you have.
The best part of this design is that stains face out and paints show the top.
Why?
Because stain colors are visible on the front of the can and paint typically has a sample swatch on the top.
Building garage paint storage organization
We built this storage rack using one sheet of plywood. You can customize it if you’d like to make it wider or taller.
We started by cutting down all the strips of wood. The rack is designed to have 36″ shelfs, so we cut down 36″ all the way down the plywood.
Then we cut all the strips for each shelf. Each shelf has a front and a back.
We designed this storage solution so that stains would face forward and paint would face with the top out.
Once everything was cut, we built each of the six shelves. The shelves are constructed with wood glue and pocket holes we drilled with our Kreg K4.
The Kreg K4 is a perfect tool for quickly drilling uniform pocket holes exactly where you need them.
After that, we attached each shelf to the two sides using pocket holes and screws.
Interested in the Kreg Jig? Click here to read our full Kreg Jig review and to see all of our Kreg Jig projects.
New to the Kreg Jig? Here is a step by step guide on how to use a Kreg Jig!
Get the FREE plans!
You can get the full plans for this DIY garage paint organization solution on www.BuildSomething.com.
This is the perfect way to store and showcase your paints and stains. This garage organization system is slim and takes up minimal room, but holds lots of cans.
BuildSomething.com also has loads of other garage organization plans available for free! If you’re looking to get organized, it’s a great place to start.
Video Tutorial
Watch the video of us making this garage paint storage shelf here so you can see a better idea of how it was made!
Should you store paint in the garage
Most people will say you should not store paint in the garage.
However, where else are you going to store it?
It is unrealistic to think that you can/will/should store paint in the house, especially if you have little kids.
We have been storing paint in their cans in the garage for years with no problems.
After time, the cans will rust and the paint color will get unmixed from the base paint, but you can always re-mix.
How to open a paint can
It is simple to open a paint can. Most paint and stain cans just need a flathead screwdriver to be twisted under the lip to open it up.
Here’s a video we did on how to open a paint can.
The new Behr paint cans have a twist top in the top can that is as simple as twisting it open.
How to properly dispose of old paint
The proper way to dispose of old paint is to take it to your local hazardous waste or recycling center.
Never throw paint into your trash can.
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