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I've used this system of storage with great success in Denver, CO; Beckley, WV; Hillsborough, NC; and Houghton, MI.
1. 12" x 30" x 60", 12" x 36" x 60", or 24" x 48" x 72" shelving units. (It is important to get shelving units whose shelves are an even number of feet deep because each bucket takes up one square foot.)
2. Enough 5 gallon “paint” buckets to fill the above shelving units. (8, 12, or 40 per shelving unit. If you want them all to look the same, then purchase them from Wal-Mart’s or from your local builders supply’s paint department. If you want to save money, then get them from your local bakery for a dollar, for 50 cents, or even for free, and these prices include the lid if you ask for it!)
3. A lid for each of the buckets. (Lids are optional, but highly recommended, because they help to keep dust off of the things that you are storing. If you plan on storing food, then you need a lid that seals tightly, but is easy to remove. You can get this type of container, including the lid, from your local bakery. Warning: Be careful not to seal paint bucket lids, because once they are sealed, it is very difficult to get them off. A good way to get them off is to use a hacksaw to cut 12 equally spaced notches around the entire outer edge of the lid.)
4. 10 or more stackable parts trays designed for 5 gallon buckets. (optional)
5. Super Sharpie® Pen (Black).
6. Roll of 1" masking tape. (¾" masking tape usually works best if you get the buckets from a bakery.)
7. Sandwich, quart, and gallon sized Ziploc® bags.
12" x 30" x 60" shelving units are very common. Wal-Mart sells
one for less than US$10. This type of unit usually comes with 5
shelves. Omit one of the shelves and space the other 4 at
approximately 15" intervals. Since each bucket takes up 1 square
foot, this will allow plenty of room for eight 5 gallon buckets.
Similarly, a 12" x 36" x 60" shelving unit with 4 shelves will have
space for 1 x 3 x 4 = 12 buckets. Assuming that the 24" x 48" x 72"
shelving unit has 5 equally spaced shelves, there will be room for
2 x 4 x 5 = 40 buckets!
The first time that I used this method of storage, I bought three 12" x 36" x 60" white plastic "non-adjustable" shelving units from K-Mart, and 36 white plastic buckets, which happened to be on sale at Home Depot for US$3.33 each. I also purchased at least 10 parts trays from Home Depot. I think they were about US$2.95 each, which is expensive, but well worth the investment.
The second time that I used this method, I bought a 24" x 48" x 72" heavy duty shelving unit from Home Depot for US$72. This time, I saved some money by getting the buckets for free. They were used Sam’s Club laundry detergent buckets. I’ve also seen 5 gallon buckets which were obtained for free from a doughnut shop, so this is also a possibility.
The third time, I purchased 20 black buckets, 10 yellow parts trays, and a 24" x 48" x 72" heavy duty shelving unit from Lowes. The shelving unit cost approximately US$60. Since the buckets took up only ½ of each of the 5 shelves, the other half of each shelf was used to store larger hardware in each item’s original box. Since the buckets were black, out of necessity, I got the idea for using masking tape for labeling the buckets.
Previously, since the buckets were white, I was able to write directly on the buckets using blue Super Sharpie® pens. The reason that I used blue instead of black is because blue is easier to erase using denatured alcohol. If I had to do it over again, however, I would use the masking tape method and black Super Sharpie® pens even on the white buckets. This is because the masking tape does not permanently mark up the buckets, it is very easy to remove, and because the black pens are more commonly available than the blue ones. This method would also work well using the blue buckets which I saw recently at Wal-Mart’s for only US$2.97.
What I do is to put the 1" wide masking tape completely around each of the buckets in one of the channels near the top. Since the masking tape overlaps, it can be simply torn off, and still look good. The channels near the top of each bucket are not tapered like the lower part of the buckets are, so it is very easy to get the masking tape on straight.
By writing on the masking tape with the black Sharpie® pen, I then label each of the buckets twice, on opposite sides, with the label centered on the center of the bucket’s handle. Then it doesn’t matter which side of the buckets are facing out when the buckets are placed on the shelves.
1. Easy to label and re-label.
2. Easy to carry.
3. Easy to dump things from one to another.
4. Last a lifetime.
5. Easy to maintain in alphabetical order.
6. Easy to keep parts separate by using Ziploc® bags and/or parts trays.
I suggest that one of the buckets be labeled “EMPTY,” and kept empty at all times. Then if you want to find something in a particular bucket, you can do it by transferring one item at a time into the empty bucket, or by slowly “pouring” the items into the empty bucket. Once the desired item is located, you can save time by dumping everything from the “empty” bucket back into the original bucket. This method also helps to keep the items cleaner than would be the case if you were to dump them out onto a dirty floor.
1. BAGS
2. CABLES
3. CHEMICALS
4. EMPTY
5. GLUE
6. OFFICE SUPPLIES
7. PAPER, MISC.
8. PARTS, AUTOMOTIVE
9. PARTS, COMPUTER
10. PARTS, ELECTRICAL
11. PARTS, ELECTRONICS
12. PARTS, NAILS
13. PARTS, PLUMBING
14. PARTS, SCREWS
15. ROPE AND STRING
16. TAPE
17. TOOLS, AUTOMOTIVE
18. TOOLS, CUTTING
19. TOOLS, ELECTRICAL
20. TOOLS, ELECTRONIC
21. TOOLS, HAMMERS
22. TOOLS, MEASURING
23. TOOLS, MISC.
24. TOOLS, PLIERS
25. TOOLS, PLUMBING
26. TOOLS, SAWS
27. TOOLS, SCREWDRIVERS
28. TOOLS, WRENCHES, MISC.
29. TOOLS, WRENCHES, SOCKET
30. WIRE
The 10 parts trays are intended for the “PARTS, NAILS” and the “PARTS, SCREWS” buckets (5 trays for each). Each tray has 3 or 4 compartments, so this results in between 15 and 20 compartments per bucket.
This method of storage is especially effective if the items stored are to be accessed by more than one person, as it is very simply to understand, and every type of category can be clearly seen at a glance. A computer could even be used to produce a cross-referenced, detailed index of which bucket each particular item, or category of items is to be placed. This detailed index could be bound and tied to the shelving unit for quick reference purposes.
Ziploc® bags are also a very big boon to storage. I keep my stock of Ziploc® bags in the “BAGS” bucket. Whenever I open a blister pack or poly bag of hardware, and don’t use all of it immediately, I transfer the remaining contents to a Ziploc® bag. I also include that portion of the original packaging which contains the information on the size of the hardware, such as “6-32 Machine Screw Nuts,” for example. If it’s not obvious how the hardware is to be used, then it’s also a good idea to include that portion of the original packaging which contains the instructions. A pair of scissors from the “TOOLS, CUTTING” bucket may come in very handy for this purpose.
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