Never had garage cabinets before. I have a peg board which is chaotic and unorganized and have a table/bench.

Wife would like cabinets to store things like:
1. irrigation supplies (emitters, fittings, tubing, etc)
2. landscape stuff (ie - seasonal supply of fertilizer = 3x 50lb bags)
3. garden tools (hand tools)
4. other tools (mechanics tools, power tools, shovels, picks, saws - household and yard type tools).
5. misc stuff (motor oil, window cleaner, silicone sprays, car wash stuff)

Undecided on fridge size cabinet or larger cabinet system (width of 2 car garage). Or material (metal? wood? plastic?).

Do want to make it so that nothing makes a home under the cabinet - so either flush with the floor, on wheels, on at least 12" pedestal/leg or wall hanging (so I can spray/sweep/vacuum under the cabinet). No spiders, rodents, snakes, etc.

Any recommendations on what to consider in a cabinet? And also brand / model / source?

Is it better to go with fridge size and my existing peg board (3x5'-ish?). Or get rid of the peg board and just use cabinets?

Obviously cost sensitive - still trying to retire, pay off mortgage, yada yada. Buy once, cry once but also don't want to break the bank either.

Find someone remodeling a kitchen and discarding cabinets.

I had built in cabinets put in my garage years ago.

One side is 8’ tall cabinets with adjustable shelves and a built in workbench over the tool chest.

The back wall and the other side have cabinets that start at the ceiling and come down about 3’. This design will give you depth and width in your garage still.

They are wood cabinets and still look good 20 years later.

Best thing I did for keeping the garage crap organized, hidden and under control.

I don’t remember the company but shop around and you will find companies that specialize in garage cabinets.

I bought some used kitchen cabinets from the local Habitat Reuse store and mounted them on one wall of my garage. They were inexpensive and easy to put up. It’s a garage so I wasn’t looking for style points.

Mrs. A. bought me one of these a year or so ago. Been very useful for organizing combined with shelving and pegboard. A little light-duty to use as a workbench you can hammer on, but definitely sturdy enough for most activities. I liked it enough to go ahead and buy a second one.

We repurposed office lateral files from our office after retiring. Originally we bought them from used dealers and got them inexpensively. Currently I see them going for ~$350 each for 5 drawer 36" wide, but you may do even better( https://www.discountofficefurn...inets-office-storage ). Thet are designed to hold a full load of paper files so I don't think you can overload them, have full suspension drawers, and look neat and orderly in a garage.

But...if you don't leave crap piled on your workbench, how are you going to remember what you were working on? Or is that just an old guy thing?

I installed a garage storage system from Lowes at my last house 15 years ago - looked great and held up very well. It wasn't huge - 2 upper cabinets and 2 lowers - 1 side with drawers. Everything hung on brackets so it was off the floor and easy to install.

I would look at the systems that Home Depot and Lowes have and if you're a Costco member, they have some really nice looking garage storage. You're both going to want it to look nice so a matching system is where I would start...budget allowing, of course.

Different items need different solutions.
Typical hand tools-a rolling tool cabinet with drawers and top cabinet (or additional rolling cabinet) if you need more space. You can use the top surface of a rolling cabinet as a small work bench too. The tools go easily to where you're working and easy to clean up under them.

Metal office cabinets can be used without the shelves installed for tools with long handles like shovels, brooms, rakes, etc.
Always have one with shelves to keep large refills (gallon bottles) of Windex and other cleaners, oil, spare parts, etc.

For bags like grass seed, fertilizer, or other bulky and heavy items they make racks like light duty pallet racks with wire shelves. Another option is to buy used industrial shelving that is much stronger and more durable than the crap sold at Home Depot/Lowes type places and often for less money.

Somewhere, if you have the room, a good solid workbench. Solid wood or metal top and again, a used industrial quality version is far superior to the home store stuff.

One more item, a good vise on that bench.

Moved a few years ago and I got a Husky and Craftman one. I got these on FB Marketplace. Tons of people buying returns from Home Depot, Lowe's and Wally world.

Between the two, the Craftman was easier to put together but I like the Husky much better. the door has magnets on it and I can open and close it a lot easier. The craftman has to be locked to keep it closed.

YMMV. Good luck!

Friend of mine did this a couple of years ago with his garage. Started with garage sale to get rid of stuff he no longer used and then went with IKEA and Harbor Freight products cause he wanted new. Looked great when he was done.

Thanks guys, good insights.

I'll take a look at Costco and Home Depot; already had looked but too many choices and not sure which way I should go. Too many brands, configurations, etc. I'll look at local craiglist for used (kitchen, office) cabinets. And maybe rolling tool drawer. I like the look of a well organized peg board but it's not really very space efficient and not really convenient for tool bags.

I like the metal office cabinet sans shelves for long handled tools. I'll look into used offerings.

Here's what I have. I think I ordered them through Home Depot, I've had them for quite a few years now. Like them a lot. One cabinet was damaged in shipping. They said "keep it, we'll send another." I took the dented cabinet downstairs to our storage room, put a padlock on it and store ammunition and other items in it.

I added the backsplash recently, the back wall was starting to get assorted splashes on it. The workbench is laminated bamboo. I added a filler at the back, between the bench and the wall. The was a roughly 4" open space and things kept falling down there--works good now.

Looks nice! I'll try to find something similar on their website and price it.

2 uprights and no wall mounted may be sufficient for us.

Ugh, still too many choices on HD. Costco has more limited selection - I'll focus there first. I'm finding some good used offerings too. Kitchen and file cabinets was a good idea.

Do you have any pictures of what you have to work with? If you have some basic skills you can build your own shelves or even cabinets. Maybe not if you are looking for a more finished look like TMats. I am currently stuck with a 1 car garage with a small shop underneath it. I built my own rudimentary cabinets in my garage. My wood shop is quite small so I have to keep everything on wheels to save space. I did my metal working bench with mostly scrap angle iron, and the rest of my wood benches with 2x 4's, 4 x 4's, and plywood.

My wife laid down the law . Get rid of the open shelving in the garage . My garage faces the street and when the door is up it looks tacky . Alrighty then ... We ended up with four of the Gladiator double door cabinets from HD . I'll admit it looks a lot better .

I had built workbench/pegboard at last two houses, and now have a huge Husky upper/lower toolbox that holds almost every hand tool plus some circular saws, etc. Also got a Husky rolling workbench with drawers, and have filled those with fasteners in boxes, electrical, extension cords, etc. The Husky line seems very sturdy and overbuilt for most needs. See their cabinets have a lot of weight capacity, PLUS ~200# can go on top.

Complimented that in current home with a hodgepodge of two office cabinets, as set of bookshelves, some wall-mounted shelves higher up.

Following this thread since we built a retirement home with a bit smaller two-car garage. I have some time to think this through a little bit for efficiency and better appearance, and can afford to buy something halfway decent.

There are forums out there dedicated to this subject. Many of the posts are of over the top man caves, but in there you will also seem some normal folks with good ideas that aren't outrageous.

Looked at Harbor Freight, they look less sturdy, are rated for less weight, and delivery charges are high if you can't pick up locally.