SummitBridgeGarage
Wall-rail system for tools
A slotted track on the garage wall lifts rakes, brooms and power tools off the floor and frees the whole bay.
Rooms · The space you already own
Storage that finds the square metres you forgot you had
Most Australian homes aren't short on space — they're short on a system. The garage, the wardrobe, the laundry and the awkward nook under the stairs are all holding room you haven't claimed yet.
Find your lost space
Look up, not out
When a home feels full, the instinct is to throw things out or build on. But the lost space in most houses isn't on the floor — it's on the walls and in the gaps. The 400 mm above every door, the dead corner of the garage, the toe-kick under the kitchen cabinets, the void under the stairs.
Claim that space with a simple rule before you buy a single box: everything gets a home, and like lives with like. Zone first, store second. A system you can put things back into is the only one that survives a busy family.
Browse storage projects02
Idea library
Pick a room, see what fits
Filter the ideas by where you're standing. Each one is a project a confident DIYer can take on — we'll flag where a licensed trade has to step in.
Garage
Overhead racks for the rare stuff
The ceiling above the car door holds the camping gear and Christmas boxes you touch twice a year.
Wardrobe
Double-hang the wardrobe
Two short rails stacked store twice the shirts of one long rail — instant capacity with no new joinery.
Wardrobe
Claim the back of the door
A slim over-door rack turns dead air into shoe and accessory storage in any built-in robe.
Laundry
Built-in hampers & a fold bench
Pull-out baskets under a benchtop sort the wash and give you a surface to fold on — a laundry's hardest-working metre.
Laundry
A drop-down drying rail
A wall-mounted rail that folds flat dries washing indoors through wet southern winters, then disappears.
Kitchen
Turn a cupboard into a pull-out pantry
Wire baskets on runners make the back of a deep cupboard reachable instead of a black hole.
Kitchen
Toe-kick drawers under the cabinets
The 150 mm gap beneath your kitchen cabinets is enough for flat trays and platters.
Hidden
Open up the void under the stairs
One of the biggest hidden volumes in a two-storey home — pull-out drawers or a small study fit right in.
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How-to · Shelving that holds
A dead-level run that never sags
Wall shelving lives or dies by what the bracket grabs. Tap each step to open it up. The golden rule: a shelf is only as strong as the timber stud behind it.
1
Find the studs, not just the plasterboard
Plasterboard alone won't hold a loaded shelf.
Run a stud finder across the wall and mark the centre of each stud — in most Australian homes they sit at 450 mm or 600 mm centres. Fixing into the stud is what carries weight; an anchor in plasterboard alone will pull out under load. If your wall is solid brick, use the correct masonry plugs instead.
2
Set the height and strike a level line
One reference line keeps the whole run true.
Decide the height, then use a spirit level or laser to mark a single dead-level line across the wall. Every bracket references that line, not the skirting or ceiling — older homes are rarely square, and eyeballing it is how shelves end up running downhill.
3
Fix the brackets into the studs
Pre-drill, then drive into solid timber.
Hold each bracket on the level line over a stud mark, pre-drill the pilot holes and drive screws long enough to bite well into the timber. Two screws per bracket, minimum. Space brackets so no span sags — roughly every second stud for a loaded shelf.
4
Sit the board, check, and load low
Test before you trust it with the good crockery.
Lay the shelf on, level it front-to-back, and fix it down to the brackets. Match the board thickness to the span and the load — a long, thin shelf will bow under books. Put the heaviest items closest to the brackets and lowest on the wall, and give it a firm push test before you fill it.
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Small-space optimisation
Make every wall pull double duty
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Before you buy a single box
The de-clutter and plan checklist
Storage fails when you organise the clutter instead of cutting it. Work this list first and you'll need less storage than you thought.
- Empty the space completely before you plan it
- Sort into keep, donate, recycle and rubbish
- Group like with like before deciding on bins
- Store daily things low, rare things high
- Measure the wall height and depth, not just the floor
- Check what the wall is — stud, brick or block
- Adopt a one-in, one-out rule to keep it honest
- Leave new power or lighting to a licensed electrician
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Before you ask
Storage questions, answered
It depends entirely on what the bracket is fixed into. Fixed into the timber studs, a shelf carries serious weight; fixed only into plasterboard with the wrong anchors, it will pull out. Always find the studs, use fixings rated for the load, and match the board thickness to the span so it doesn't bow.
Yes — freestanding shelving, wall-mounted rails, overhead racks and a workbench are all great DIY projects. Anything involving the electrical supply, such as adding power points or new lighting, must be done by a licensed electrician.
Use the full height with double-hang rails for short items and a shelf above, group like with like, and add drawers or boxes for things that slump on a shelf. The dead space is almost always up high and on the back of the door — claim both.
Go vertical and claim the space that's already wasted — above doors, under stairs, the toe-kick under cabinets, the backs of doors and the wall above benches. The lost square metres in most homes are on the walls, not the floor.
De-clutter first. Empty the space, sort ruthlessly into keep, donate, recycle and rubbish, then group what's left. You'll almost always need less storage than you expected — and a one-in, one-out rule keeps it that way.