Shelf life: How to expand storage in outdoor living spaces
Ikea's Hyllis shelves feature plastic feet to keep them up out of the wet. Choose from single elements from €15 or combinations from €55, Ikea.ie.
ACCESSIBLE and versatile, shelves can trick out a cocktail bar, carry live herbs, offer a potting table, or simply lift trailing plants into the sunshine. Deeper shelves present a perfect staging point for tubs, boxes, and crates, gathering in smaller clutter. The structural integrity, design, and quality of your shelving can make all the difference, but there’s still room for a bit of DIY meddling to upcycle what’s on hand.
Don’t choose indoor-rated shelving materials for damp situations. They will rust, rot, discolour, and could in the worst instance collapse. Powder-coated metal, treated timber, painted wrought iron, galvanised steel, and plastics (ugly mind you) and all stone, slate, and brick will fare well. Consider the height and dimensions of anything in a smaller yard or garden, as a lump of industrial shelving could be a visual bully once loaded up.
String sets
Weathering will inevitably influence your choice of shelving materials. Some materials grow more interesting hammered with showers and dew. String, the iconic Swedish shelving system launched by designers Nisse and Kajsa Strinning in 1949, is stepping outside this year. Designed for a Scandinavian climate in galvanised steel, String outdoor units develop a mellow patina on their surface over several winters while making a determined mid-century statement with those unmistakable lines. As always, String comes in suggested packs (€280-€2,092) or can be built (online) to your own design.
Choose from high and low edges to the front of the shelf, wall-hung or floor-standing, with pierced holes for drainage and hooks. Optional J and S hooks can be used for anything from your gardening bag to hanging a plant (five-pack from €26).
Swedish landscaping designer Josephine Formoso writing for the brand advises: “Mix and match materials such as rusty Corten steel, grey Offerdal slate, concrete or cast aluminium. Add objects in wood, rattan, and a lot of greenery to soften the impression of the shelf.”
Josephine’s top tip (for barbecue areas): Shelves are great as storage, where you can place containers of charcoal and briquettes and stack piles of firewood. The stack of firewood not only adds warmth to your whole outdoor space, but stability to the shelf.”
Budget picks
Garden shelving works best when it’s open, airy, pared back and aesthetically a supporting act. Ikea’s perennial favourite Hyllis is a steal at €15-€25 for single-shelved frames in galvanised metal and robust polyamide feet. Choose your required depth (25cm-30cm) and bank these simple open units to suit. My choice is the three-piece combination in three stepped tiers composed of one tall 67cm wide unit making up a generous 160cm wide storage solution. It’s perfect for putting manners on a tiny-house garden, balcony, or garden room. It would suit everything from potting to staging gardening bits and bobs to carrying everything you need for an outdoor kitchen or barbecue; €67 flat-packed and delivered.
To answer the call for colour Kolbjorn delivers a lovey rust red or calming beige in a strong, low, and stable double shelving unit from €70, double-door cabinet, €90, and tall locker, €179. In timber, I’m drawn to the solid acacia wood fold-out shelves from Kave. Varnished and just a beautiful set with clay pots or pretty tea things for a summer’s afternoon, €92, kavehome.com/ie.
Even when rated for outdoors, ensure your shelving has some means of draining off or pooling water will just sit there and collect biological visitors like moss and algae.
Top tip: Divide your stuff into boxes, trugs, and trays to keep things orderly and to allow you to clean off and re-organise the shelving with ease. ‘Grab and go’ things go front and centre.
Shed solutions
In the shed, you’re likely to require meatier units with 30cm-60cm depths capable of carrying considerable weight. Now we’re under cover, we can include some inexpensive MDF, ply and OSB surfacing to the mix. Heavy-duty shelving units should be of good quality and (if they are more than waist height) be secured to the uprights of your shed frame for increased stability. Where we fly shelving up onto the walls in the shed or garage (with or without feet), it’s vital to know the kilogram rating. Work out how much shelf intrusion on the floor space makes sense, especially in a small shed where you need room to roll in a mower or do some potting up. Choose units without sharp edges and open sides for easy access.
The heavy-duty Shed Shelving from Ideal Storage has a choice of adjustable shelf models in MDF, and powder-coated steel and each shelf is rated from 265kg-350kg. I appreciate the boltless assembly which allows us to build these pieces out in just 15 minutes. Professional installation for this or any of their storage pieces anywhere in Cork (optional extra); €60-€99, idealstorage.ie. Rackzone also has a wide selection of these heavy-duty styles that fly up with just a rubber mallet and a pair of heavy gloves, rackzone.ie. If all you can run to is lengths of OSB and L-shaped (London) brackets secured to the shed’s uprights, try this project from The Carpenter’s Daughter, thecarpentersdaughter.co.uk/woodworking/diy-shed-shelves.
Top tip: Stagger the shelf positions and sizings on modular rails to take bigger/heavier items on the bottom stages to enhance floor standing stability. A pocket-style shoe organiser is a cheap buy and can take spray paint, dry paint brushes, string, small tools and more on the side of your shelving. Add a hanging rod under suitable wall shelves and add S-hooks to take small items like gardening hand tools.
Garage hacks
True garage geeks and shed-heads put walls to work, lining rough blocks in batten-mounted panels of OSB, MDF, or plywood to screw everything else into (all are cheap and moisture-resistant). In the garage, weight will have a serious bearing on your choice of shelving. Reserve floating dowel designs (rarely useful for more than 5kg) for the house. Otherwise use L-shaped shelf brackets, twin-slot rail systems, or hefty free-standing units intended for heavy loads.
Twin-slot system shelving (set on vertical rails) is an economical choice and an excellent structural anchor to tailor out a fully adjustable storage wall. With the right fixings they can hold around 55kg of load per 200cm length of shelf and you can reshuffle the lot to suit yourself.
Low-enclosed cabinets with lift-up covers can be set at the base, serving as a bench for pulling on your boots.
If you can use a level and a screwdriver and understand how to match fixings to the type of wall, you can install a twin slot yourself. Again, ensure you understand the kg rating. The size of the brackets and the span between them will be determined by the depth and weight of the shelving once loaded up. There are a variety of finishes on offer, white being the easiest to find. Twin Slot shelving pieces are priced from under €10 (uprights/brackets/boards) at the equipashop.ie and DIY outlets. For pricey but classy customisable twin slot designs, investigate the Swedish brand Elfa.
Top tip: Add industrial-grade casters with brakes to inexpensive free-standing shelving units. Include adjustable, non-slip feet to overcome imperfections on the go.
