You know, I’m feeling pretty good these days. I’m feeling stronger every day, work is keeping me busy and, yeah, I am getting a bit of time in the shop.  The best part?

Well, the best part is that I have found a sweet new tool!  Yes, it is a ladder. Why do you ask?

Oh, what does it have to do with woodworking?  I knew you were gonna get there!  The thing about my shop is this – it’s fairly decent sized. My wife allows me to use the entire place (thank you, honey!) for woodworking, giving me some serious space to spread out and practice my craft.

But, even a two-car garage still fills up quickly. To help make the most out of my shop space, I have been constantly reclaiming shop storage space wherever I possibly can. Fortunately, there are still nooks and crannies that I can access for storage, but I have to think in the third dimension. In other words, I have to look up.

Upward storage started with this area on top of my tool shelf setup. After I built my Fujiwhara Chest, I was left with a supply of beautiful veneer that I didn’t want damaged. So, I folded it in the cardboard that it shipped in and stashed it up here. It was also a good place to stow the veneer tools, just keeping them handy for when I need to do some work. Before I got the ladder, I had to go snag a dining room chair to reach up there, but with the ladder, it’s easy to get up there.

Then, there’s this space at the top of my finishing cabinet. It has crap on it now, so I’ll have to clear it off, sort through what I want to keep and prep this area.

Now, this area above my front bench I envisioned setting up as a ‘plane display shelf’, and I have put a few planes that didn’t make the cut up here. But, no one sees them, so I should sort through this and get it ready for storage.

And, finally, this area above the washer and dryer. Yeah, maybe I should just clean this area off and use it to store the huge bulk rolls of paper towels I get at the wholesale club. At least that will keep them out of the woodworking areas.