Making some space

More organised at last!

Despite having a quite a large workshop in our back garden to make things in, I do find myself needing to tidy up again and again. Over the last few days I realised this was because I'm storing materials, namely pallet wood, in the area that I should be working in. With nice weather this doesn't present a problem as I enjoy working outside but the time taken for tidying and searching for lost tools has to stop.

We have an area of the garden that we don't use that much so I decided to create a slim storage area where pallet wood will remain largely dry and also aired. I made the side walls and floor with pallet stringer boards - they're full of chopped nails and most things that I make require the deck boards - so it was a way of putting unwanted surplus material to good use. I had some leftover shiplap boards from a garden project earlier this year that I used for a lightweight roof structure and I finished this off with some roofing felt, again leftover from earlier in the year.

Once I started loading the new store with material I added a shelf (not full depth) to help separate different types of boards. We had some light rain this morning and from what I saw the roof overhang was enough to keep the worst off the contents inside it. Overall, it's been a satisfying quick build and one that got me to tidy the workshop, again...!

I'm always looking for ways to work smarter; I don't want to be a machine but finding those clever techniques, approaches or hacks can make such a difference. Please share any of yours in the comments below.