19 Ideas and Plans on How to Build Shed Storage Shelves

Having a shed in your yard is great and all, but they can be made even better with a little ingenuity. Aside from arranging your stuff in an efficient way, I’ve discovered that you can fit a whole lot more in a shed when you have suitable shelving installed. But nobody wants boring shelves, right? Being the do-it-myself kind of guy, I rummaged around the internet for some cool ideas and plans on how to build shelves for a storage shed. And now, I present to you, dear reader, my awesome master list.

#1 Simple Shed Shelving Solutions (That Work Like A Charm!)

Who says that building shelves for your storage shed has to be difficult or expensive? What I love about these shelf and storage designs is the pure simplicity of each one.

The designers use their available space wisely and reduce waste while they build. Each inch of storage has a purpose and no space is squandered. Even with all that functionality, it all still looks great!

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#2 Work Surface and Storage in One

One major downside to storage shelves inside sheds is the lack of usable work surfaces. You don’t need to just store things in a shed, and this design proves it.

Using sturdy, rugged materials, these designers created a usable workspace that doubles as storage. They kept the user’s needs in a kind, too, making sure storage shelves never get in the way. This kind of design maximizes your available space without breaking your budget.

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#3 Everyday Items For Everyday Storage

Here’s another budget-savvy storage design that really shines. Using things you probably already have laying around, you can knock out these great shelves in a day without breaking a sweat.

With a little plywood, a few 2X4s, screws, and some tools, you’ll have sturdy, attractive shelves to help elevate your storage shed to new heights. These aren’t the fanciest plans on the internet, but they are a solid choice and should be a quick build.

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#4 DIY Shed Shelves Between Studs

Many people think the best shelves have to be huge, but that’s just not true. If you want to maximize every last inch of your available space when you learn how to build shelves for a shed, check out this set of skinny shelves.

Short on materials but big on storage, they use the previously wasted space between studs to store smaller items that often get lost in untidy sheds. They even make room for unwieldy garden tools!

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#5 Heavy-Duty Shelves For Monster Storage

Sometimes you just need a beefy, sturdy shelf to store those heavy, bulky items. If that sounds like you, this design is sure to please. It even specifies using leftover lumber as opposed to buying everything brand new. I can get behind money-saving shelves!

The design itself is simple, but the results are pretty impressive. Just be sure to build front legs and use the suggested brackets to keep everything stable before you drop your heavy tools here.

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#6 Headroom and Headway For All Your Projects

One of my biggest peeves when it comes to shelving in sheds is the wasted space above my head. Many sheds don’t come with built-in lofts, and sometimes you don’t need that much space anyway. For those times, I like designs like this one.

It boasts a generous storage area without encroaching on workspace below. I can slip under these high shelves without banging my head, but they’re low enough to reach without a ladder.

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#7 Freestanding Tall Shelves (That Work In Store-Bought Sheds, Too!)

Oh, the agony of dealing with a store-bought shed! Frustrating designs and weird materials make store-bought sheds a nightmare to work with. Add in “bouncy” floor panels and you might as well be in a kid’s playhouse.

These freestanding tall shelves solve many of those problems with relative ease. Make a pair and you might even have room for some cool shop cabinets in between.

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#8 The Inexpensive, Quick Shelves (Under $40)

If money’s a little tight but you still want some shelves for your shed, you can have them, but you have to get creative in how you do it. YouTube channel DIY Builds created these fast, simple, cheap shelves for less than $40, and you can, too. All you need are 2x3s and oriented strand board (OSB) walling and you can have your shed shelves cut, built, and set up in a single afternoon!

#9 The Moderately More Expensive Shelves (Still Under $75)

If your shelves aren’t a must-have that same day, then you can take a little more time to plan out your project. The Handyman’s Daughter created some awesome shelves that you can recreate for a bit more money, about $75. To start the project in your own storage shed, you’ll need a level, a circular saw or miter, a drill, clamps, pocket hole screws (two and a half inches), two sheets of OSB wood, and 14 2x4s that are 8 feet each.

#10 Ladder Shelves

The very popular YouTuber April Wilkerson provides a great tutorial on how to make your own ladder shelves, which you can watch here. This is a great idea if your storage shed is unfinished, as building your own wooden rungs between the vertical wooden boards of the shed is incredibly easy. This project is recommended for loft storage shelves so you don’t have to use a real ladder to climb.

#11 Rectangular Shelving

Rectangular shelves are another idea worth considering for your storage shed since they take up so little room but can stash so much more than shorter shelves can. DIY Danielle made her slim shelves with a couple of nails, three 2x4s that are eight feet each, eight 1x3s that are also eight feet each, and a single piece of 4×8 plywood. You get three shelves total for your most organized storage shelf yet.

#12 Horizontal Ladder Shelves (Durable and Clever)

If you like the durability of ladder shelving but want to use it for more than climbing, then you have to check out this video from YouTuber Mark Hanson. He makes some sturdy storage shelves using the ladder shelving technique outlined above with only 2×8 OSB wood and some 2x4s. The best part is Mark lies the shelves down flat and uses them as the skeleton of his storage solution, making the whole thing incredibly strong.

#13 Garden Shed Cubbies

Sometimes you don’t need a lot of space to keep all your things, in which case these garden shed cubbies are a smart and functional idea. We recommend following the instructions in the tutorial and creating your own jig so you can ensure that each cubby is the same size as all the others. This will save you time and prevent you from having to start the project over again.

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#14 Bare-Bones Shelves Installed Into the Wall

Another quick option you have if time truly is of the essence is to make simple, no-frills shelves from cut wood and then install them right on the wall. YouTuber The Carpenter’s Daughter did just that, and she advocates for using sturdy brackets to keep the shelves from breaking under the pressure of your stuff. Otherwise, you need a level, a handsaw, mini screws, woodscrews, a drill driver, and some OSB chipboard and then you’re off to the races.

#15 Ceiling Shelving

Sometimes you have so much stuff in your storage shed that you can’t even spare the wall space to build your shelves. In that scenario, you’ll want to follow along with this video tutorial from Wood Tools Workshop and build yourself some shelves that nearly touch the ceiling of your shed. The coolest part about this is all the materials used to construct the shelves are reused, which is crafty and environmentally-friendly.

#16 U-Shaped Shelving (Offers More Room)

Keeping It Real provides yet more storage shed shelving inspiration in this video if you need some ideas. Their shelves are U-shaped and then turned sideways and built into the wall; that means that not only do you get a bottom shelf but a top shelf as well. This gives you twice the storage space since you can now stash some lighter-weight items on top of your shelf as well as inside it.

#17 How to Install Shelving Unit for a Lifetime Shed

Lifetime Products uses their own materials to build this spacious 8×6-foot shelf, but you can do the same with whatever materials you might have lying around your workshop, such as wood. Not only is this a bigger shelf, but it’s longer too, as it’s 90 inches total. This project is only recommended if you have a large storage shed to match; otherwise, it will overwhelm your smaller shed and take up too much space.

#18 Shed Ceiling Storage

Our next pick is another great tutorial from Wood Tools Workshop and is more ceiling-based shelving for those too-cramped storage sheds. This project is somewhat more daunting because you’re literally assembling the shelf right onto the roof as you go, not building it outside and setting it up later. Once again, Wood Tools Workshop uses repurposed materials, so try to get your hands on some reclaimed wood if you can!

#19 DIY Shed Corner Shelving

If space is indeed an issue, then you must try out the corner shelving idea Kenarry came up with. These shelves are meant to fit perfectly against two walls and meet in the corner so you don’t have to worry about losing valuable space in your shed. To make these shelves yourself, you should have a table or circular saw, a level and measuring tape, a framing square, an impact or drill driver, joist hangers, whiteboard studs, deck screws, and 4×8 plywood.

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Conclusion

As you can now see, it’s easier than ever to reorganize your storage shed with homemade shelves. Even if you don’t have a lot of room in your shed, there are plenty of creative options here for sheds of almost any size. Most of them take little time and few materials, so you can make this an afternoon project over the weekend.
Did you enjoy this list? Which shed plan was your favorite? Let us know what you think in the comments and be sure to share the article if you enjoyed it.