Sports Shed

So my shop (garage) and my husband's garden shed had been taken over by our large family's (family of 9) sport and camping equipment.  Being that wood working is my hobby and gardening is my husband's hobby, this had become a major problem.  So, we built another shed dedicated to Sporting Gear.  And when I say "we built" I mean we ordered a custom shed that was built wrong and then rebuilt and still isn't right.  But, we are out of patience and decided to just finish it off anyway. 

First off, if you decide to buy a paint sprayer, make sure you get a good one.  I bought a cheap one and it was extremely labor-intensive to use and literally burned my hands because it ran so hot.  Instead of saving me time and effort, it was MUCH more difficult and time-consuming to use than a brush and roller.  It took me three 10-hour days to paint a single coat of primer and a single coat of paint!  Ridiculous!  Second, let me just warn you, if you ever get an inkling to stencil your floor with three colors of paint to make it beautiful, don't!, especially if it is just a shed floor!  For this 10'x10' shed, I had to stencil 81 squares and it took me an hour to do only four (ya, I'm not a very fast stenciler).  The floor looks gorgeous, but it wasn't worth the time investment.  Consider yourself forewarned.  :)

I took a wooden step ladder and used a grinder to cut out the rivets that were holding it together so I could use the ladder side as a rolling ladder.  I installed black iron pipe along the fronts of the loft and the opposing shelf and then installed upside down wall hooks on the back of the ladder at the heights of both the pipe rails to hook it over so that it can be used for the loft or for the shelf above the door.  Then, I installed fixed casters at the bottom of the ladder so it can be rolled side-to-side easily.  It is light weight so easy to move from one shelf to the next and rolls out of the way to access things.

 The black pipe worked so well as ladder rail that I decided to use it for storage of our sports equipment as well.  It works excellent as a ball rack, a racket rack, a baseball bat rack, a hockey stick rack, and even as a roller blade/skate rack!

 

The ladder rails also work well as clothing bars for hanging our life jackets and wetsuits!

The BB Guns hang above the door which is fun.

The bikes fit below the shelf that sits below the loft, with helmets hanging on hooks above.  The shelf holds camping gear, while the loft holds the kayaks, snowboards, skis, sleds, kites, etc.  I haven't had a chance yet, but I will hang hooks on the wall behind the bikes so they can store upright on their back wheels as well, which will increase our floor space as well.

I still need to install some more shelves in the wall space above the cleat/shoe rack to make the bins of mits, balls, frisbes, safety gear, jump ropes, etc. more easily accessible.

All-in-all, the shed turned out really cute and also stores our gear very efficiently and effectively.  It is very functional as well as aesthetically pleasing, so I'm happy.  AND!  I have my garage back for my workshop and my husband has his garden shed again!  Now, I just need to help him make his shed pretty and functional again too.  :)

Update:  we added a nice little doorstep to the shed with our leftover decking material.  Turned out pretty!