Build a Six-Tote Storage Rack From Nine Sticks of Lumber

The Problem

Storage totes stack, and a stack works right up until you want the bin at the bottom. Then it's four bins onto the floor, one bin out, four bins back. A rack that holds each tote on its own rails turns that into pulling a drawer — and the build is cheap enough that the reason people don't do it is usually not knowing the numbers rather than the cost.

What You'll Need

Five 8-foot 2x4s, four 8-foot 2x2s, and a box of 3" wood screws — around $30 of material. Six totes, 64 litre / 17 gallon size. Every dimension below is sized around that tote; a different bin means different numbers, and the rung spacing is the one to recheck first.

The Technique

The rack is two ladders standing parallel, joined by four rails. Totes span between the ladders, each one riding on its own pair of rungs.

1. Cut the rungs. Twelve pieces of 2x2 at 27" — six per ladder, one pair per tote.
2. Cut the uprights. Four pieces of 2x4 at 86", from four of the five 2x4s.
3. Mark the rung positions. Draw lines across each upright every 13½", all the way up. Six levels.
4. Build the two ladders. Lay two uprights out, set a 2x2 rung on each marked line, and screw through the upright into the end of the rung. Repeat for the second ladder.
5. Cut the connectors. From the fifth 2x4, four pieces at 18¾".
6. Join the ladders. Stand both ladders up facing each other and screw the four connectors between them — two at the top, two at the bottom — holding the ladders 18¾" apart.