Most cabinet configurations for the kitchen work equally well in a garage. Adjustable shelves, upper and lower cabinets, and sturdy drawers give you lots of enclosed space to keep items organized and dust-free.

You can order cabinet systems from companies that manufacture kitchen or garage storage or buy a kit if you would like to do it yourself.

Materials
Most garage cabinet systems are made of plywood or particleboard, but you can also find systems made of metal or plastic. The least expensive option is standard particleboard, but industrial particleboard is stronger and smoother.

Medium-density fiberboard (MDF) is also a strong option, but, like any particleboard, it can expand if it gets wet, which will warp the cabinet. Plywood is a strong material that handles moisture better. Although metal is usually sealed with paint, if the paint fails, the cabinets will rust. Water isn’t a concern for plastic cabinets, but they do not hold as much weight as other systems.

Coatings
Most cabinets made from wood or particleboard are coated with thin melamine or high-pressure laminate. Although it’s more expensive, high-pressure laminate adds structure and is thicker, tougher, and more water-resistant than melamine. Particleboard shelves with high-pressure laminate can bear three times more weight than uncoated or melamine-coated particleboard. Another advantage to high-pressure laminate is the wide variety of colors and patterns available, whereas melamine only comes in a few colors.

Supports
Because most garage floors are sloped to drain water, many manufacturers include hardware to mount cabinets to the wall, thereby preventing the cabinetry from absorbing moisture from the floor. However, mounting cabinets on the wall decreases the amount of weight they can store.