My basement came with a storage closet in the corner that is also home to numerous plumbing pipes and my hot water heater. There was some minor shelving, but nothing that would accommodate my storage needs. There is also a small counter with a pass-through opening through a set of louvered bi-fold window shutters… the only thing I can imagine is that this had been intended to be the bar for some sort of basement lounge space. Or a strange addiction to louvered EVERTHING.

The thin shelving on the right side came out easily. I cut down the bar-like counter on the left to make room for more shelves on that side too.

Then came the storage bins. Not giant, too-heavy-to-manage totes, but matching 25- and 50-quart Sterilite ShelfTotes designed to stack neatly into the new 5-shelf storage rack.