For those who have been following my blog for a while, you may have noticed that I spend a lot of time on "getting organised".
It isn't just me who spends hours and hours on improving his workshop, making it more efficient, comfortable, and safe. I follow a couple of fellow woodworkers on YouTube, and I have noticed that every one of them is obsessed with finding better ways of organising their workshop.
For me, I think it is partly an obsession and partly out of necessity: I do have one of the tiniest workshops in the world, so I need to get organised to make things work. It's as simple as that.
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the tool holders I was making. Since my last post – which was, admittedly, far too long ago – I've been steadily making progress. In fact, I've reached a point where I'm close to completing this collection of tool holders. So, I thought it might be time to share how things have progressed.
But first, let me. explain what my actual challenge was. About two years ago, when I started designing my workshop (see the initial plans below) – it is worth to re-read this old post – I intuitively knew my tool wall, and tool cabinet would play a crucial role for creating an efficient work environment. I assumed my cabinet would provide for most of the space to store my tools, but what I hadn't realised is that I needed more wall space. So what to do when there is actually not much wall space?
An early sketch outlining my workshop organisation plans
While my work on the tool cabinet progressed (see photos below), I started thinking of using the tool cabinet to create more wall space. This is known in design as reframing: looking at the cabinet not as a container, but as a flat surface – like a wall.
From concept to construction: Left, a cardboard prototype explores proportions and layout. Right, the wooden carcass is giving shape to the tool cabinet.
As I developed my tool cabinet – particularly when I started working on the doors – a new perspective emerged. I began to view the cabinet not merely as storage, but as a potential extension of my wall space. This shift in how certain concepts are perceived is known in design as "reframing"—reimagining the cabinet as a vertical surface rather than just a container.
I started thinking about how to use the cabinet doors to expand my wall space. What if I use both sides of the doors? That would double the space. And what if I did a split door? That would quadruple the space.
Here is a first attempt to test the "split door" concept.
You may notice these doors are quite thick – which presented an issue for closing them. However, their substantial depth also offered an opportunity to store bulkier tools (like my planes) that require more space.
As that seemed to work well, I added shelves for my planes, and glue bottles...
But I had many more tools that needed to get organised: my calipers, rulers, pencils, try squares, marking knives, chisels, etc. I wanted my most frequently used tools to be readily accessible, following the logic of
"first order of retrievability" as discussed in
an earlier blog.
Instead of starting with an account of the entire process, let me present the end result to give you a clearer picture of what I was trying to achieve. This is actually adding extra wall space to my workshop!
When you look at the left door – with the rulers – you may notice the complexity of making these tools fit in the most efficient way possible. I aimed for coherence in how the tools were clustered, creating sections based on function: measuring, marking, smoothing and chiseling or cutting. Each door roughly houses one category of tools.
To get a sense of whether it was doable, I first did a couple of mock-ups, using my favourite (red) tape.
Red tape being useful for the first time.
Figuring out how best to position the tools reminded me of playing Tetris... a game I played in my teenage years, pretty much until my fingers bled.
Once I was confident in my design, I began crafting the individual tool holders. After completing each one, I fitted them to the door. For some I created a prototype first, like one holding my pencils, markers and awl. See the example below...
On the left: a prototype. On the right: the final result.
You might wonder, 'Why do I need so many mechanical pencils?' (I have seven actually). The answer is pretty simple: I can lose a couple before I run out...
When I'm deeply focused on woodworking, I often misplace my pencils on my cluttered workbench. They get buried under tools, wood pieces, or shavings. I hate interrupting my workflow to search for tools. With seven pencils, if I misplace one, I have six left. Lose another, five remain, and so on. After cleaning my workbench, I always find them all again.
I realise now this is actually a wood working principle I have developed myself: always maintain multiple copies of critical, easily misplaced tools. It may cost some extra money, but saves me tons of frustration.
Let me conclude with some reflections on the actual usage of this configuration.
I’ve been using this configuration for half a year now, and I am so far very pleased with it. When I started thinking about “getting organised” I realised no matter what, my workbench always ends up covered with tools and that there is effectively no way trying to harness that chaos (also see my reflections in this
old blog). Instead I was looking for a way to “regroup” my tools when chaos started to take over.
My current organisational system actually works better than expected. Surprisingly, my workbench stays less cluttered because I've developed the habit of returning tools to their designated holders. After half a year with this configuration, I can reach for my ruler or any of my pencils, almost as if blindfolded.
Constructing these split doors and an array of oddly shaped tool holders has been one of the most challenging yet rewarding projects for my workshop. The process has significantly enhanced my skills and confidence with hand tools. Most importantly, I've learned to trust my improvisational abilities more. Just like playing Tetris, you sometimes have to figure things out on the go – it mostly works out fine!
