Rolling Storage Trolley with 8' of Storage in 11" and FREE Landscape Pattern

More Found Storage - When I replaced the dinette with a storage couch, I ended up with about 11" of empty space between the couch and the bed.  I built a rolling trolly to fit there. It has about 8 feet of storage space!

Pull it out to access the 3 shelves.

TUTORIAL:

You will need 

plywood or boards the width of your space

4 wheels

drawer pull

trim (the trim can be as simple as just a strip of the plywood that you used for the shelves.)

Build the casing with top, bottom and sides. Use a piece of thin plywood to cover the back. This is an important part of the construction, as it will make the frame much stronger. I used a piece that did not cover it completely so that we could access the shelf from the bed.

You can make the shelves by using thin plywood and resting it on supports as I did, or you can use pieces of the wood that you built the casing out of and just screw them to the sides.

My shelves are built from thin plywood and set on the supports. I put one screw on each end so that they are easily removable. I painted them and covered them with contact paper to make cleaning easy.

   

I put molding on the fronts of the shelves to keep stuff from bouncing out. Really, this isn't completely necessary if you store it by sliding it into a small space as I do.

Here is a better view of the back

Mount wheels on the bottom. Set them in from the edges a little so they have room to swivel. Mount the drawer pull on the end that will be facing out.

Here is the neat part - a removable tray that fits on the top of the cart. This allows you to have as much stuff piled on top as you want, and easily remove it to have a clear work surface. Or, if you're more restrained than I am, keep it clean, and have a tray to carry things to the bed or outside!

To build the simple tray, nail molding to the edges of a piece of wood slightly larger than the top of the rolling trolley shelf. I mod-podged and distressed a map on one side and painted a simple landscape on the other side. 

The advantage to having a removable top is that you can use the top for storage, but when you want to roll the shelf out, you simply remove the top and all the clutter is gone.

This shows the cart put away

Simply remove the top tray with all the clutter

Here is a better look at the landscape. If you would like the pattern, email me and I'm happy to share!

If you are smarter than me, you will measure your containers and build the shelves to fit haha. I just lucked out and found some containers in the dollar tree that fit exactly.

This design would work for any space from 8" to 18" wide. If it's smaller than 8" wide, you could make it as a pull-out that did not come completely out. 

 Good luck finding hidden storage in your rv, camper, home or apartment! Let me know if you use this idea!

Now Go Play Outside!