DIY Bin Store

Bins aren't the nicest looking things. They are a necessity though. So in this instructable, we're going to show you how you can make your own bin store to hide away your wheelie bins.

Check out the full how to video here:

Materials Used:

• Framing Timber
• Cladding
• Tee Hinges
• Butt Hinges
• Handles
• Latches
• Command Hooks
• Chain
• Hooks

Tools Used:

• Hand Saw
• Drill
• Hammer
• Nail Gun (not needed)
• Screws
• Nails

The first step is to measure your bins. You could make a specific compartment for each bin but I opted to just make the compartments big enough to fit our largest bin. This way, we can put the bins back in any position.

You'll need to get a measurement for the bins width, depth and height. In our case that was W:60cm x D:75cm x H:107cm

You can then use those measurements to figure out how big your frame needs to be. Be sure to allow some clearance and wiggle room to get the bins in and out. I opted to add a taper to the top of our bin store, it could be flat if you like but I prefer the tapered style.

With your measurements sorted, you can start making the frame. For reference, I made the back of the frame 125cm tall, the front 117cm tall and overall the side frame was 84cm wide. The framing timber was cut to size just using a hand saw.

To get the angles for the tapered top I just lay the pieces out on the ground and marked where the top piece crossed the front and back. This saves the need to actually measure anything which is always a bonus.

The side frame pieces get secured together with 2 screws in each of the corners. With 2 side frames put together, they can be joined with a long framing piece at the top and bottom. These pieces will make up the overall interior size of the bin store. For our 3 bins that was 205cm. That allows for 3 x 65cm wide compartments and 2 interior dividers.

To add the interior dividers I first marked the 65cm spacing at the top and bottom. I could then line up the interior divider frames.

You'll notice these frames are a little different. They're basically the same as the outer side frames but without the back piece to them. This will allow them to connect the top and bottom pieces we added earlier.

They can be sat in place, aligned with the marks and secured with screws. The missing back piece can now be added to both of the interior dividers to support the weight at the back.

To keep the fronts of the dividers in the right place, I added a piece of cladding to the top. This was held in place with nails. I also marked the same 65cm compartment spacing onto it to ensure the dividers were parallel.

At this point, it's worth having a test fit with your bins.

It's time to make the doors and lids for the bin store. These were made from framing timber in the same way as the frame to the bin store was made. Simple rectangular frames, secured at the corners with 2 screws.

The sizes of the doors and lids will depend on your bin store dimensions. I opted to have a clearance of 5mm around all 4 sides of the doors for my bin store. The lids are a little bit different though. The 2 outer lids are the same dimension as they fully sit on the outer edge. They share the interior divider supports in the middle though so the central lid has to be slightly smaller.

The doors were attached to the frame with 2 tee hinges each. I did have an issue of sagging though so I added another long cladding piece to the bottom at the front. Like the piece at the top, this will help keep the interior dividers in the right place and prevent the doors from sagging.

The lids were attached with 2 butt hinged each. They also got a handle at the front to help with opening and closing.

The last thing to do is finish off the cladding on the outer ends of the frame. This was done in the same was as the doors. Again, it could be done with a hammer and nails but a nail gun is a lot faster.

To make it so the bin lid would open and close with the lid to the bin store I opted to add some chain. One of our bins has handles so threading the chain through and attaching it to hooks in the wooden lid was simple. It opens and closes nicely.

Our other bin lids don't have handles though. So for these, I used some adhesive command hooks. I stuck 2 hooks onto each of the lids and then hooked the chain into them. They work really well. They can also be removed easily too if need be. Leaving no marks behind.

In order to keep the lids open, I opted for the elegant solution of using an off cut piece of cladding. It simply props it open whenever we need to throw a lot of things away.

I will be using some wood preserver on this but we haven't decided on a colour yet.

Here is the bin store done! It'll allow us to hide away our bins while the lids still give us easy access. The doors make it simple to put take the bins in and out on collection days too.

We really hope you liked this one and give it a go for yourselves :)