DIY Weight Plate Storage Options – GarageGymPro

How To Make Your Own Weight Plate Storage

There are a lot of different DIY solutions out there to help you tidy up your weight plates, but generally they all need some leftover lumber, a drill, and a saw. We've given step by step instructions for a wall-mounted and a floor-mounted solution:  

1. DIY Wall Mounted Storage Solution 

For this wall mounted weight plate storage, you'll need: 

2. DIY Weight Plate Tree Solution 

For this floor storage solution, you’ll need:

DIY Weight Plate Storage Ideas (Creative Home Gym Designs)

If you've got a gym in your home, then it's pretty likely you've got some weight plates. These can quickly end up all over the floor or leaning up against the wall, making the whole space feel very full. It also means it takes longer to load and unload the bar, so your workouts are more time-consuming.  

You can buy some weight plate storage, but there are actually a few DIY solutions that you can do yourself for a fraction of the price: 

1. DIY Weight Plate Tree 

Weight plate trees come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have a central structure with various branches which extend out and allow weight plates to be stored on them.

Weight plate trees are useful because you can make them as big or as small as you need to. This means you can design and build something which can store all of your weight plates. You can also organize your weights by size, so it's easier to find what you need mid-session.  

You’ll see various weight plate trees in home and commercial gyms. The DIY option is generally made from wood and has 2-4 pegs coming from the central pillar in the middle. It’ll only cost about $30 to make (depending on where you can find the wood), and you’ll only need a drill and some screws to put it together.  

This DIY storage solution is good if you have a lot of weights of different sizes because you can separate them on different branches. The only downside is that a weight plate tree will take up valuable floor space, so it might not be viable in small home gyms.  

Read More - Different Types Of Weights For Strength Training

2. DIY Weight Plate Storage Box  

If your gym is in a functional space and you want to hide the weight plates when they’re not in use, then a storage box is a great option. You can make this one fairly easily using some wood, and you can even convert an old drawer from your dresser to make the job easier.  

All you'll need is some lumber with some slots in them for the various weight plates. You can stack them next to each other so that you can select the right plate without having to move any others.

This makes it easier to load and unload your barbells quickly, and it's a useful solution for those performing lots of different exercises in their routine. It costs basically nothing to make, and all you’ll need is a bit of old lumber.  

This solution is excellent for those with a small number of weight plates that they want to move out of the way from time to time.  

See Also - Ultimate Guide To Home Gym Storage

3. DIY Drilled Wall Mounted Storage 

Using your wall space is a great way to free up floor space in your home gym so you have the largest possible area for working out.

The DIY wall-mounted storage is a quick, simple, and effective solution, and all you need is a drill and some old metal or lumbar you can use as pins. It's a similar process to the DIY weight plate tree, except the branches are attached directly to the walls and out of the way.   

This DIY storage is great for those who have a smaller home gym and want to keep the weights off the floor so they can use more of it. It’s a good idea to trim the pins down to the same size before attaching them to the wall, and you can even paint them so that they match the existing equipment in the gym.

This will help it look like a professional storage solution rather than a DIY job.  

Learn More - How To Build A Small Apartment Home Gym

4. DIY Bench Weight Plate Storage 

If you want to keep the weight plates out of sight and out of mind when they’re not in use, then this solution might be worth it for you.

It involves creating a storage box underneath your weights bench so that you can store the plates where they can't be seen. This is the perfect weight plate storage for those with a really small gym who can't physically have everything out at the same time.  

You’ll need to measure your weights bench and find some wood to make storage boxes underneath. You can make these to your exact specifications and put them in different sized storage areas if you have smaller weight plates. This option will take a bit more thought to get right, but it should take less than $25 to create.  

Also Check Out - DIY Homemade Weight Bench

5. DIY Weight Plate Cart  

If you want to organize your weights and move them easily to different areas in your home, this storage solution might be really useful.

It involves creating a small wooden cart with slots for your plates and wheels on the bottom. This lets you drag the plates to where they're needed and makes it quicker and easier to load and unload plates while you're working out.   

To make it, you'll need to create a small storage box and then attach some wheels. You should be able to get all the parts in your local hardware store and make it in a few hours.

This is a great option for those in a larger gym who might have to move their plates between equipment or those with mobility issues who can't easily lift them from place to place.

Related Article - How Many Plates Do I Need?

DIY Weight Plate Storage Design & Build Plans 

The key to a successful DIY project is planning it out, and to make effective DIY weight plate storage, you need to put time and effort into the planning. For some DIY projects, it's worth getting professional help in the planning stage to make sure you're on the right track, but for weight plate storage, you should be able to do it yourself.  

You should start by considering the problem you're trying to solve. How many weight plates do you have, and what's the total weight you're looking to store? Are you trying to hide them or just organize them more effectively? Ask yourself all of these questions before you work out the solution.  

Then you need to measure and draw out your design. If you're going for a storage unit, you need to allow 2 inches for each weight plate and accurately draw it. Use a representative scale, so 1 inch is the equivalent to 1 foot on paper. This will help you see what options actually work in practice and where you might need to reconfigure your home gym.  

Once you've decided on the solution and plotted it out, you can determine what materials you need, including the connections to hold it in place. You can then decide if it's worthwhile as a DIY project or if it will be easier just to buy in some storage.

Buying storage will save you time and effort but usually costs more. DIY can save you some good money, but if you have a lot of weight to store, you have to be sure it's good enough quality to hold them all.  

Planning your storage out in the same way you plan out your gym is a good idea, and the time spent in this stage will save you a lot of time, money, and hassle later in the process. 

Related Article - Why Are Weight Plates So Expensive?

Frequently Asked Weight Plate Questions

Can you hang weight plates on a wall? 

Yes, you can fit pegs or hooks into your wall to store weight plates. This is an effective way to store them if you have limited floor space in your gym. 

How do you store small weight plates? 

Using storage boxes or small hooks is an excellent way to store small weight plates.  

Can you store bumper plates outside? 

Most bumper plates are durable enough to be left outside for some time without any lasting damage. Try to find a sheltered area with some protection from the elements, though.