It's a ball corral y'all!

I started on my ball corral today.  I'm not sure what to really call it, but it's to corral the myriad of balls in the garage, so for now, it's the ball corral.

  I started in my usual manner: cut first, think later. I don't know why, it's just my way. Jump in with both feet, and stop and plan later. Yes, I waste time, but it's more fun to just start cutting now and worry about pesky details later. 

My first footprint was too narrow; I made it bigger, and it was better.  Then I looked at the boards I was going to use (9.5 inches...why can't anything be an even number??) and that was just too short to corral the balls.

Plan #34(b) Section 1a: Keep building.  And I did. And it worked out.  As with the first garage shelf, I was going for usability, not aesthetics at this point.

The first part is a box....most cabinets and fancy stuff begins with a simple box, and this is no different.  To add the height of the second board, I added 1x4 pieces in the corners and attached the second level of boards to these.  

Because I am working to do this on the cheap, and without buying anything new, I decided to keep the back open.  It will back up to the concrete wall, so using an extra piece of anything to wall that in seemed like a waste. 

But a girl has to have a little fun, right? The front seemed just so square and cold to me, and I wanted to do something a little different. 

 I learned a trick watching our fence guys cut the top of our pickets with this method, and decided to give it a try.

 Take a piece of anything flimsy, attached on each side, then pulled down in the middle for a nice curved edge. It really works! I marked it out, then cut, leaving a bit of straight edge on either side. 

 Edges were a little rough, but nothing a good sanding couldn't handle.  I like the look of this, and it opens it up a bit that you can see in. 

Four sides were attached, and then came the balls.
And you wondered why I was doing this?  I counted over 40 balls: 6 basketballs (I don't know why), softballs, golfballs (which went into another pile), a lacrosse ball (we don't play, and never have), wiffle balls, baseballs, kickballs, soccerballs and others.  We are a ball-playing family I guess!

Once they were all in the bin, I realized that the little balls (wiffle, soft, that mysterious lacrosse one etc) were hiding under the plethora of basketballs.  That wouldn't work. 

Which prompted one more shelf:  I may increase the height of this, but for today, I was done. 

Rough edges around the top and me doing one more step; to finish it up, cover the various corners, and also as a training for future projects: I used some nicer 1x2 and made a face for the top. 

But oops: as close as I am, I am 18 inches short.  But I came close. 

Balls not underfoot or tucked into various mystery corners: Priceless.  And the cost....well, priceless too!

Ball corral y'all: Free.

(After looking at this post and picture, I've decided it does, in fact, need the back....and a coat of nice white paint. My work is never done!)