Need some extra storage space? (Keter Garden Store)

Member Name: wendybull

Product:	Keter Garden Store
Date:	13/09/06 (3218 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good style, ease of use, hard wearing

Disadvantages: Price

We desperately needed something to store the ever-increasing boxes and tubs used for recycling. They took up too much space in the normal shed and to be honest I didn’t want to traipse to the end of the garden to get rid of the recycling five times every day and at the same time we didn’t want to have four large plastic boxes stored outside by the house as it was unsightly and would possibly end up with the plastics blowing everywhere in windy weather as the councils don’t provide lids with their recycling boxes.

The answer for me was a Keter Garden Store. As you can see from the picture it is a fairly large plastic cupboard, which you store in the garden or outside in a suitable place. For us we had the perfect spot at the top of the drive, where it would be easily accessible but not too prominent on the eye, as it’s not the prettiest thing to adorn your front or back garden.

I brought ours from Homebase about three years ago now and it cost me £99 but they are actually down to £79 now and if you go on a 10% day to Homebase you’ll get it even cheaper. I think this is a much more reasonable price when it comes to value for money as just under a hundred pounds was a bit steep in my opinion. Argos is also selling it for £79 if you are closer to them.

It comes flat packed and you need to assemble it yourself. I was a bit concerned at this and wondered if I would manage to erect it in the stated 30 minutes, as the pieces are obviously quite large and I thought it would be a problem to engage all the pieces successfully whilst still holding it up, however I did manage to do it alone in the end after about an hour. That seems like a long time but some of the pieces require a fair bit of strength and force to snap into place. There are no screws or bolts to hold it together and it is really like a big jigsaw with chunky connections already joined to the main piece. The instructions were easy to follow, even on the more complicated lock and hinge parts.

Once erected you are looking at a storage cupboard whose dimensions are (H)111cm, (W)148cm and (D)81cm. In real terms this means you can easily fit a child’s bike inside as well as a standard recycling box and maybe some other bits and pieces. We brought it essentially for the recycling boxes to be stored in and we have three large boxes side by side and another balanced in between (brick style) to house our weekly recycling. There is plenty of room inside for our needs and we don’t use the full height of the cupboard, so if we chose to change contents it would happily house garden tools, like spades etc, or even the lawnmower and strimmer or BBQ if you have no place for them.

We have had this storage cupboard erected for around three years now and to be honest I have only cleaned it once. It looks a slightly different colour to when we brought it but nothing particularly bad. The water resistant resin that it is made from is extremely durable and Keter promise that it will not rust, dent, stain or peel. I can certainly vouch for that promise so far as other than a little dirt it is still intact, as it was on the day we brought it. I have not seen any moss collecting on the surfaces either, which is a great asset as moss is one of the things that will age a product like this extremely quickly.

Overall I am very satisfied with the Keter Garden Store. I find it extremely user friendly, with a lifting lid or front opening double doors. I nearly always open them one handed as the other is holding a basket of recycling and this is easy and not at all tricky. It has the option to lock the doors if you are storing more valuable items like bikes, although the locks do not come with it and we have never bothered as it is only recycling we are storing and therefore have no need to lock it. But this facility could prove to be very useful, especially for home contents insurance purposes.

Something I really like about it, is that it comes with a base. This may sound like an obvious inclusion but quite often you can buy this type of thing but it comes with just sides and a roof, which leaves the items being stored open to damp and insects from the base, but the Keter comes with a durable, thick plastic resin base and all the sides click onto this, making it resistant to rain. I can happily state that nothing has ever become wet whilst being stored in here. We have one recycling box that contains cardboard and paper and even the items in here don’t appear to be damp, even in very wet weather so that must be testament to it’s effectiveness.

You can also purchase shelving packs for this store unit, obviously separately to get you to spend more money, although this could be a useful addition if you are intending to use it for smaller items, to maximise the space inside.

Would I recommend the Keter Garden Store? Absolutely, I am extremely happy with my purchase and feel it has a long life ahead of it yet, so will definitely end up value for money even at £99.

Summary: Ideal for small gardens/yards