Storage Size Planner
You know the clear width, depth, and height of a storage opening. This planner shows the maximum exterior bin dimensions to shop for before you pick a specific product.
It is the inverse step to Storage Fit Finder, which checks whether a known item fits a space. The Size Planner starts from the space and works outward. It is not product search, retailer search, or a load or safety calculator.
Enter your clear opening
Use clear usable interior dimensions: side-to-side width, front-to-back depth, and vertical clear height to the next obstruction or shelf above.
Your result
Maximum exterior bin sizes
How this differs from Fit Finder
Storage Size Planner answers: “What exterior bin size should I shop for?” You enter the opening; it returns shopping ceilings for 1 to 4 identical bins in one row.
Storage Fit Finder answers: “Does this specific bin or organizer fit?” You enter both the opening and the product’s exterior dimensions. Fit Finder also tests rotating the footprint and compares layouts. Use the Size Planner first to set a size range, then Fit Finder to check a product you are considering.
How to measure clear width, depth, and height
Measure the space a bin can actually occupy, not the outer cabinet box if the door opening is smaller.
- Width: inside face to inside face, between brackets or walls, at the height where the bin will sit.
- Depth: from the front of the usable shelf or floor to the back obstruction (wall, pipe, or closed door), only as far as the bin can sit without blocking closure.
- Height: from the shelf or floor up to the underside of the next shelf, counter, or other fixed obstruction.
Shelf lips, face frames, hinges, and door-mounted racks often reduce usable width or depth compared with what you see at a glance. Measure at the narrowest point the bin must pass through.
Exterior vs interior dimensions
Shopping listings and labels mix interior volume with exterior size. Quart or gallon capacity does not tell you the outside width, depth, or height; two bins with the same capacity can have different footprints. This planner returns exterior shopping dimensions (width × depth × height), the same kind of numbers you would enter in Storage Fit Finder for a candidate bin.
What clearance means here
Clearance is extra space left around each bin in the calculation, the same rule as Fit Finder. It is added to each bin’s width, depth, and height when checking fit. Use it for handling room or when published dimensions are tight. Setting clearance to zero plans for a mathematically flush layout; real shelves still deserve a quick remeasure before purchase.
How the calculation works (plain language)
For each count of identical bins across (1, 2, 3, or 4), the planner assumes one row front to back and never multiple depth rows in V1.
- Maximum exterior width ≈ (clear width ÷ number across) − clearance
- Maximum exterior depth ≈ clear depth − clearance
- Maximum exterior height ≈ clear height − clearance (one layer)
Dimensions are rounded down to shopping-friendly steps (0.25 in or 1 mm), then checked with the same NestNeat fit core used by Fit Finder for that many bins across, one deep, and one layer. If the check fails, the planner steps the relevant dimension down until it passes or the layout becomes impossible.
If you opt in to stacking, a second set of results uses two vertical layers: maximum height ≈ (clear height ÷ 2) − clearance, with the same width and depth rules. Stacking assumes the product is designed to stack; NestNeat does not evaluate structural safety, weight limits, or shelf load.
No configuration is labeled “best” or “recommended.” Choose the layout that matches how you want to reach and use the bins.
Worked example (36 × 16 × 24 inches, 0.25 in clearance, one layer)
For a clear opening 36 in wide, 16 in deep, and 24 in high with 0.25 in clearance and stacking off, maximum exterior shopping dimensions are:
- 1 bin across: 35.75 × 15.75 × 23.75 in (largest single bin)
- 2 bins across: 17.75 × 15.75 × 23.75 in
- 3 bins across: 11.75 × 15.75 × 23.75 in
- 4 bins across: 8.75 × 15.75 × 23.75 in
Each layout uses one row deep and one vertical layer. With stacking enabled for the same opening, the three-bin two-layer row uses 11.75 × 15.75 × 11.75 in maximum exterior height (half the clear height minus clearance, rounded down).