Walmart's Metal Cabinet Is A Great Alternative To A Shed (And Bigger Than IKEA's)

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Not having a lot of space in your yard can be a bummer if you want a shed to store all your garden gadgets and other tools. An outdoor closet can be an affordable and stylish storage alternative for your garden, but a metal cabinet is also a good option if you have the available space in a garage or covered outdoor area. When looking for a shed alternative in the form of a metal cabinet, consider how much you would like to store and what types of things you need to keep in it. Walmart sells the tall SOLAURA Metal Garage Storage Cabinet for $125.98. This cabinet features a powder-coated metal frame, which numerous customers praise as being very sturdy. It also includes a locking system to protect items stored inside, which can be good for storing things you don't want falling into little hands (like power tools). 

IKEA has some similar outdoor storage solutions, like the KOLBJÖRN or SUNDSÖ cabinet, but Walmart's cabinet is considerably larger than IKEA's SUNDSÖ cabinet. The SUNDSÖ Cabinet, sold for $129.99, measures approximately 33 inches tall, 23 inches wide, and 13 inches deep. By comparison, the SOLAURA cabinet is 71 inches tall, 32 inches wide, and 16 inches deep. The Walmart cabinet also stands apart when it comes to shelf load capacity. While the KOLBJÖRN and the SUNDSÖ shelves max out at 66 pounds and 55 pounds, respectively, the Walmart cabinet supports an impressive 180 pounds per shelf. The additional capacity makes the SOLAURA cabinet a better choice if you plan to be storing heavier items, like potting soil, power tools, and other outdoor equipment.

If you do not have the space for a shed outside, using the SOLAURA cabinet as an alternative comes with a few advantages — like adjustable shelving. The shelves can be repositioned or removed to accommodate various items. Taller items, such as brooms or rakes, may be comfortably stored by reconfiguring the inside of this 71-inch-tall cabinet. The 180-pound load capacity makes storing heavy tools, like power saws or leaf blowers, possible without damaging the shelves. Though not quite as big as a traditional shed, the SOLAURA cabinet still fulfills a lot of the same functions as a shed.

Customer feedback offers even more clues about the suitability of the SOLAURA cabinet as a shed alternative. Across more than 1,600 customer ratings, this cabinet receives an average of 3.9 stars, with generally favorable comments on its value, construction, and features. Some reviews describe the cabinet as sturdy once assembled and appreciate its storage capacity, with one customer saying, "it made storing oversized items possible." However, assembly experiences varied among reviewers. For example, one person shared that "The instructions consisted of a few pictures that didn't show the steps clearly." But others had no trouble navigating the instructions and found the cabinet easy to assemble.

With all those factors in mind, the bigger and taller Walmart SOLAURA cabinet may be more useful than the smaller IKEA cabinet for many homeowners. If you are looking to store many heavy items, you would certainly benefit from the combined 900-pound shelf capacity compared to the less robust IKEA models. However, if you only need to store a few light items, then the smaller IKEA cabinet might do fine. When it comes to a shed alternative, however, you can store a wider variety of items in the SOLAURA cabinet from Walmart.