Thanks to both of you for your advise!
anarchist,
You had a lot to contribute, I am almost overwhelmed! To answer your questions, our room is probably about 8'x2' with the door halfway down one of the long sides. There is a "nook" off one of the short walls (were we keep the spiders). This area is probably about 4'x8'. It has some duct work running through it and is a bit of a challenge to make useful. It does work well for storing large stuff that doesn't fit into anything.
We have 1 shelf, bakers type, about 8' high, 4' wide. We also have 3 lockable cabinets, the locke