Storage Ideas

Bowling Ball & Shoe Storage Ideas

The photo gallery below includes examples of built-in shelving, cubby holes, rails, racks, lockers, etc that some of our customers have built in their private bowling alleys. While we do not offer these items ourselves, we provide these photos as a resource for discussions with your interior designer and trim carpenter. It's a good idea to make the balls and shoes visible and accessible to the bowlers. Bowling shoes have the size number on the back of each shoe, and bowling balls have a weight label. Open storage makes it easier for bowlers to quickly find the sizes they need.

Bowling Ball Storage Design

Trim carpenters build several different types of bowling ball storage designs, but there are a few that we see frequently. The most common category is "parallel rails". The rails can be rotated boards, polished stainless steel tubing, 2x2s with chamfered edges, etc. Parallel rails allow side-to-side movement, but prohibit front-to-back movement. The other type we see a lot is round holes cut into shelves. The diameter of the hole doesn't need to be that big - just enough to prevent the ball from rolling off the shelf. The advantage of this design is the spacing of the balls is perfectly uniform. The edge of the hole can be routed with a 45-degree chamfer. All bowling balls have the same diameter (regardless of weight): 8 - 9/16 inches.

Don't forget about ergonomics! Bowling balls can be heavy and awkward to handle, especially for the elderly and young children, and especially if the balls have some bowling lane oil on them. Balls should be stored at a comfortable height — somewhere around waist high works well. Forcing bowlers to reach high increases risk of injuries.

Bowling Shoe Storage Design

Shoe storage usually consists of flat or slanted shelves, or individual cubby holes. A cubby hole size that works well is 9 to 12 inches wide on center, and 6 to 9 inches tall on center. A depth of 12 inches makes sense, as this corresponds to the length of a larger size for an adult male, as well as the depth of a standard upper cabinet. A depth of 12 inches also works well for the ball storage.