Have a garage that needs to have some order put on the chaos? When we realised how much wasted space we had in the garage and how disorganised it was getting, we started thinking about cool new ways to turn my garage into a usable, livable space.
Check out some of these amazing DIY ideas that show you how easy it is to turn a messy, ordinary garage into something incredible, a place you would like to use for a mudroom, workshop, gardening headquarters and man cave.
From shelving and storage ideas to functional do it yourself workshop furniture, these ideas are perfect weekend projects. Such projects allow you to better tackle other awesome weekend projects with ease!
FAQs About Garage Renovation
What Should I Hang In My Garage?
Use the right hanging accessories. Garment hooks, double hooks, utility hooks, loop hooks, single hooks, and industrial hooks. Magnetic toolbars and tool racks. Bike hooks, golf racks, fishing rod racks, and racks and hangers for other sports equipment. Hanging baskets in sizes from deep to shallow.
Can You Keep A TV In The Garage?
To prevent damage, it is essential to store your TV in a location that isn’t prone to temperature fluctuations. Never store a television in a garage, attic or basement, as this can lead to the TV becoming permanently damaged.
What Side Of The House Should The Garage Be On?
Whether the garage for your new home is attached to the house or detached from it, it is wise to put the garage on the “high side” of the lot. So, if when looking at your lot face-on, it slopes down from left to right, the garage would go on the left side of the house.
Is It Ok To Leave Bottled Water In A Hot Garage?
Some researchers who study plastics recommend against drinking water from plastic bottles that have been sitting in hot places for a long time — such as a car sizzling in the sun — concerned that the heat could help chemicals from the plastic leach into the water.
Is It Ok To Store Christmas Decorations In The Garage?
Holiday ornaments and lights, especially ones you’re kept for many years, can lose their colour faster if they’re exposed to too much light when stored. Fabric bags specifically made for storing holiday decorations should be stored indoors if possible due to the higher moisture levels garages commonly have.
Top DIY Garage Makeover Ideas
Are you not happy with the way your garage looks? If that is the case, then you are not the only one! Many people treat their garage as just a place where they can store their car and unwanted items, and due to that fact, it tends to be pretty cluttered and messy.
Fortunately, there are many things that you can do to change the look of your garage! You do not even have to leave your house to do it. After all, you can buy garage doors online and many other things that you might need, too!
In this article, you will find a list of the best garage makeover ideas that you can take care of on your own, without the help of a professional, ranging from painting your walls to investing in smart storage solutions. Check it out!
Remove The Clutter
Take a look at your garage. It is pretty messy. If your answer is yes, then you should remove the clutter. It might be a difficult task, but it is not impossible! You can start by taking everything out of the garage and putting it in the driveway.
Once you do that, you can go over everything that you put in your garage and throw out the things that are either broken or unneeded. Doing that should free up lots of space inside the garage, which will help improve its looks!
Cover The Floor
Your garage floor should not be just bare concrete. Instead, you should take care of it and invest in something a bit fancier. For starters, you can check out various garage flooring options and see which one suits your needs and your budget best.
For instance, if you have money to spare, you can invest in stone flooring. It is an expensive option, but the result is worth it! On the other hand, you can go for rubber tiles. They are cheap, low maintenance, and easy to install!
Paint The Walls
If you want your garage to look fresh and nice, you should give its walls a fresh coat of paint. Ideally, it would help if you went for a neutral colour, such as light grey. However, going for a colour that is a bit bolder is always a viable option!
It would be best if that colour were warm, making your garage appear cozier and more welcoming. The most popular warm colours are red, yellow, and orange. Once you decide on the colour, you can start painting!
Add Storage Space
One of the best ways to make a garage look better is adding storage space. It will help keep whatever you put in there organised and tidy. There are many ways in which you can add storage space.
The basic way to do just that is by installing cabinets and shelves. If you are not a fan of woodworking, buying these at the store should be easy enough. They come in various shapes and sizes, which should make finding a set that fits your needs easy.
Other than that, you can invest in an overhead storage rack. This is an excellent option if your garage has a high ceiling. It will help you make the most out of the storage space in your garage, which can then be used to, for example, store seasonal items out of sight.
Invest In Lighting
Most people have garages that are very poorly lit. Luckily, you do not need to do much to change it! In many cases, you have to add a few lighting fixtures here and there and ensure that the garage is completely illuminated.
The easiest way to go about it includes installing a light fixture on the ceiling. Ideally, it would help if you did not go for fluorescent lights, as they can trigger migraines and headaches. Instead, you can go for LED lighting, safer and energy-efficient.
Other than that, you can go for track lighting! It is an excellent way to give your garage a modern look. In addition to that, track lighting can be moved around and adjusted, which should make working in your garage a whole lot easier!
Buy A Workbench
You might not be aware of this, but a simple workbench is a great way to use the space in your garage. First of all, it can be an excellent place to take care of various projects that require manual work, such as woodworking.
Second of all, it can be a great storage space solution. The vast majority of workbenches come with drawers, which you can use to store items that you could not find a suitable and appropriate place for, like nuts and bolts.
Inspect Your Garage Door
Even though the garage door can have a huge impact on how a house looks from the outside, quite a few homeowners do not care for that particular part of their garage that much. It is a huge mistake, as it can make your house look messy and old!
Because of that, you should inspect your garage door very carefully. If there are any gaps on the sides or underneath the door, you might want to invest in proper insulation. In addition to that, you can check if the garage door opener works the way it should.
Once you take care of that, you can focus on how your garage door looks. If it looks old and worn, you can give it a fresh coat of paint. Acrylic latex exterior house paint will be your best bet, as it is very durable and provides great coverage.
3 Practical Garage Conversion Idea
Create A Garage Art Studio
Tired of stashing canvases under the couch or rooting through the junk drawer for your pencils? Your garage can give you the space you need to spread out your art supplies and spend more time creating.
Steps to Create a Garage Art Studio:
- Upgrade the flooring, so you’re not working on cold concrete. There are several affordable, DIY-friendly options for covering a garage floor: carpet squares, roll-out vinyl, interlocking tiles and peel-and-stick tile.
- Add extra lighting. It would be best if you had good lighting to make great art. Hire an electrician to upgrade the space’s light fixtures or supplement your existing system with large floor lamps.
- Paint the walls an inspiring colour. Whether you choose classic art-gallery neutral or a bolder hue, a simple coat of paint goes a long way toward disguising that your studio started as a garage.
- Create zones for different projects. Maybe you need an easel and supply stand in one area, a sewing table and fabric storage in another. Designating separate spaces will keep your materials organised, so it’s easier to work.
- Leave space for visitors. If you plan to sell your masterpieces or teach classes as a side gig, add a small sitting area within the space where you can meet with students or chat with clients about a commission.
Turn Your Garage Into A Gym
Whether you have ambitious fitness goals or want to get active after a long day behind a desk, setting up shop in your garage is a great way to make exercising easy and save money in the long run—it’s often possible to turn your garage into a gym for about as much as you’d spend on a year’s membership somewhere else.
Use These Tips for Building a Garage Gym:
- Be selective about what equipment you include. You don’t need the same variety as a commercial gym. Consider your personal fitness goals and limit yourself to the equipment that will help you meet them.
- Install durable flooring. Rubber tiles are great for DIY installation and protect the underlying concrete from damage if you drop weights or other heavy equipment.
- Give yourself plenty of room. Don’t overcrowd your garage gym. Make sure you arrange your equipment with enough space to use it all effectively and safely. Depending on your goals, you may also want to leave space for stretching, yoga or other exercises that don’t require equipment.
- Consider building over buying. If you’re an experienced DIYer, there are plenty of garage gym staples you can save money on by making yourself, including parallettes, plyometric boxes and power racks. And even with no DIY know-how, you can make your medicine balls.
- Know your DIY limits. Get help from a handy friend or hire a pro to install things like pull up bars or gymnastic rings if you’re not sure you can do it properly yourself. An imperfect installation puts you at risk for serious injury, so when in doubt—ask for help.
Pro-Tip: Make safety a priority in your garage gym. Keep a first aid kit on hand, and make sure you always have your phone with you in case of an emergency.
Use Your Garage As A Living Space
Is your family outgrowing your family room? With some TLC, you can turn your garage into additional living space in a process similar to finishing a basement.
Keep in mind that this type of garage conversion will be more time-consuming and expensive than the other two since more work will be needed to make the space feel like part of the house. However, it will still be much less expensive than a new addition.
Here’s How to Transform Your Garage Into a Living Space:
- Hire a reputable contractor. Unless your plans are very basic, turning a garage into a living space isn’t something you can DIY.
- Insulate and raise the floor. This will bring the garage floor to the same level as the rest of the house and allow you to install a moisture barrier to prevent water damage.
- Install outlets. If you plan to have a TV or appliances in your new room, hire an electrician to install extra outlets—many garages only have one.
- Add windows. On top of brightening the space, windows will help it feel more like a real part of the home rather than something tacked on.
- Put your spin on the style. Put up a complementary paint colour, choose the perfect flooring and add architectural elements like moulding or wainscoting to make your transformed garage blend in with the rest of your home.
DIY Garage Makeover, Here’s 5 Reasons That’s A Bad Idea.
After years of neglect, you’ve finally decided to start that much-needed DIY garage makeover.
Yes, it can feel rewarding to complete a home improvement project yourself, but beware. Although you may consider yourself the handy type, doing a DIY garage makeover is a bad idea.
And if you’re all thumbs when it comes to using tools, tackling a DIY garage makeover is a terrible idea. Here are five reasons why.
A DIY Garage Makeover Requires Expertise.
Even if you’re confident that your skills will enable you to complete a DIY garage makeover, you’ll likely find yourself out of your depth. Browsing online home improvement forums and watching instructional YouTube videos will only get you so far.
They’re simply no substitute for the vast amount of experience a garage makeover specialist like Garage Living has. We’ve completed thousands of garage makeover projects throughout North America since 2005.
During that time, we’ve encountered just about any potential problem one could face when doing a garage makeover. We also know how to ensure all aspects of your garage project are safely installed.
You’ll Miss Out On Great Garage Storage And Organisation Solutions.
Part of Garage Living’s expertise includes knowing which high-quality products to carry and use in our projects. Your DIY garage makeover experience would probably involve using products purchased from a big-box store.
They won’t have the same quality as our products regarding construction materials, craftsmanship, and longevity. That puts you at a disadvantage before you’ve even attempted installing anything for your DIY garage makeover.
Our garage professionals can also suggest storage and organisation ideas you’re probably unaware of. For example:
- our Slatwall panel system with hanging accessories is one of the best ways to keep your garage clutter-free
- aluminium capping adds a more finished look to your garage door frame and eliminates the need for any future maintenance in this area
- we can install a four-post car lift that gives you more space to park an extra vehicle
DIY Floors Won’t Look As Good As A Floortex™ Floor Coating
A damaged garage floor that needs to be redone is commonly a motivating factor for deciding to do a garage makeover. Applying a store-bought epoxy floor coating during your DIY garage makeover won’t produce the same impressive results that our Floortex™ polyaspartic floor coating can.
The application process needs to be done perfectly. Otherwise, the floor will need to be redone far sooner than you’d like. This is why garage floor coating application experience matters.
Here are some advantages that a Floortex™ garage floor coating has over epoxy coatings:
- it can be applied in as little as one day and be ready for normal use by the following day (an epoxy coating can take up to five or six days to cure and dry)
- the UV stable topcoat helps the floor maintain its glossy sheen longer than epoxy coatings
- it penetrates concrete surfaces better than epoxy coatings, giving the floor a higher level of surface protection
- a wide variety of floor coating colours provides more design flexibility to complement your garage decor
- it can be applied virtually year-round (epoxy coatings need a minimum application temperature of about 50-55° F/10-13° C)
Installing Your Garage Door And Opener Can Be Dangerous.
One of the best examples to illustrate the perils involved in a DIY garage makeover is installing a new garage door and opener.
There’s little room for error when it comes to installing a new garage door and opener for a few reasons:
- the garage door needs to fit the doorframe perfectly to ensure proper operation and optimum energy efficiency by eliminating gaps
- a garage door system has lots of moving parts that need to interact with each other perfectly
- the garage door springs will need to be adjusted to account for the different weight of your new door (adjusting these springs without having prior experience can potentially cause serious injury)
- Your garage door opener needs to be able to handle the weight of the door. Otherwise, its motor will be overtaxed and have a short life
- your garage door is one of the most frequently used doors in your home and needs to be able to handle a heavy workload safely and efficiently
Your Other Storage Systems Need To Maximise Space And Be Installed Safely.
Adding garage cabinets, specialty storage racks, and freestanding shelving racks to your garage will be a huge help when it comes to keeping the room organised. You’ll find that we have a very appealing selection of products in these categories, in addition to the ability to customise your garage cabinet system for maximum looks and functionality.
But where’s the best place to put them so that your garage storage space is maximised? What about existing wall obstructions that present an additional challenge during installation? And most importantly, how can the racks be hung safely? Our overhead storage racks can hold up to 600 lbs., so knowing which part of the wall or ceiling to attach them safely is of the utmost importance.
Conclusion
There are quite a few things that you can do to improve the way your garage looks, ranging from buying a workbench and giving the walls a fresh coat of paint to adding storage space. It might be time-consuming, but the result is worth it!
However, it is worth noting that you should plan out this project very carefully and determine what your budget is ahead of time. It will help prevent you from overspending and keep track of what needs to be taken care of.