What Could You Do With Your Garage, Really?

Note: This blog post is a sponsored conversation written by Lynn Smythe, the Founder and Chief Blogger for The Creative Cottage lifestyle blog. The opinions, thoughts, ideas and text are all mine.

Being a homeowner means making quite a few interior design decisions, and hopefully all of them are for the best. If you have a small home, you’re going to be big on maximizing space, and hidden storage units. If you have a larger home, you’re going to love making it a cozy and inviting space, that all of your friends and family want to spend time in. And if you’re someone who has their own garage for putting their car away at the end of the day, there’s a very good chance you’ve opted away from its intended purpose… 

And what’s the point of owning a garage if you’re not going to capitalize on the real estate opportunity? If you’ve got a garage connected to your house, that’s just sitting pretty (or cluttered!) with little to no use, it’s time to change things up a little. After all, that’s a whole new room on the side of your house, and it’s definitely a way to expand your current living space!

So with that in mind, here are some ideas on what you can really do with your garage. Put it to good use, become more productive in your days, and maybe even make some money off of it!

First, Focus on the Upkeep

Before you start making any designs on your garage, you’ll first need to make sure it’s in good condition. The elements can get through a garage roof without you even knowing about it (how often do you spend time in there, let’s be honest?), and thus you might want to book an inspection. It’s key to get a professional eye on the project, unless you potentially waste a bit of time and money booking a garage repair. Do you know what a leaky roof looks like? 

Next up is the door to the garage – does it still open right? If it’s remote operated, does it still open up fast and steady when you hit the button? Does the door even hang right? If you’re planning to one day get your car in there again, you’re going to need a perfectly working door on your side. 

And ultimately, make sure the structural integrity is sound as well. If you’re planning to use the space as another room in your house, it needs to be warm and dry enough to sit and sleep in. And make sure you get those cobwebs out of the corner as well! 

Fit an Office in There

It’s all the rage these days; fit an office into your house and you’ll have a professional working space at your disposal. It’s a place where you could turn your time into money, and it’s definitely a lot quieter and calmer than trying to work in the front room!

You’ll probably have to paint the walls, first of all. An office should be a bright and healthy looking space, to make sure your brain feels comfortable enough to do some work. If you’ve got exposed brick on the inside, why not get your cleaning supplies out and give them a brush up? They might be a little dirty, after all these years. 

Get a desk in there, and then make sure your garage is properly wired up to the electric; you’re going to want a good source of light, at all hours, and you’ll definitely need regular access to the internet! There’s no good installing a new computer if you all you get in response is a slow and dropped connection; it might need a boost. 

Turn the Space into a Spare Room

As we mentioned above, a garage can easily be converted into another bedroom, especially if you’re looking to make a bit of extra money each month. You can rent the new room out on various tourism websites, or you could find a tenant from within your local area – either way, there’s some work to do!

You’re definitely going to want to get the garage insulated, if you haven’t already. Those places can get quite cold, especially if you have bricks or concrete on the floor, and no radiators in sight. If you want your new spare room to get good reviews (and even be usable in the first place) it needs to be somewhere you can bed down and get some sleep. 

If you can’t afford to get the place carpeted out, or replaced with hardwood flooring, a rug here and there wouldn’t go amiss! Make them as large and fluffy as you can find them, to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. 

Expand Your Kitchen

And last but not least, an empty garage is a great place to extend your kitchen. Garages are usually oriented to be on the same side of the house where you can find the kitchen, so it probably won’t be hard to knock the two through. Even if there’s a hallway in between, it won’t be too long of a walk to not be practical. 

So, if you don’t have room in your kitchen to put a freezer (or a second freezer), and you really wish you could get a dishwasher installed, make use of the bare walls in your garage. It can be quite easy to install outlets or connections within them, seeing as garage walls often aren’t as thick as the rest of the walls in your house – but always make sure of the conversion rules in your area! 

What Are Your Next Garage Plans? 

There’s a lot of uses for the room in your garage, and even if you’d prefer an artistic studio or new music room, you have the opportunity to set these interior design dreams up! A garage can be quite large by nature, so if you’re not using it for vehicle purposes, try to have a clear out and renovate your home for the better.