Did you know your garage is one of most versatile rooms in your home? Sure, it does a fantastic job keeping your car safe and storing all sorts of items – from bikes to bowling balls – but it’s got the potential of doing so much more.
With a little elbow grease and planning, your garage can also be a home gym, a playroom, an art studio, and even a study room – and a lot of us can use one of those these days, now that more children than ever before are learning from home.
In fact, we’re all spending more time at home than normal, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still do the things that bring us joy. Love going to the gym? You can still workout – in your garage. Want to spend more time with your family? Create an entertainment area in your garage, open the garage doors, and see your loved ones while social distancing.
Ready to make your garage a multi-functional living space? Take a look at our tips below to get started.
First, let’s go over the basics. When it comes to ideal flooring for your new garage space, we recommend priming and using a good paint designed specifically for garages. Behr Premium Concrete & Garage Floor paint, for example, works great and comes in a variety of colors.
If you’re using a part or the entirety of your garage for your new space, you may want to consider another type of flooring, such as tile or carpet. Rubber tiles work great for garage gyms. You can pick these up at your local home improvement store.
You may also want to consider ways to cool your space in the summer, and/or heat it in the winter. Depending on your budget and needs, you could invest in a small air conditioning unit or a complete heating and cooling system. Additionally, you may want to choose a new, insulated garage door. If you’re going that route, we can help you choose the right one.
Speaking of garage doors, many Clopay garage door styles are perfect for multi-functional garage spaces, especially Clopay’s contemporary garage doors made of glass that let the outdoors.
So, just how can you use your garage on other ways? Here are some ideas below.
Study room. If your children are starting school at home this year, your garage can become a perfect study space with little effort. Make sure the space is comfortable and inviting by painting the walls and floor and add insulation to make it quieter.
Study spaces need to let in plenty of light, so consider replacing your garage door with an Avante garage door from Clopay, will let plenty of light in and create a beautiful space. Lastly, make sure there are enough electrical outlets in the garage. If there aren’t, consider reaching out to an electrician who can help.
Home gym. If you’re limiting your time at the gym or yoga studio, we’ve got great news – your garage can be transformed into a workout space easily. As we mentioned, you can install rubber tiles on the garage floor, or even paint it a tranquil color if you’re looking for a more peaceful, Zen way of exercising.
Add shelving for weights and props, and install pegboard to hang items like jump ropes, resistance bands and straps. And don’t forget about music to keep you motivated! Consider adding a stereo system, and perhaps a portable air conditioning unit on the days you really work up a sweat.
Kid’s playroom. The first thing to think about when making the garage your kid’s playroom is storage. Since there’s limited space in the garage, you’re going to want to maximize storage for all of their toys and games. IKEA has great storage space options for all budgets. And when your kids outgrown the playroom, you can use the storage for all sorts of other things.
We love puzzle floor mats (pictured above) because they are easy to install, soft, and they add a little fun and whimsy to the garage space. You could also decorate the walls with stickers and decals that you can find in craft stores. These are easy to remove, so when your kids outgrown the playroom you can easily use the space for something else.
Art studio.Thinking of learning something new with all the extra time at home? If you’re ready to get in touch with your artistic side, why not transform a part of the garage into an art studio? Start with creating great light in the garage. This can be achieved with a garage door that lets in light, solar tubes, skylights or LED lighting.
Next, you’ll need a great desk to sketch out your plans and plenty of storage for your art supplies and to make the space inviting and inspiring.
Ready to get started? For help, especially when choosing a new garage door for your space, contact the team at All Island Garage Door. We can help transform your garage into something special.