How to Show Your Garage Some Love

How many times have you seen the inside of a garage highlighted in a magazine or website that showcases homes? And if you think about what you would like in your dream home, where does the garage come in?

We’re only asking these questions to highlight the lack of love and respect garages get in most homes. No matter how faithfully it serves you, with that loyal door going up and down a coulpe times a day, asking nothing in return, in the end, garages in most homes are just a place to park your car or throw things that you can’t find a place for elsewhere in your home.

Why You Should Show Your Garage a Little Love

It might be one of the largest single spaces in your home. If you think about the potential of your garage, to be a home gym, games room, office – or anything you imagine – you can start the transition, and open up all the possibilities, by making it a more inviting place to be right now. And here are just a few ways to do that:

1. Shed Some Light

One of the reasons that your garage gets no respect is that’s it’s just too dark. Simply using fluorescent tube lighting would brighten things up, but don’t be afraid to add task lighting if you’re planning something like a work bench.

2. Finish the Floor and Walls

Yet another reason for the garage’s spot at the bottom of the home reno list is its bare concrete floors. Part of the problem is, with the need to handle a car, and anything that might leak from it, whatever you do to the floor needs to be beautiful, tough and easy to clean. There are epoxy and polyuria coatings that’ll stand up to grease and tires and they’re available in a surprisingly wide range of colours.

On the walls, especially if you’re planning something like a playroom, think about insulating them and building a stud wall with drywall to make the garage as comfortable as possible. An insulated garage door would help too.

3. Upgrade Your Storage

Without a proper place for everything, it ends up in a messy pile on the garage floor – which is one more reason that the garage suffers a bad rap. Add shelving, cabinets and overhead storage to keep your garage organized.

If all you do in your garage in brighten it up, paint the walls and get it organized, you’ll be amazed at how different it feels and how much more enjoyment you’ll get from it.