It's not new, but it's much more fashionable and desirable now to have a finished garage than ever before. We've all seen 'those' garages filled with rotting cardboard boxes, misfit tool carts and old kitchen cabinets that have been repurposed and awkwardly nailed up on to one of the walls, junk to the left and right.... we've been there, we've seen that and now we're not standing for it any more. Garage upgrades, let's talk.
Whether you're an avid follower of shows like 'Fixer Upper' on the Magnolia Channel or 'Property Brothers' on TV, or the cheesy 'Lottery Winner Dream Homes' shows on perhaps slightly lesser networks (!), it's undeniable - more and more, people are escaping the house into their garages and they want nice, clean, orderly spaces. Why not? If you know, you know. If you don't, it just takes one step into one finished garage for you to pause and rethink your assumptions about that space with the cold concrete floors where you amass piles of junk. Garages should be functional, yes, but now we also want the form too.
You don't need to be millionaire, you don't even need to have a large garage. Even the most modest of single-car garages can be transformed with some flooring, some uniform cabinets and essentially just some thought about its use, its space and its purpose.
Now of course there is a huge spectrum. I have seen single-car garages in $50,000 homes that look like a million bucks and I have seen 10-car garages in $15,000,000 homes - but it's not (just) about the money, it's about passion, creativity and the desire for a functional space that is pleasant and enjoyable to spend time in. If passion isn't strong enough to describe your garage-finishing desires, let me point you to one of my favorite YouTube channels of the pre- and post-pandemic era, Obsessed Garage. A guy named Matt, with a touch of OCD and a dash of determination started a cathartic adventure in a small garage with a dream 911 GT3 a few years ago. He talked to the camera while he washed his car, he sat next to his car and talked about how he likes to organize the products in his garage space... before you know it he's giving up his day job, leasing commercial garage space, buying all sorts of tools and cars to use them on and he is blowing up the car enthusiast sub-culture. You don't need to be as obsessed as Matt to enjoy a finished garage, but the point is you CAN if you want to. It's a thing. It's here. It's now part of life - people want to live their lives through their hobbies and passions in their garages too now, not just their houses.
Here's a run down of my 5 favorite finishes for any size garage.
1. Flooring
Whether its products like epoxy paint or simple click-and-lay tiles from companies like RaceDeck or SwissTrax, you can create a floor good enough (not really) to eat off in your garage for as little as $2 / sq.ft. I myself have now had two RaceDeck floors in two different garages and I can't praise them enough - they wear incredibly well and they LOOK stunning. Epoxy finished floors are incredible looking too - but I could spend hours talking about the upsides and downsides of epoxy vs. tiled garage floors. Perhaps for another day...
2. Cabinets
Probably a no-brainer for a lot of you. In fact I often see cabinets in even the most tired and dilapidated garages. A little bit of investment goes a long way though when it comes to garage storage. Yes, for a couple of hundred dollars you can get yourself some shelves upon which you start by lining up storage boxes neatly, but before you know it it's chaos and your shelves look like a tornado has swept through your part of the street and yours alone. It's amazing what just a few more hundred dollars can do whether you're looking at door fronted cabinets from Amazon.com, Home Deport, Menards or places like Overstock.com.
3. Ceiling Storage
If you can't get rid of it, get it out of sight. Whether you go for the fixed ceiling storage or the fancier retractable kind - this is a great way to get your stuff up and out of the way, making way for a tidier, more professional space. For a hundred bucks or so, drilled into your ceiling joists / studs, it's incredible bang-for-buck garage living.
4. Wall Mounted Storage
While not the sexiest looking of my favorite finishes, you can't argue with the functionality of some of the wall mounted storage options available. My favorite style being the clean lines of the slats that screw into the wall. If you can work a spirit level or even have a good eye for symmetry, you'll love how these function as well as how they look. Once again, if you can't get rid of any of your beloved belonging, get them up and out of the way.
5. Lighting
Another little something that goes a long way is lighting. Amazon have some amazing deals on LED lighting strips, LED fixture lamps and a whole host of other lighting options for less than a hundred dollars in many cases. Whether you want brighter lights for detailing, or simply lighting to make your space look cool and refined - you should definitely add this to your list of jobs. The newer 'hexagonal' style LED lights are insane - becoming very popular - and look absolutely stunning.
Have you finished your garage? Comment below and join Garage-Nerds.com to share your stories and your photos. We want to see!
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