Sandbridge Real Estate Net

Give Your Garage the Makeover It Deserves

Somewhere, there’s a book with a rule that says a garage must be white with bare walls and a dull grey concrete pad. No one is ever confused when they go through a door into the garage. But, is that always a good thing?  The answer to that question is no, of course.

While keeping our cars safe from the environment is the stated purpose of the garage, that’s very seldom all we do with the space. A peek inside a random, representative garage shows a variety of lawn and garden tools and supplies, a garbage can, household and car tools, shelves with sports equipment and an old tent, and the singing fish birthday gift from 1997. And, as you can guess, it’s an amazing mess most of the time.

With a weekend of work and some creativity, you can give your garage a makeover and turn it into an extension of your living space instead of just an afterthought.

The first step is to take a hard look at what you store in your garage. Is there a better way to organize that stuff so it takes up less space? Shelves, either free-standing or on the wall, are an obvious way. Look to the walls! Where shelves aren’t an option, hardware to hang yard tools, power cords and hoses can get things up off the ground and out of the way. While some of that will go with you if you move, the rest, if done well, can be a great selling point.

After you get things cleaned up and organized, why not start to look at ways to brighten and color the space? There’s no reason you can’t add a touch of decorative styling to the garage. Or to put the space you may have gained by organizing to use in other wise. You’ll find some great tips on familyhandman.com and (with before and after pictures!) realsimple.com.

Have you found unique ways to utilize your garage for something more than auto storage? What’s hanging on your garage walls? Have you decorated the space to give it a little style? Hey, if you did, share some pictures and ideas in the comments below or contact me. Meanwhile, I’m going to plan my own garage makeover!

This blog is maintained by Michael of Kim Hughes & Company.
Photo courtesy Rubber Maid Products/flickr.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 at 1:41 pm and is filed under Home Improvement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.