Eight Features Your Dream Garage Must Have
What would your dream garage look like? Perhaps it’d be an ode to your DIY capabilities with a huge workshop just for you. Maybe it’d act as a kind of car museum to show off your vehicle’s shiny, freshly cleaned paintjob. It could even be something entirely different.
What if you were told your dream garage is more attainable than you thought? Indeed, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you can have the garage you’ve always wanted.
A Few Garage Plans
Are you interested in the idea mentioned above of making your garage into a workshop? Larry Erickson at HouseLogic has a great tutorial—complete with video—to help the aspiring DIYer get started. You can learn about setting up storage space, how to get electricity in the garage, choosing lighting fixtures and how to plan space for a workbench.
Do you want to use your garage for something else? The Family Handyman wrote about a variety of ways to convert one’s garage. Try making it into a drive-through (which can be done by adding another door on the other side of the garage), a two-story structure with shed dormers and even a space with an insulated attic.
Still need more ideas and inspiration? Here are eight features to consider for a dream garage.
1. An Appealing Door
As the blogger at Garage Living says: “Garage doors are the most noticeable feature of your house’s exterior, so how it looks matters.” If the garage door has peeling paint, rusted edges or warped wood, people will notice. If you’ve decided to treat yourself to your dream garage, you might as well begin with a new garage door. Newer models may be insulated and are typically more environmentally friendly.
2. Its Own Living Room
Martin Grossinger at Jalopnik believes any dream garage worth its salt needs a living room. It doesn’t have to be huge, but it does have to have room for a big-screen TV. Think of this as a step up from the traditional man cave. Grossinger elaborates, stating this garage is “somewhere to kick back either before, after or during a long repair session. Nice lighting, comfy chairs, and a view of the cars are all part of the deal.”
3. Car Lifts
Is your garage a little too small to implement any of your dream features? Don’t despair. The Garage Living writers suggest getting car lifts. Not only do these look cool, but “installing a car lift in your dream garage is a smart way to double your garage’s parking space. Car lifts take advantage of your garage’s unused vertical space, allowing vehicles to be stacked on top of one another.” How handy is that?
4. A Library
When it comes to the features in one’s dream garage, perhaps a library isn’t the first addition that springs to mind. However, Jalopnik’s Grossinger says this is the perfect place to store manuals, books and other literature on cars, repairs and any other DIY project under the sun. If you have a good library to reference, “you can tackle almost any hellish project with confidence.”
5. A Flexible Means of Storage
Above, we mentioned how space in a garage or lack thereof can be a big obstacle standing in the way of one’s dream garage. Besides the car lift, Garage Living also suggests using slatwalls for convenient storage. The writers explain why:
“Slatwall panels and their accessories make effective use of your garage’s underutilized wall space for better organization. Get items like yard tools, extension cords, and bikes on your garage wall and off the floor.” That alone will make your garage look nicer, not to mention bigger.
6. A Refrigerator
What dream garage doesn’t have some source of food? We’re not talking about installing a mini fridge either; go whole-hog with a full-sized refrigerator. You can even get a fridge on wheels so you can move it around as you go from project to project.
7. Cabinets
Want to improve your garage even more? How about some cabinets? The Garage Living writers outline a couple of reasons these are a must-have, such as being a good “organization solution for your tools and belongings” and how “the sleek, modern look of a garage cabinet system will add a notable upgrade to your garage’s aesthetics.” Saving time and looking good? It’s time for a garage upgrade.
8. New Flooring
As we’ve discussed before, epoxy coating can restore the luster and shine to most old garage floors, making these look almost as good as new. If you need to get your garage floors done in a weekend, Garage Living suggests PVC floor tiles, which connect together easily.
They also recommend polyaspartic coating as an alternative to epoxy. Garage Living says this type of coating is colorful and durable. If you don’t feel like changing the original color of your garage floor, you won’t have to.
Do you really feel like splurging? Grossinger at Jalopnik says heated garage floors are a worthwhile investment. Why? “For those cold winter nights when you’ve almost got that last bolt un-seized and you’re this close to getting the old part out, keep your feet warm with radiant tile.”
Images by:
Unsplash, Linsengesicht, SplitShire
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