Renovating Your Garage – A Beginners Guide

From dusty cobwebs to a functioning workshop, renovating your garage shouldn’t be a daunting task.

For my whole life, the family garage was effectively a storage area for anything that had no use to us. That said, most of its contents were garbage and so it was time for a good clean.

However, this simple project soon turned into much more. This is the start of a series of pieces based around my journey into DIY and home improvement.

An Empty Room And A Drive To Learn DIY

I was a beginner to home renovation and DIY but seeing such an empty space with nothing in it felt like a waste. This was a whole extra room of the house that could be something, and I had some ideas.

In light of this, it was time to give it some justice and carry out some changes, even if it meant learning the skills along the way.

Where to start when Renovating your garage

I got my spare clothes on, got some music playing, and began with the transformation. Here’s our beginner’s guide on how to renovate your garage.

Painting, Painting, And More Painting

A fresh coat of paint provides a fresh look and is a good starting point for any garage renovation project. All that was needed were some brushes, a roller, and a spare baking tray and the painting could begin. I happened to have these spare, but any hardware store should sell good quality painting equipment for no more than $10-15.

I started with the walls to cover all the marks and dirt that had accumulated over the years and eventually moved onto the ceiling. This was made of a black fabric lining covering wooden beams, easily removed and cleaned.

All of this was painted in white, leaving the room looking much brighter. This was shortly followed by painting the concrete floor black, creating a pleasant contrast to the bright white color.

Furthermore, two shelving units were painted in alternating hazelnut and smooth red, adding some flair to the room. Whilst I had previously been using a roller, brushes were used for the shelves to use paint efficiently and more carefully. Once this was done, the garage renovation was really starting to take shape. It looked as good as new, showing just how effective a lick of paint can be!

The Power Of Power Tools

Despite this, it still felt incomplete. If someone asked me how I would spend my twenties, developing an obsession with power tools would not be my answer! However, I’m glad it was and I look forward to learning more about the various tools and techniques along the way.

The three tools I used were: an impact driver, hammer drill, detail sander, and an oscillating multitool. All of which I would strongly suggest every beginner renovator should have. Once again, I was lucky, as I had plenty of wooden floorboards to make use of. With lots of spare material going to waste and a small investment in power tools, I was able to recycle it into something far more useful. This made the cost of my garage renovation considerably lower.

By renovating your garage you end up learning many new skills. Beginning with learning the basics of using a drill. Torque settings and the correct drill bit for the right material.

I grabbed some screws and began to explore the world of joinery. We go into more detail about the shelf I ended up building in my next article.

The final result of My Garage Renovation

Eventually, after trial and error on effective ways to use these tools all was finished. The freshly painted garage now had 2 extra wall-mounted shelves, a trash storage unit, and a tool cabinet. As well as this, the spare carpet was laid down on some top shelves.

Finally, time to personalize your space. Décor such as clocks and tool racks were placed on hooks and nails to increase the homely aspect-completing the garage renovation project.

Originally being a disused and neglected room the garage was turned into a fresh working space in a matter of weeks. Not only did I pick up multiple DIY and renovation skills, but gained an extra room! Even better, it cost me no more than $100 for everything and shouldn’t cost you much more.

Overall Experience Renovating Your Garage

Depending on the condition and size of your garage, the cost of renovating your garage can be high. But my main tip would be to utilize what you already have at home. For me, this meant old wood and paint, but any spare furniture or tools can be very handy and save money.

Nevertheless, this project brought me into the DIY world. The aim was to transform my garage into a useable space for my whole family. Plus by using mostly recycled parts really gave me a sense of satisfaction. This is the first in a series of pieces about how I have transformed my approach to home renovations!