Converting Your Garage Into An Additional Living Space

Garages are a great home feature for some people. They provide protection for vehicles, as well as extra storage space for tools and more. But for others, their intended purpose can become obsolete. If you find that you’re not using your garage as you should, or that it isn’t the space you’d like it to be, why not consider converting it into a livable area? Converting a garage is most definitely an undertaking, but if done well, will provide a return on investment, on top of additional square footage you can enjoy.

Be Willing to Give up the Space

While you’ll be adding additional living space to your home, you also have to consider where you’ll be parking your car and storing other belongings. Weight the pros and cons to converting a garage before embarking on this project.

The First Step

In order to make a garage space livable, you’ll need to do a number of things, and the first is cleaning. Depending on how you’ve previously used your garage, this could be done quickly or take a couples of days. Remember, you can easily store belongings in a tool shed or storage unit to make clearing the space a reality.

Create a Plan

When it comes to actually beginning the process of flipping your garage, you’ll need to come up with a floorplan. What do you intend to turn your garage into? Will it be a large living area or a small apartment space? Decide where you’d like to place windows and doors, so it’s not a completely enclosed area, and consider how the garage will look from the outside, now that it’s a space for humans to live, rather than cars and tools.

Things You’ll Need to Add

When it comes to technical additions, consider the following:

Insulation on floor, walls, and the ceiling
A heating and cooling system
Plumbing, if there will be a bathroom or kitchen area
Lighting fixtures

Put in the Time

Know that converting a garage into a livable space will take time. Be prepared to have work done on this project for a month or more, as you’ll want to make sure that the changes are being done well, and that design elements are to your liking.