Spring Updates: The Garage

Welcome to part 2: The Garage!

When we moved into this house in 2018, I was actually decently excited about the existing garage. There were base cabinets across the back of the garage, lots of peg board for hanging tools, and two 10’ wire shelves. Along with a workbench and 5 shelf standing unit that I brought from our old house, it was plenty of room for tools, toys, and outdoor equipment… or so I thought 😑

By 2020, kids toys, additional tools, scrap wood, and all of the recreational stuff needed by a suburban family had meant that the garage was now just an oversized shed… in fact, thanks to a broken opener, thats essentially what it was.  We came and went out of either the laundry room door or front door and kept the garage shut whenever it was not in immediate use.  By 2024, a third child and an outdoor cat had rendered the garage as our den of shame 😆

The solution was simple and came in the form of an instagram reel: new base cabinets and wall cabinets across the back of the garage with two huge pantries bookending either side.  I decided to add in a small bench seat to store shoes and give the kids a place to sit when putting on cleats, then left open the cabinet for my wet saw as it wouldn’t fit any other way.  Combined with some slick green paint, gold/polished brass hardware, a butcher-block work surface, and shiplap backsplash to give it a finished feel, it would give us a place to put all of the things that had become scattered through the garage over the years.

It wasn’t easy and took probably 200+ hours of work, but it finally was completed about 2 months after I ripped the first wire shelf off the wall and officially kicked the project off.  I had to plan around my township “trash bash” to throw away all of the existing storage solutions in the garage, which incredibly amounted to filling the bed of my truck to capacity 5 times!

Now, the important part: how you can do this too!

While I do have all the tools of a professional woodworker, I didn’t need them for this project.  Realistically, I could have done this whole project (minus the countertop) with a wall level, a speed square, a drill/driver and bits, a few clamps, and a track saw… probably $500 of tools if you bought them all new.  The materials for the garage probably totaled another $900.  The quote estimate I got for hiring out everything? $12,000.00!!!  I took that quote with me as I started with the mentality of “I could mess this up to the point of completely needing to start over TEN TIMES and still come out ahead”

Fortunately, I got most of it right the first try 😂.  My favorite things now that it is done is how it makes the back of the garage look wider and taller, how organized everything is, and (of course) HOW CLEAN THE GARAGE IS NOW!! For the first time since we moved in, my wife can park her car in the garage and we don’t have to keep the door shut in shame!

Take the chance to do the projects you want! I PROMISE you can turn a hated space into your dream room!