A garage is a valuable part of home, but are you using it to its full potential?
A standard double garage is about 36 sq m and it can be used for more than storing car, bikes, toys, fishing equipment or old furniture you’ve been planning to give away for years.
If you don’t have a car or have other safe places to park it, think of giving your garage a make-over and making it even more valuable.
Interior designer Sonya Cotter styled an Auckland family’s garage into a multi-use space and says that garage conversions are becoming more popular.
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Instead of just keeping the car safe, the area is used as a second living room with sofa and bean bags, a games room for children and a work space for gardening.
“The owners wanted it not just for storage but as a space for teenagers to hang out, watch TV, play table tennis. And particularly in the summer when you have a lot of people over, you have extra play space,” she says.
The transformed garage is still used as storage space for bikes (which are hanging from hooks on in ceiling) and gardening tools which are hooked to the walls.
A wood-lined interior makes the garage a lot warmer and inviting, interior designer Sonya Cotter says. Photo: Supplied/ Bryce Carleton.
When using garage for storage make sure to avoid clutter, Cotter says.
“Storage is still needed, just use locked up boxes so it gives it a tidy look."
Normally, garages are quite dark and have a “slightly unfinished” look and “utilitarian-style” lighting.
It will transform majorly by simply cleaning up the area, painting walls white and installing more light.
“Paint the walls in a warm colour and carpet to make it more inviting,” Cotter says.
She covered walls in timber which warmed up the room and only took under two days to install.
The way to transform the garage depends on your living situation and it might not be a good idea to do so if you have no other parking.
More often families with teenagers often use the space for their children to hang out after school, Cotter says.
Some make it the space for a husband to hang out and turn it into ‘man cave’.
Boosting acoustics and insulation will make rowdy rugby game viewing parties easier on other household members and will keep the summer heat or winter chills away.
Think of power sockets and plan where you’d place a fridge to keep the beverages cold, a TV, a sound system and anything else electrical.
Add a sofa, a bar table, stools and other furniture you desire that goes with the style of your man cave.
If you want to achieve the dark and moody look of your favourite pub then you can probably avoid installing more lighting or a glass door.
However, good lighting is the key when transforming the garage into an art studio, writing studio, a sewing room, a workshop or an office.
The setup is ideal for creatives or if you are working from home.
Garages lack natural light so by replacing the old garage door with glass sliding door or glass panels you’ll achieve a more relaxing feel and nicer ambience.
Once the basics of interior, lighting and carpeting are sorted, think of aesthetics and efficiency of the space. Do you want the new room to be contemporary, lofty, mid-century or modern?
By putting in a bed or a fold-out sofa into the space you have more nap options or hosting guests for overnight.
Barfoot and Thompson agent Nadja Court says homeowners need to understand that to turn the garage into an extra living space they must comply with a lot of regulations (and may need council sign-off before agents can market the space as a legal living area).
“There’s a lot of demand for things like this. Many turn it into a space for teenagers to hang out, put glass walls in and install skylights,” she says.
Transforming garage into living spaces is not popular in the city central but is often done in West Auckland, she says.
