I am working on a paint post and instagrams for online and local shopping faves but had to jump in here and share some cute photos and faves for kind of unchartered territory for me…garages! Or also known as “what I am obsessed with today”.. So in this effort to make my trek to the washer and dryer less scary, I found these inspiring images…Won’t be taking the door down and doing carriage doors for a while but maybe one day! And look below, you can leave the door in place and still be chic!
It won’t have a live edge table or workspace for me unlike this gorgeous space. But there may be a punching bag coming and an air hockey table in my boys future and a funky chair or two. I keep envisioning the 70s show basement but with you know, white walls and better pillows. We will see.
The truth is, we haven’t had an attached and closed-in garage, well ever. Our last house had a great garage, brick and awesome but it was across the driveway and rarely used by anyone other than Nana and her organization and storage. The 1940s home we lived in for years and years had a charming little garage but it was open somewhat on one side, a bit like a carport, it was strange but cool. But not lending itself to a room type use. Until our latest move this past spring.
I found some great inspiration here via Simple Home Simple Life’s article on, yep, CONVERTING A GARAGE space!
The one below is a great example of still storing tools and not insulating and keeping floors non painted and bare (some people actually put wood down or laminate..not me) And this color is everything, makes me wish I had gone dark, except the outside of our house is very dark. Love the big plants too!
Lots of inspiration which I have needed..hard to believe we have lived here since March. So this latest house we have moved into is mid century (1950 exactly I believe) and it has a classic NARROW one car garage right off of the kitchen. And y’all, it’s barely big enough for my SUV, its not a big car. At all. If I put NOTHING ELSE IN THE GARAGE my car would fit but then where would all of the amazon boxes and other projects go??? And how would I trek huge baskets of laundry to the fancy washer and dryer area of the “room.” We do have a decent shed out back for overflow storage. But this attached garage space is also our LAUNDRY ROOM, yep the washer and dryer are in there..and its been a little scary and dark. When we first moved in, not even finished out…some yucky sheetrock but not insulated or complete. What it does have are two cute, original windows. So today I had it painted white after Mr Handyman put some outdoor siding on the walls (cheaper than shiplap, sturdier than sheetrock). It looks a little stark right now but with a few dark accents I think it will cozy up. And I am determined to not try to make it too nice know what I mean. I will share photos soon for now brainstorming with all of these inspiring images!
Trying to be realistic however, despite amazing articles and image like this below! But I am learning you can be inspired and implement in small doses! It’s all smoke and mirrors after all. or at least a good filter maybe . . . We probably won’t do the reclaimed gym floors or sky lights but yes a punching bag maybe (I have heard 14 year old boys need and love these), etc..
This below is lovely but these floors are probably not sustainable for just anyone’s life right? Unless you use some major marine epoxy or something..maybe worth researching if interested but I will be going with porch paint gray!
So here at home, the boys each have a room and we have a large living space but Drew’s room is small (he chose it of the two because it has a little en suite bath)..but when he has a friend over I feel like they are really crowded. Hunter could also use some space to hang out other than my sofa or bed; SO I think this will be a great place for a boy space Does anyone have any thoughts on boys and air hockey tables???? They are easy to find on Craigslist which kind of scares me that must mean people regret them…but it will be in the garage after all; Maybe they will enjoy a while then I can pass on to the next parent.
This shot above and below make me feel like I don’t have to take down the door and track asap..hey it looks industrial right?!; More cute ones on LOVE HOME DESIGNS a new website to me and notice the floors look like polished concrete…I am planning on painting mine with porch paint but I am noticing many leave them bare just add a rug.
Dear Hancock is one of the fave transformations I found…probably because their before photo looks so much like mine did! Minus the open ceiling, darn!
You can read more about their project on DesignSponge. They are such a cute company I had not even heard of, bless the internet. Now I will say their ceiling is ambitious and I am not sure where any insulation may be but it is purty purty!
See, bare concrete floors don’t you think?? But with an amazing rug. I will probably be using a natural rug the dog might have gotten sick on before, hey I tried to clean it. ALSO, I love their black stove idea shown below…again the pipe and actual wood-burning may be a little ambitious for me but I saw one of these little cheesy-fish stove heaters at my local ACE and I am sure Amazon has more;
Like this, maybe I could fake a black pipe..it needs a pipe to work! And that is not an affiliate link!
These cuties below are darling and what I would have gravitated to before becoming the proud mama or big strapping rowdy boys (and a dog) but they are not exactly boy friendly, just sooo cute! and the ivy totally inspires me along with the potted tree.
This one is so California..love it!
Source
and I have to end with this one from the Boston Globe photo by Eric Roth, I mean y’all I thought these were Schumacher drapes at first blush, in the GARAGE, but on second look I think they are just very similar to Chenonceau, what do you think?? and those are fancy carriage doors;
What do you think? Air hockey or foosball, no room for ping pong I don’t think? How do you use your garage space? Who is going to say white in a garage is crazy first??? Come on y’all! Gift ideas on the Instagram coming soon, along with paint and so much more, so follow for my favorite book, online and LOCAL #downtownbrenham and True Blue Home picks!
and I promise to follow up with my garage progress, next year! Before I move again maybe! No seriously this will be a SLOW FLIP and praying we will be home here settled for a good while! #homeiswheremypeopleare
