You want to add a garage to make your home complete, but you don’t have a lot of space to work with. Whether you’re starting from scratch or you’re remodeling an existing garage, it can be hard to make something both great and small. These tips will help you create the perfect space for your home and your lifestyle without exceeding your lot’s dimensions. Even with limited space, you can have a great garage.
Build Taller
If you have the option of adding vertical space to your garage, take it. If your county doesn’t have ordinances that control how tall a garage can be, take advantage of that to add an extra foot or two to the top. You don’t have to build a tower worth of Rapunzel, but extra room will be a great way to handle storage concerns. With so many modern “organization hacks” telling you to get stuff up off the floor, you can save yourself a hassle by making more room up there to start with.
Prioritize
Limited space is just that: limited. The best way to deal with that is to decide what you really need from your space. Maybe you want to make an art studio for your Etsy watercolor business, but your husband insists that he needs at least eight square feet to work on his furniture restoration. Not to mention, that the whole reason you really wanted this garage was in order to have somewhere to put the car!
When you’re designing or remodeling your small garage, you probably can’t have all three of these things in a small garage. You can still make a great garage. Take a hard look at everything that you want to get done. Maybe the car keeps getting tickets, so parking it off the street is a must. That leaves enough room for one of you to have a workstation. Since a watercolor studio takes less space than restoring furniture, you could make better use of the space that’s left. Furniture restoration is going to have to be a backyard activity for a while longer.
More Light is Better
No matter what you want to do, more light is key to making a great garage work in a small space. Even if you don’t intend to do much work or any of your hobbies outside, you’re still going to want to see. Bigger windows will make your garage look bigger, and will help prevent a feeling of claustrophobia every time you step into it. Garages tend to gather clutter, as well. Addressing the light issue through natural windows as well as overhead light is the best compromise to get that expansive style.
Your great garage is possible; you just have to focus your priorities. Take the space you have and make it do the most for you. In the end, you’ll be happier. While you’re at it, add some vertical space. Adding vertical space is great for storage. It also helps your garage feel more expansive.