Turning Your Garage Into a Living Space
If you want to add another bedroom in your home, there are several different ways to go about it. If you have an unfinished basement, this is usually the best way, as most of the work may already be in place for you; but not every home has a basement to add onto.
Another option would be to expand another wing of your home, where you can design and build it in any way that you’d like! However, this is probably the most expensive option, and it will cut into your amount of available land.
A third option, however, is to convert your garage into a living space. While this takes away your covered vehicle-parking option, it enables you to add a large bedroom to your home, or even a mother-in-law apartment!
This way, you can either save money on moving to a larger property if your family or needs grow, or you can rent out the extra space for a little extra cash. Here is some information about turning your garage into a living space…
Add windows
First of all, any living space worth living in needs to have access to daylight. Typically, this means windows. Indeed, this is actually a requirement in many states, as a room needs at least one window to be considered a bedroom when listing real estate.
For this reason, when you are renovating your garage to be a living space, plan out spaces on the walls for windows to be. Or, if you are feeling particularly adventurous, plan out a sunroof in the ceiling. Windows are the first step in separating an actual living environment from a more industrial space.
Electrical power is needed
Depending on the construction of your home, a garage will be wired to handle a large wattage, or it may have hardly any accessible power at all.
However, if your garage is going to be a functional living environment, it is essential to have an ample amount of electrical outlets, especially in today’s electronics-driven world.
If you don’t already have ample electricity throughout your garage, then budget out what it will cost to increase the maximum wattage and put new outlets in.
Install climate control amenities
Most garages tend to be slaves to whatever the weather is outside, even if you have insulation in the walls. If it is cold outside, then a garage will be freezing.
If it is a hot summer day, then a garage will probably be an insufferable oven. As you can imagine, this isn’t very conducive to a great living space. For this reason, you need to make sure that your garage has the capability to be climate-controlled.
Oftentimes, this can be one of the most expensive parts of updating your garage, since furnaces and A/C units can cost thousands of dollars. However, not only does climate control make a garage a comfortable place to live, but it is also necessary for storing things like DVDs, electronics, furniture, and other things.
Find a homey way to decorate
At the end of the day, no matter what sort of amenities you install in a garage, it is still going to feel like a garage until you get to the interior decoration stage.
A garage isn’t really a living space when you throw some furniture in there. You need to design the flow of the room to feel like a place that people can actually call home.
Typically, because most garages will be rather large rooms, an open floor plan with cozy sections will be an option that immediately gives people a feeling of comfort, but it is entirely up to you how the room will be decorated.
Indeed, it can also be a fun idea to have a unique theme for a garage-based living space (think man-cave or rock n’ roll).
Install insulation
No matter how nice of a climate control unit you install in a garage, it won’t do a whole lot of good if the garage isn’t insulated. Before starting to update your garage, take a look to see if the walls have already been insulated.
Some garages are installed with insulation when they are built, and some are not, depending on the situation. If you are looking for ideas of how to insulate your garage, here is a list of different ways you can do it.
Category: Home Renovation
