I'd like to convert my attached garage, which is really too small to hold my family's vehicle, into additional living space. What are some of the things I should consider before I start?
"Spring can be a great time of year to start thinking about how to establish some upgrades to your garage," says Stanley Schulte of Little Rock, owner of Schulte Construction. "Transforming this space into an extension of your home's living space can add up to more square footage for a residence with the least amount of construction."
Most people who are transforming a garage into additional living space choose to use the room as a den, small sitting room or library.
Schulte recounts how he turned the garage into a TV room in his former residence.
Some garages are unfinished inside and might have exposed wood framing.
"In those cases, the walls need to be insulated and overlaid with drywall," Schulte says. Adding walls and filling them with insulation will help to make the space warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
"In ours, we insulated the walls, added Sheetrock and also put up a ceiling."
The floor also needs to be addressed, he explains, adding that most garages have a concrete floor. In those cases, another more appropriate surface needs to be added.
"A lot of people choose some large tiles for the flooring, which is what we did," Schulte says of the 18-by-18-inch tiles he chose for his garage remodeling. "Others may choose a natural stone surface. Both of those make the room feel bigger, and you can place some area rugs on it."
Electrical outlets will need to be added. In addition to running ducts from the home's central air and heating unit to this new living space, ceiling fans are also a good addition, he says.
Besides overhead lighting and lamps, consider creating new sources of natural light for the space.
"In ours, we added stationary French doors in the front where the garage door originally was," Schulte says. "And in the back, we also put a set of them that open and close."
Adding at least one window to the space is a good idea. A skylight can also help brighten the room from above.
Since this space is smaller than other rooms in the house, making the most of the space at hand is important. Add built-in shelves for books and use furniture which is multipurpose, such as a wooden trunk for a coffee table or a chair-and-a-half love seat that can fold out into into a twin-size bed.
"The way I like to handle these projects is to make the new space appear as though it was original; that it was originally built as a part of the house instead of appearing as though it was a garage that had been remodeled to become an interior living space," Schulte says.
-- Linda S. Haymes
Do you have a decorating or remodeling question? We'll get you an answer from an authority. Send your question to Linda S. Haymes, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203 or email:
lhaymes@arkansasonline.com
HomeStyle on 04/09/2016