Top 5 Ways to Upgrade Just About Any Garage

Despite what we would all like to think, our basic needs have essentially remained the same throughout the ages. Regular meals, a roof over our head, and human interaction will generally keep the neediest person happy.

Man reparing a car

The thing is that all of our needs are relatively negotiable in terms of how big or nice they are. We crave our space and we’ll do almost anything to make it our own and just the way we like it. Our homes are our caves and we are always trying to see how we can improve them.

When we want to upgrade our homes, we tend to think of the areas we spend the most time in – living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, etc. So why is it that so many of us don’t think about how our garages could be that much more awesome?

The garage is so much more than storage space, and we should definitely treat it as a space with so much underused potential. Here are 5 things to add to your garage to make it an infinitely better area of your home.

Upgrade to Epoxy Flooring

The first place to start is at the bottom when trying to improve your garage area. Some of us cringe at the current state of our floors. More than likely, you have the same concrete floor since you moved in that’s only managed to collect a suspicious looking pool of oil stains. Sure, you might power wash it once in a while, but there’s really nothing all that special about it.

Epoxy Flooring

Assuming that you don’t have too much in the way of cracks and malformations in your garage floor, now’s the perfect time to seal it with an epoxy. In the world of car collectors and vintage car restoration nuts, epoxy flooring is pretty standard.

One of the benefits of having an epoxy floor is that future messes are easier to clean up while also adding a certain flair in terms of how it looks. You can pick up these floor epoxies just about anywhere with different aesthetic options, just make sure to carefully follow the instructions regarding the subfloor’s relative humidity (rH).

Install Ceiling Storage

If your garage exemplifies your struggles to organize the wealth of stuff you’ve accumulated over the years, looking into alternative storage options will help you retain your sanity. The typical way to organize clutter in a garage is through a wall organization system. But beyond this, once it’s been maximized, where do you go from there?

Ceiling Storage

When your walls have been consumed with as much as you can organize, the natural solution is to look up – literally. For just $75 to $100 and a weekend of work, this DIY project will create an overhead storage method for miscellaneous stuff you can put into a series of plastic bins.

Be cautious when starting this project as you’ll need to allow enough room for the garage door to open safely and completely. You’ll probably not want the bins to weigh more than a few pounds each, so also be sure that all bins are suspended adequately.

Use Your Smartphone to Open Your Garage Door

But with the inception of the Internet of Things (IoT) came the MyQ garage opener from Chamberlain , one of the biggest manufacturers of garage door openers. This technology is also available with LiftMaster and Craftsman as well. MyQ is Chamberlain’s answer to connecting your garage door opener to smart devices so they can be controlled from anywhere on Earth.

Couple looking at their phone

Since the invention of the automatic garage door opener, the technology behind this one-button-remote device has remained relatively simple.

Does your neighbor need to borrow a pair of pliers from your toolbox? Now this can be achieved with just a tap. And for those of us who have left home more than once fearing they forgot to close the garage door, the MyQ home control app will alert you and let you remedy the situation.

If you think you need a fancy new type of garage door opener in order to be compatible with MyQ, you can get a special sensor to pair with your current opener and use it right away.

Added Bonus: Along with the added convenience of opening your garage from anywhere, the MyQ from Chamberlain can also control lights in the home as well.

Heavy Duty Storage Cabinets

When we take stock of things we need, cost is ultimately the biggest limitation when considering where we should invest more money and which things can be cut. If you look hard enough, almost anything imaginable can be made to the highest standards.

Storage will be an ongoing struggle when trying to optimize our garages. For this reason, a little investment will go a long way in appropriately organizing your garage. So while you may already have cabinets that work as intended, consider picking up some heavy duty cabinets.

Storage cabinets

They’re built extremely well, and most are now designed to include heavy duty caster wheels so they can be moved with ease. An added bonus would be to get these rolling cabinets equipped with a tabletop to function as another workspace. Diamond plating adds a nice touch as well.

Build a Bar

Ever dreamed of having your own fully-stocked bar in your house but there was never enough space to set it up?

We tend not to think about the garage as another fully fleshed out part of the house because it’s so often associated as storage space for our stuff and our cars. If you’re already fantasizing about how to make it a better space, you should build something that will motivate you to spend more time there. This is up to you, so go all out and get everything you could want in your own bar.

Table and bar

Make it Your Own

If you want be filled with pride no matter what room you walk into in your home, don’t neglect areas like the basement or garage. Your home is your castle, so you shouldn’t be stingy when trying to improve your castle. You’ll undoubtedly raise your spirits … and property value if you do.

And if you want to make changes to your garage door system…

Then just contact a garage door specialist in your area . They know about all brands of garage door openers. If you want to change your garage door opener, you can request an online quotation from them.

As well, if you would like to change your garage door or get an idea what a new door would look like on your house, use a design center like the one from Garaga, or get some inspiration from their image gallery

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