Converting a Garage To Create More Living Space In Your Home

Today we have a guest blogger, Shrinal Patel, an in-house Interior Designer at Crown Paints Kenya Ltd, who will be talking to us about how to convert an idle space like a car garage into functional living space.

 

5 things to consider when creating new living space in the garage.

 

There are many houses with either attached or detached garages, and these garages can be turned to very nice living areas. In fact, there are 1940s and 1950s-era houses with single-car garages that beckon to be transformed into something liveable. Whether you’d like an extra bedroom, home office, music room, craft room, playroom or some other living space, these garages can be ideal candidates.

 

As with any such project, you’ll want to make sure that the converted garage will have enough light and space, comply with local ordinances and building codes as well as be warm in winter and cool in summer.

 

 

 

1. A converted garage is made into a bright and spacious living space. The new concrete floor is raised above street level to keep water out of the interior.

 

 

More often than not, the existing garage floor concrete slab is sloped, cracked and quite a bit lower than the house floor. So converting a garage to living space usually requires installing a new floor structure. There are several options for doing this.

 

One is to build up a wood framed floor that aligns with the floor in the main house. Another is to install a wood framed or concrete floor that is a step or two down from the main house (as in the sketch above).

 

2. When converting a garage to liveable space, there’s always the issue of what to do with the garage door opening. Because this opening and the garage doors have such a large impact on the overall look of the house, it makes sense to fill the opening with a large-scale element.

 

For example, a good solution is to keep a garage door in the opening while making sure the door is weather tight. This is the approach taken in the next photo.

 

 

 

Standard carriage-style garage doors are also good options, as they can be a featured element on the interior while maintaining the original garage look on the exterior.

 

 

Another approach is to have large windows or doors fill the opening. Something like these large folding glass doors can be a good option provided there’s a fit with the overall aesthetics of the exterior.

 

 

3.Additional windows will more than likely have to be installed, as garages typically have few, if any, windows. It’s important to check and comply with any local building codes and ordinances when sizing and locating these new windows.

 

 

4. Adding a kitchen or bathroom to a garage conversion can be difficult because tying into the existing plumbing lines is problematic. That’s not to say it shouldn’t be done as, say, an additional bathroom is always a nice amenity to have.

 

This master suite with a new bathroom occupies what was once a large garage. The addition of a gas fireplace certainly makes the room special, and having the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom makes for a nice master or guest suite.

 

 

5. Though the type of framing used at the garage roof will dictate what can be done economically, increasing the height of the ceiling is a possibility if the garage is free standing or has no second floor above it. A vaulted ceiling, as in the next photo, will certainly add to the room’s overall spaciousness.

 

 

 

A converted garage keeps the vaulted ceiling for spaciousness while various architectural elements such as the ridge beam increase the room’s character.

 

 

6. Don’t forget that the new living area will need to be heated and cooled. Depending on the size of the area and its location, you may not be able to use the existing “central” heating and cooling system. Mini split systems can be good options if this is the case.