Friday, March 16, 2012

40 Dreaming of Garage Upgrades

The weather in our neck of the woods is starting to feel quite springish!  It's welcomed with opened arms and we have been enjoying our week together as a family on Spring Break.

With the onset of the warm weather, I have begun dreaming of getting to work on some outdoor projects.  The garage specifically.  Sure, it's pretty organized, but each spring we need to do a quick "clean up" since we just aren't out there much in the winter, and I get to look at which systems still aren't working and begin assessing dreaming.

Above and beyond organizing this year, I am feel ambitious enough to think of finishing the floor, finishing the walls and adding trim.  Oooh la la the thought of a finished garage makes my heart race with happiness.  I think that if our garage was more of a finished extension of our home, we would be more likely to give it the love it deserves year round.  Not to mention, our home is not blessed with a mudroom or entry, so why not put one in the garage itself?  Could be a less expensive option than completely adding on somewhere!

Here are some of my dreamy ideas for our garage this year:

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  1. I love the idea of using magnetic strips for quick tool access {no more just throwing them in random workbench piles}!
  2. We already have a peg board system, but you can bet your booty that I am going to be painting it a pretty color this year!
  3. Built in cubbies in the garage?!  I have always looked at the inside of my home for a place to put these, and have always been frustrated that I just don't have the room.  But I have a garage with an entrance to the home, that is screaming for kid cubbies to organize their sporting goods, shoes/boots, jackets and backpacks!  I honestly can't wait for this one!  One of those why didn't I think of it sooner moments!
  4. How cute are those stairs?  I love the idea of jazzing them up with paint and a welcome message!
  5. Our garage needs all of the finishing touches.  Trim, walls and floor.  It will make it feel more like an extension of our home than a dirty outdoor space. 
  6. A desktop drawer system for the workbench is a must.  We have oodles of bins, but the problem is they are stacked and require to much "work" to maintain and put things back.  Drawers are sure to solve that problem.
Sure, we still have and endless list of fun projects for the inside of our home, but this nice weather has me itching to slow those down and take advantage of being outside!  I may even paint our front door this year... here is the color I have in mind:

{source}
If you want to know more about the lovely door in this pic, you can check out This Little Nest.

Who else is dreaming of fun outdoor projects?

40 comments:

  1. I just purged & organized the outdoor toy/bike/athletic corner of our garage yesterday. Such a relief to walk out & see it now. Unfortunately, that just makes the rest of the garage look all the more cluttered and nasty.

    Up next, a potting station in the garage. I'm loving the pegboard image you shared today. Might need to grab some pegboard this weekend.

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  2. We don't have a garage, just a patio. I need to figure out a way to tranform the space into a playground/sitting area/garage/garden. Hmm... This one will probably take a while, but I love the idea of the peg board. I wonder how it would wear outside verse the NY elements?

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  3. I have been dreaming about hauling in topsoil and planting grass in our front yard and putting in either a 4 board white fence or a old rustic beam fence since we bought our place a year and a half ago. And since I practically live in a junk yard (for real, we own a scrap yard and the property is right behind my house)I would love to fix and finish all the privacy fences behind our house to keep the view of the junk to a minimum. Also we, okay my husband, recently built full length floor to ceiling shelves against one of the walls in the storage area of our garage and I am so excited about the warmer weather so now I can start going through all the boxes we stored there and getting rid of a BUNCH of stuff.

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  4. Any ideas for either sourcing or ikea hacking the storage unit thing in 3? That would be perfect for my poor 1915 duplex with NO entry and NO coat closet. :)

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    1. Hmmm, there may be tutorials out on the blogosphere somewhere, but I haven't gotten that far into the research phase yet. My hubs gave me the thumbs up, so I am crossing fingers this will get accomplished this summer and we can share all the details with you as we go!

      xoxo!
      Jen

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    2. A Charming Nest did a beautiful Ikea hack to create mudroom cubbies -- http://www.acharmingnest.com/2011/07/mudroom-storage-reveal.html

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    3. Be sure to check out Ana White's plans - she has several options, but this one jumped out first:
      http://ana-white.com/2010/09/locker-cabinet-fresh-home-magazine

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  5. AHHHHH i love these! so going to be working on our garage this year tooooooo! :) hubby says he cannot wait LOL

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  6. My garage is definitely on my list of things to do too. I would love to purchase a nice tool storage unit for my husband. At the moment, we have stuff hanging on wire shelving (not pretty). But, this may be a project for next year because we are getting a deck and a swing set for my daughter this summer. Can't wait!!! And, I definitely can't wait to see what you do with your garage. I know it will be fabulous! : )

    With lots of blog love,
    Kristin
    theocdlifestyle.blogspot.com

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  7. I have become addicted to your blog. congrats on the great work. I turned on my computer to check email and then went right to visit you:).
    I love organizing and your ideas are great. Fun but not so over the top that I couldn't make them a reality. I too am dreaming of a garage makeover and a bathroom and a kitchen....:) All in due time. I am working this morning on sprucing up my daughters room. Touching up paint. Cleaning bedding and curtains. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  8. Jen, you just totally made my day with this blog post!! We are converting our awkward under-the-stairs pantry into a mini indoor garage area this weekend! I'm heading out this afternoon to grab pegboard, S hooks, and baskets to suspend things (our Dollar Tree has a bunch of aqua baskets right now!). I can't wait to see what you guys end up doing with your garage and mudroom!! Thanks for always sharing fantastic ideas!

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  9. My goal is to tackle the garage this spring, too. Any tips for organizing tools? That is the toughest part for me...I want it to be both easy on the eyes and functional.

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  10. These are great ideas! I hope I get a chance to organize my garage soon. Working on the laundry room for now :)

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  11. Isn't this weather fabulous?! Loving getting outside as much as possible!

    Your garage ideas are bright, cheery, and inspirational. I can't wait to see some before and after pictures!

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  12. Jen... I can hardly stand the amazing, beautiful, organizational ideas on the blog! Iheart it all!!!! Began the kids' school storage bins, had my mom over to watch the kids today and hit the $ store after seeing the complete pantry reno from yesterday... and now I just looked at the spice idea and the playroom. It makes me crazy excited... just have to slow down and recognize that these things can't all be done at once. Have to take time and pace myself (budget-wise and time-wise). Oh la la.... <3 <3 <3

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  13. My favorite idea today is the painted stairs. :-)

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  14. I am definitely planning outdoor projects. We are getting 3 trees taken out and then level the backyard. I want to fix the play structure and build a fence for my vegetable garden (last year I struggled with bunnies and deer). I'm also dreaming of a patio or deck and something vertical to help the back of our house look some sort of pretty. Oh and we have bushes in the front to take out and I'm dying to plant roses there.

    DH asked if I'd rather the yard or the basement. Definitely the yard! My 2 yo needs play space outdoors and there are no parks in walking distance.

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  15. hi,i really found ur idea good...i will definately use them at my place...

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  16. Love, love, love your front door color choice! I live in NYC, so painting my front door isn't an option, but I painted the interior, and it made a huge difference! Have fun and good luck!

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  17. Just painted the front door of my new white house that color (wytheblue). The door in the pic looks so pretty with the yellow accents!

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  18. I wish I had a garage...

    Even though it is nice outside, (really REALLY nice outside) I'm trying to get some work done in the house today so that I can enjoy the rest of the weekend outside because it's supposed to be even nicer! (reading this post during a break!)

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  19. Ok, so, it's not an outdoor project, but it is a spring project. Our master closet used to be the porch of our house. But the people who built it out didn't insulate it. So every winter I loose my nice big walk in closet and my hubby and I cram everything into a little 1920's standard shoe box...errr...closet. I have been promised by the hubs and his dad that this was the last winter for cramming. And that means *drum roll please* new organizing in my closet! A happy dance is required every time I think about that. :)

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  20. We've got garage spring cleaning on the brain too! So many possibilities! I'm getting my hubby to collect cardboard boxes from work and plan on spray painting them all the same colour, labeling them and using them for organizing. Almost free and will look loads better than the mismatched plastic bins in their now (which are cracking anyways). Hopefully it turns out okay!

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  21. If you're updating your pegboard, you might try tracing the outline of your tools when they're hung up and then painting those shapes in as a contrasting color. My father-in-law did this for us and it's such a neat look. Plus, when you see the "shadows" left behind, it's very easy to know exactly where to hang your tools back up.

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  22. Please keep us updated on your storage unit/cubbies. We do not use the garage to park our cars (as it is only 1 car and we have too much stuff in it anyway), but I use it as the entrance to my house. I need something like this for the kids stuff. It would be so much more convenient than lugging all of their bags and coats through the house to the coat closet in the hallway.

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  23. I'm a midwestern girl myself (Minnesota) and also don't have any sort of mudroom. I've thought of creating a space in our attached garage, but was worried that the kids boots and coats (OK and mine too, I'm kind of a freeze baby) would be too cold and uncomfortable in the winter. We do hang our umbrellas in the garage when it rains. Are you thinking of heating your garage? Are you and your boys made of tougher midwestern genes? Another plan for handling the cold?

    Thanks for sharing your genius! I brag about your blog all the time and think everyone in my family now owns your family binder!

    Peace, Rachel

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  24. Funny you would post this today. I just sent you an email yesterday about this very thing, lol. We are in the middle of selling our home, and are trying to figure out a way to organize our garden stuff without putting it into the garage. Technically, we are not suppose to have a shed in the back yard, but there are some in the neighborhood that have a shorter type shed for the lawn stuff. Thing thing is, I really don't know these people well enough to go trudging into their yard and start asking questions. Anyway, any easy inexpensive ideas would be great; easy as in I can do them, as dh is already at the new job, and not sure when he will be back down....uggg

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  25. Hi Jen! This has been something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Of course we clean our garage quarterly but I want the true makeover organization with new paint and all. I see we both surf some of the same sources. I have some of the same photos saved for inspiration. I can't wait to see your makeover.

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  26. Love the stairs! I would like to know where you get the lettering.

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  27. Do you park your car in the garage? We do, it's only a one car garage, but we park in it every day. I love it, because we can get in and out of the house without having to go outside and freeze in the winter or get wet in the rain. I want to fix up the garage and make it pretty, but the floors are constantly staining from the tires and car leakages...especially when it rains and we pull the wet car into the garage. Any tips on how to stop the car from ruining the floors?

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  28. I love all those ideas too! The stairs & Pretty colored pegboards are my favorite.
    My hubby is itching to organize the garage this year. I'd rather clean-up our 'breezeway' aka the area between the garage & house with it's own door to/from outside.
    We are having beautiful weather as well and I'm loving it as well. Can't wait to see what you decide to do!

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  29. Forgot to add...I am loving turquoise for exteriors now too! Thinking of doing some updating of our front door & shutters in this color too!

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  30. Fantastic blog!
    Congratullations!
    kiss from Rio de Janeiro

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  31. Love love love #3! It's so much easier to organize than a "hall closet". I think I want that in my garage. Gotta call my handyman. I wonder what they put in the drawers? Probably mittens and earmuffs.

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  32. We have just started a garage extension which will include a new driveway and entrance to the front door. You dont often see ideas for the front of the house so Im loving this post, I hope Im brave enough to paint the front door I really love this look :)

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  33. I would also love to know where you get lettering for the stairs when/if you do it. Also love the pegboards. I've been dreaming of one for months!

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  34. We are going to be cleaning out our garage...it so needs it. I really want that organizer for the each kid....love love love it.

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  35. Love this post and your blog! The front door you have up there is actually my front door from a Southern Living photo shoot they did at our house! I have the extra paint in my basement and am dying to use it somewhere else! Your post gave me a great idea- the garage doors! :)

    Anyway, love that I stumbled upon a pic of my home here. I'd love for you to do a guest post on my blog of vice versa sometime if you're interested!

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  36. I love those cubbies - where are they from? Natalie

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