I don’t have to remind what time it is—quarantine—and I hope you’ve been staying safe x healthy! And like most people right now we have turned our focus on home improvement projects and for us, specifically me, that means the garage makeover project.

Before getting into the post I want to first give you some context and background into how we got to this point and why we are making over our garage into a semi living space that will be a design studio.

Like most homes with a garage the added square footage becomes a convenient storage unit and it can quickly become a catch-all for everything and anything. Our garage is no different and it wasn’t always like this. In fact, when we first moved in I had a clear vision as to what the garage would be used for—a studio. Which obviously did not happen and after five years the garage has quickly turned into a major problem where we literally had no space to even walk around. It was horrible and definitely something I was not happy about. TBH I was ashamed at the state of the garage.

A few years ago, we put in some shelving to help keep some of my props and decoration/rental items, but honestly that only lasted about a year and I knew that system would not be sustainable. And that is why we have arrived at the decision to take this time to makeover the garage.

Before starting the project, I sat down and made a note for what my priorities, time frame, and budget for the budget. My husband thinks that my “vision” is elaborate and not attainable, but I disagree—I know that I can turn the garage into a more functional space.

Before I even got started, I came up with some initial goals / ideas to help make the garage functional, organized, and let’s be honest, beautiful (it is going to be used as my Studio, so you know I have to have it be somewhat pretty! To be clear this is not a garage conversion project, it’s DIY makeover / organization project to make the space as functional as possible.

Top items on the priority list of to-do in the garage were:

1. Install new shelving and a new Garage Wall System
2. New flooring
3. Paint the walls
4. New garage door and opener
5. Lighting

All of that said, let’s dive into the first step in the process: removing everything from the garage. Starting with a clean slate is important and allows you to see the space and start clean. I choose to organize items into three piles—keep, toss, donate. For me organizing as I went along was critical because I didn’t want to have to do it again later. Yes, I will probably do another round (or two) of sorting later, but this initial sorting was very necessary. I rented a storage pod / container from 1-800-PACK-RAT for 30 days. This will allow me to safely store all my items in a safe, weather-proof container while I work on the garage.

I am documenting the entire process on my YouTube Channel, so follow-up to see some of the changes.

Okay guys so stay tuned for more on my DIY garage makeover and organization project. There are a few more phases to this project so definitely subscribe to the blog and YouTube channel so you can get email notification when I upload a new video and/or publish a new post!