NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

My messy garage action plan – exposed

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Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and take on the big, ugly projects.

That’s why I recently turned my attention to this large, ugly room. The garage/workshop/barn section of our barn. Which I don’t know that you’ve ever really seen on this blog. There may be a reason for that.

Barn main level fall in love room1

It ain’t pretty, folks.

But, we have some big plans to make it an extension of our (tiny) living space and a really useful area to work on projects, play, and store our “necessities.” Especially as the winter approaches when we won’t be able to enjoy the outdoors as much.Barn main level fall in love room2

There is so much junk and so much insulation going on.Barn main level fall in love room3

 

Not to mention so many tools and very little organization. So we always spend about 20 minutes looking for anything we need.

There are 14 screwdrivers in that pile and God knows we can’t find a single one to use when building IKEA furniture building. Barn main level fall in love room4

These are the indoor stairs to the upstairs apartment, so we also need to make this a practical and safe area.Barn main level fall in love room5

So, now you’ve seen the ugly. It’s pretty bad. Which means there’s nothing to do but get better. Ryan and I are determined to use the next few months to get this area whipped into shape – not only looking good but also functioning well. For very little dinero.

There are some seriously great things about this space, too.

Space

This is a really large space, so I can see it functioning well for us as we live in the barn.
The main functions we hope to achieve:
  • Mudroom – a place to remove and store shoes, coats, hats and bags. (Cause ain’t nobody got room for those things in the apartment. And I don’t want all the dirt and mud trekked in.)
  • Storage, storage, storage – it’s most important for us to create a place for everything. Ev-ery-thing. Which include all of Ryan’s tools, paint, additional supplies like lumber, paint and hardware, outdoor/large toys, yard tools … the list goes on and on. Everything needs to find a home. With a label – because neither Ryan nor I are great about putting this away.
  • Laundry – the laundry room is teeny tiny, but it will need to be functional.
  • Workspace – we want to have dedicated areas for Ryan to work. Which means it needs to be clear of junk and not become a magnet for clutter. These spaces could also be used for potting/gardening and painting.
  • Parking – the middle of the garage will need to function as … A GARAGE. 😉 We’ll park our cars and our Gator there, so it will be empty.
  • Entertaining – long term, I have some pretty big ideas for this space. I want to make choices for this space that will also allow us to “hide away” parts of it and convert for entertaining. I love to host events and parties, and this could really become a lovely space for this, even after we build.

Maybe this is too much to do in one garage. But, I think it’s doable. It’s a large area, and anything is better than this, right?

Barn main level fall in love room1

 

Lighting

There is so much great lighting in this space – between the abundance of overhead lighting and the great windows Ryan made.
I’m certain that Ryan won’t want me add fixtures throughout, but I do have a few plans to bring some interest to the lighting, without breaking the bank or making it unable to function.

Climate controlled

When we converted the upstairs to an apartment, that meant we put more time and money into keeping the temperature comfortable to live.
We have newly installed heat and central air, and these features are also great additions to this barn space. Which means we can truly use the space all year round, comfortably. And the abundance of insulation helps this, too.

 
Interesting features

The downside of all that great insulation is that it removed all of the character from the barn – very few visible barn boards.
But, Ryan built an amazing barn door, the stairs are awesome, and the windows are also great. Plus, it’s a BARN for goodness sakes. So it has super high ceilings and is spacious.
I’m going to try to focus on those features.
So those are the good things I’m keeping in mind.
Here are a few of my ideas. I’m not looking to turn this into a fancy-shmancy room. But, I want it to be clean, organized and very, very functional. And I also want to bring some fun elements to the space to make it great-looking, too.
Barn fall in love plan
It’s really hard to fit all the ideas onto one simple board, but this gives you an idea of my general direction – playing off the red of the barn in accents and using some vintage and galvanized details.
The biggest project will be finishing the walls and ceilings. Ryan is working on finishing the ceiling with drywall and we’ll reuse the original barn roof for the wall coverings. I think this will be a really fun look and bonus … it’s free.
We’ll start with many things we already have (like the shoe cabinet, tool box, storage containers, some throw rugs and details like this giant chalkboard).
We’ll be building some elements – including workspaces and tons of small storage solutions.
And of course, we’ll be upgrading some elements with paint and DIY action.
I’ll share our project process over the next two months. I know this will take a lot of elbow grease, but it will be worth it to really have a usable space under our barn apartment.

Comments

  1. I haven’t come across many garage updates and simply cannot wait to see how your space turns out. I’m most excited to see how you organize all ‘dem tools! We struggle with tool storage like you wouldn’t believe!

    • Well, you know what they say about aiming for the moon? Maybe I’ll end up in the stars? Or the tree line. Anything will be better than right now. I feel like it’s doable, but I’m also insane.

  7. You’re going to be busy Kim! Love that you chose to tackle this space and am really excited to see how you get all those must have functions into it. 🙂

    • Thanks, Anu! I’ve already found so many great, simple ideas to organize. So, I’m hoping we can implement them. Honestly, if we could just spend a day going through everything, categorize, and organize, we’d be a good step ahead.

  8. You are going to have your hands full, but it’s going to be amazing once it’s done. Plus it will make living in the barn much less stressful when you have this huge space functioning! I’m so excited to see it come together (and evolve once the house is done). You’re always thinking big Kim! Love it!

  9. Wow – you and Gretchen are neck and neck for ambition with this fall in love series! I just love your ideas for this space and how multi-functional it’s going to be! I can’t wait to see the transformation!

  12. I love it – it will make your tiny house seem so much bigger. One idea that I wish I could have cement floors for… I saw someone paint their cement basement floor with a curvey road, and grass, etc. And their kids could ride their cars, bikes around on the track….

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