Planning a Garage Makeover, Here’s the “Before” and the Plan!

Welcome to the 701st Metamorphosis Monday!

For many, many years I’ve been itching to spiffy up my garage. I’ve always hated this concrete floor. It’s so depressing to look at and never really feels clean.

Garage Flooring, Before

 

Last week I got a quote for having Epoxy flooring installed. Tomorrow I’ll be getting a quote for another type of flooring that is also very popular called Polyaspartic Polyurea. I think both flooring types end up being finished with a Polyaspartic top coat but I’m still learning about both processes. This was the color I ended up choosing when I looked at the Epoxy samples. I think it would help brighten up the garage…well, that and a fresh coat of paint on the walls.

Epoxy Flooring for Garages

 

I can barely move this morning because I spent the weekend clearing everything out of the garage that doesn’t get used on a weekly basis. Over in the far right corner near the garage door, I had one of those tall, plastic shelving units with the open/holey type shelving. I’m not sure how else to describe it. It was always messy because the open design of the shelves held on to every leaf or debris that found its way into the garage and spiders loved building webs around it. I managed to get everything that was stored on it moved over to the shelves of the potting table–that is, the stuff I didn’t end up donating or tossing out. The shelving unit is currently laying outside on the driveway. I will probably hose/scrub it down and place it in the basement for some additional storage down there. Update: Did that this afternoon–one thing off the to-do list.

Garage Before New Flooring Surface

 

You may remember when I took all of my son’s childhood bedroom furniture to his home in Ohio for a fun bedroom makeover for my two grandsons. (Bedroom makeover can be found here: Dinosaur-Themed Bedroom for Two Dinosaur-Loving Boys.) The large bookcase on the left was the only piece I couldn’t fit into my SUV, so it’s still in the garage. I cleared everything off of it in preparation for having it moved to either the basement or the “formal” living room which is really just a storage room since it never gets used. Update: Moved it today–it’s now in the formal, never-used, living room.

Garage Before New Flooring Surface

 

Most of the items that had been stored on this bookshelf were rarely ever used. The only thing I moved, again to the potting table, was a box of trash bags. My new philosophy on garages is, if something isn’t being used on a weekly basis, it doesn’t get stored here. It should make it much easier to keep the garage clean without having so many open shelving units to clean and clean around.

Garage Before Makeover

 

My dish storage stays since I love having it so convenient/available for setting tables for Tablescape Thursday. The only cabinet I think I’m going to move is the first one on the far left.

Cabinets for Storage, Garage, Basement, Laundry Room, Home

 

It’s the only cabinet that gets dusty inside–I think because it’s right by the garage door. The rest have stayed nice and clean these past 4 years. Can you believe it’s been over 4 years since I created this dish storage area?!

Cabinet Storage Ideas for Dishware, Glassware, Flatware and Napkins

 

I’m going to move that one cabinet near the garage door to the front of the garage and add two more just like it for additional storage. My garage is pretty big (22 x 22 feet) so there’s plenty of room for cabinets along the front wall. After the flooring is installed, I hope to get the garage walls and the garage door painted. The garage door is already painted white on the outside, not sure why it was never painted on the inside. That should also help brighten things up.

Garage Storage Cabinets

 

The two cabinets I want to add to the front wall of the garage (along with the one I’ll be moving) will help ease my cramped flatware and napkin ring storage.

Flatware and Napkin Ring Storage

 

The plan is to make one of the new cabinets a dedicated cabinet for holding charger plates. (Cabinet is available here: Storage Cabinet.)

Cabinets for Storage in Garage, Basement or Home

 

That would give me space for two more sets of charges that are currently being stored on top of the cabinets.

Charger Plates Storage

 

The two cabinets with drawers (which hold all my napkins) will become storage for flatware (left cabinet) and napkin rings–right cabinet. Currently, the right cabinet on this end with the drawers is housing the charger plates. Once I make the change, I’ll take photos to show how the new storage looks and works. I’ve already ordered additional clear, storage bins for the flatware and napkin rings. Can’t wait to have more space for those!

Cabinets for Storage, Garage, Basement, Laundry Room, Home

 

I just purchased two sets of these checkered napkins in new colors.

Star Napkins for 4th of July, Plaid Napkins, Blue Wine Glasses, Blue Flatware

 

I already have them in quite a few colors and love using them in table settings!

Halloween Napkins, Orange and Black Napkins

 

This time I chose a set in the yellow and white check. They come in sets of 12, so the pricing is quite good. I just noticed another set that I have them in is visible in this photo–the tan and white check.

New Napkins, Yellow and White Check

 

I also added this pretty aqua and white color. Those should come in handy for beach-themed tables. Oh, and the cobalt blue and white check ones are visible in this photo, too. You’ll find these napkins in many colors here: Buffalo Check Napkins.

Aqua and White Napkins

 

So to recap, new flooring will be installed, and hopefully, while the dishes are out of the cabinets, the walls and ceiling will be painted–along with the brown garage door. I’m probably going to call movers to help me move the bookcase out. (Nope, already did it.) I wish I could move the Christmas trees out but I really disliked it when I had them stored in the basement because it was a pain bringing each section up the basement stairs, not to mention the biggest section would barely fit through the door to the basement. Where do you store your Christmas tree? If I were building a house from scratch, I think I would add a huge closet someplace on the main level just for Christmas tree storage.

Garage Before New Flooring Surface

 

Looking forward to sharing this garage makeover with you sometime in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this beautiful image of Ruth’s deck decorated for Independence Day. Isn’t it wonderful! Happy 4th of July!

Ruth's Patriotic Deck, Patriotic Decor

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

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Metamorphosis Monday

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Comments

  1. Loving your plans for your garage Susan! It will look completely different I bet, once the floor is done! One can never go wrong with a fresh coat of paint, paint makes all the difference with minimal effort and costs. Although everything is expensive anymore. lol I am looking forward to seeing how the garage looks once it is all done. It should definitely brighten it up! I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since you added all those cupboards for your tableware things!! Seems like yesterday. lol Time waits for no one! I love Ruth’s deck all decked out for the 4th, looking very festive and welcoming! Happy 4th Susan! Hugs, Brenda

  2. Tina W Reynolds says

    I completely agree on the concept of having a planned, dedicated closet for holiday decorations. Artificial Christmas trees are expensive and a long-term purchase that must be cared for and stored. I once used my basement, but it is too tough now for me to haul it upstairs, and , ugh…the tree decorations were stored *upstairs*! I was running up and down three levels of stairs. I finally realized it was just nutty! So, my dream house would have a space for that and also a space planned for pet supplies, too. I have a little hobby of looking at house plans and also enjoy looking at real estate online. I have never seen such spaces, except in multi-million dollar homes. It will be so wonderful for you to have that garage floor finished. I have often dreamed of a clean garage! Ours is detached and the leaves, dust, and just plain dirt are never ending.,

    • I don’t know what it is about this garage, but it seems like it sucks in leaves. lol I’m forever blowing the leaves out. I know, I so agree! That’s one reason I don’t crush my trees back down into a box, afraid of damaging the lights, although I noticed the lights on one of the trees were less bright this past year. I hope they are okay this year. It’s always the lights that give us headaches.

  3. Thanks for having us over, Susan. I hope you’re having a great July 4th weekend. Your garage flooring options look super!

  4. Oh my, it tires me thinking of you having to pack up all those dishes! But I knew you would and that will be such a nice improvement to your home. Can’t wait to see the changes! Happy 4th!!

    • I don’t think I’m going to pack them up, mainly because I don’t want a gazillion boxes to have to recycle afterward. I ordered a cart and I think I’m just going to load it down with dishes, roll them over to the kitchen door and unpack the dishes onto the table and counters, floor or wherever I can find. Hope this works! The cart should come in handy for future tables…can shop my dish stash, load it down with dishes, napkins, flatware, etc… and push it all to the door. Hopefully it will save me a few steps…we’ll see. Thanks, Toni! Happy 4th to you!
      XXX

  5. We have epoxy on our courtyard, front porch, entry, and garage. Love it ❣️

    • Beverly, does it make the floor slippery? I heard it gives it a coating like a bowling ball and sometimes you can slip and slide on it. Do you find that to be the case? Thanks.

      • yES! I had the garage coated in a former house in the mountains-found the floor to be super slippery when wet.

      • The samples I ran my hand over didn’t feel like they would be slippery…they had a lot of texture. I asked the sales associate if they were slippery and he said, no. I’m getting another estimate tomorrow so will be interesting to see what this guy says.

        • Thanks, Susan. Maybe they have added texture so that slipping is not a problem. The people who told me about the slip and slide business had theirs done years ago. Probably about 15. I bet texture has since been added to avoid that problem. I’ll be looking forward to hearing what you learn.

  6. Margaret says

    Looking forward to the choice you make (with the reasons, if possible) and the reveal! One thing I think I would consider doing is the painting before the flooring to reduce any chance of paint on the floor. And I’d probably include painting the ceiling with the walls and doors just so it was all “fresh” at the same time. Love your blog and the research that you do for all of us!

    • Thanks, Margaret! Appreciate that so much! I thought about that but I was reading one review where a guy said something they used on the floor got splashed on his newly painted walls. Plus, I may have them remove the baseboard when they install the flooring…not sure since I think it’s done both ways. Yup, definitely getting the ceiling repainted. I don’t think it’s been painted since the home was built. I may also replace the two small light fixtures with something bigger/brighter.

  7. We have had that spotted epoxy floor for many years, love it and it will make your garage look so nice. It wears really well. We don’t actually park in there though unless there is a big snowstorm. I use a three car garage for storage,() very organized, so of course I like your all of your organization. There are a few spots that Hubby is repairing this week, but again we have had it for about 20 years.

  8. More storage means more room for new goodies. 😀 I have those aqua buffalo check napkins. They work well with some Pioneer Woman plates I have in Denim. I also have a sort of butterscotch-colored set that I love to use in autumn.

    When we moved into our current house, I told my husband we should do some epoxy flooring. At the time, he didn’t want to take the time and now regrets it. I’ll be interested in seeing which of the two options/finishes you choose. Either one should be easy to clean and brighten things up, as you said.

    Like you, we’ve been keeping our Christmas tree in the garage for several years, but this past year my husband decided to move it to the attic. I would absolutely have a Christmas Closet if I built a house. And on the main floor, where everything would be used!

    Ruth’s deck looks great. I’ll have a lemonade, please. 🙂

    Happy Independence Day, Susan. I hope you relax today so you can move again tomorrow! 😀

    • Yeah, I would totally want to do this to a garage floor before ever moving in, if I move again someday. I know, we need that big closet downstairs, would make life so much easier!

  9. Ugh, you’ve got one of those “moving but going nowhere” kinds of projects on your hands, Susan! So are you moving ALL those china cabinets (and garden bench that’s now full) to have the floor finished? I’d hire movers for more than just the bookcase! I used to keep our tree in the basement too, and have the very same complaints you have. I got a slimmer tree, much like the other one you have. And now we have a tiny tree since condo living. I really don’t want to get another big tree. Ornaments in bowls is my latest mantra.
    Happy 4th. Anxious to see your project finished. I know it’ll look great.

    • lol That’s a good way to put it. The floor guy told me that they would move everything outside, of course after it’s unloaded. The tricky part will be getting it all back inside because I don’t want to just drag stuff and risk damaging the floor right after it’s finished. I will figure it out, somehow I always do. lol
      I know what you mean about big trees!
      Thanks! I’ll be sure to share which floor I go with and how it turns out. I’m a littler nervous about making sure I choose the right floor. I had narrowed it down to two colors from all the ones he showed me and the one I liked best he said was their #1 seller.

  10. Teresa M says

    Your new car is going to look even more grand on that fab epoxy floor. Two more organizing cabinets to help give everything a home is perfection at its finest. Don’t hurt yourself. I like your idea of an extra wide door for storing Holiday items. Happy 4th of July my friend!

    • lol I hope I chose a good color! I think I’m actually going to get three more cabinets, instead of just two. I was measuring this afternoon and there’s room for three the way I want to configure it and that would give me additional napkin storage. I just ordered one cabinet tonight, the one with the drawers, but I won’t put it together until the garage flooring and painting are all done. Thinking I need new lighting out there, too.
      Happy 4th! I hope you guys had an awesome one!

  11. Your garage is going to look fabulous! Looking foward to seeing it completed! We don’t have a large Christmas tree any longer. I just don’t have the time it would take to set it up and decorate it or a very good place to store it. (I’d be lugging it down stairs too!) In fact, I have a small one that I haven’t even put out for the last two years. With wreaths on my outside windows and on my inside doors + other holiday decor, it is enough for us, so I doubt I will use the tree again and may donate it. I store my Christmas decor (wreaths and other tabletop decor) in a finished upstairs storage area. You will love your refreshed garage. Can’t wait to do ours!

    • Thanks, Debra–looking forward to sharing how it turns out. I know what you mean–the exterior wreaths on my windows are my absolute favorite Christmas decoration, love seeing them from inside as much as from the outside.
      Happy 4th!

  12. Irene Zak says

    Wow, Susan this looks like a lot of work but it will look great once done! I was wondering, do you not get mice in your garage. I don’t think I could store the items you have. Those buggers climb into our fertilizer bags and make nests at the back of my husband’s steel nut and bolt filing cabinets. We even installed those electronic pest repellent plug-ins and they did not help at all. So frustrating! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful projects and the many products that you enjoy. Happy July 4th!

    • Many, many years ago, like 20 years ago, I had a mouse take up residence but that was when I was storing dog food and bird seed in the garage. I evicted him and so far, I’ve never had an issue again. I just make sure to never store any food or trash in the garage. That is wild that they want to be inside a fertilizer bag! Yeah, that’s super annoying! I wonder if you could put some fake, realistic-looking owls in your garage to scare them away.

  13. I’m really curious about the epoxy floor – can’t wait to hear what happens with that. And I admit, I’m envious of your lovely clean garage. I’ll be following along to get ideas if the time ever comes for us to fix ours up! 🙂 Thanks so much for the inspiration and for hosting this party. Hope you have a lovely 4th of July!

    • Thanks, Barbara! I will definitely share how it goes, hoping this will be a relatively quick project. I’m impatient! lol
      Happy 4th to you!
      XXX

  14. When I built my new home, I had a closet built just for the Christmas tree. Now, all I do is roll the tree, on a platform with rollers, into the closet, decorated and all, and shut the door till I roll it out for use the next Christmas. I can’t tell you how awesome the Christmas tree closet has turned out to be! Definitely a favorite of mine! You should find room for a Christmas tree closet of your own!!!

  15. We moved to our new house a few months ago. The former owners left so much stuff behind in the garage and adjacent storage area–old lumber, scrap metal, packing crates, ancient garden chemicals that I’d never use, toxic paint cans, etc. The walls were dingy, cobwebby. The floors were cracked and stained. It was overwhelming to clear stuff out while we had our own boxes of stuff–and much of it wasn’t the kind you could just toss in the trash. I looked at Nikki Boyd’s book “Beautifully Organized” and was inspired, though it was daunting to dig in and clear out these areas so they were ready for paint and epoxy. But almost every week I’d look at pix of beautiful garages, and we’d just do a little bit; we’d haul some stuff to the chemical waste site one weekend, then the paint sites the next, cut up and haul off wood, metal scrap, etc. Finally, we were able to paint the walls and epoxy the floor. It was so nice looking, I wouldn’t dream of junking it up after all that work. I ruthlessly culled my own garage stuff. Now I will not let anything in that isn’t used frequently and I’ve organized every nail, screw and cleaned, oiled my hand tools, replacing broken ones. I put nice storage bins to hide unsightly things and bought a nice red workbench and stepladder like my dad had. I’ll add copies of the photographs he had in his own garage to help me remember him and how he proudly worked wood and made things by hand in his workspace. It makes such a difference to have a clean, organized space. The paint and flooring were the best bang for the buck for the overall look. Good luck with your project. It’s worth it.

  16. Susan, I’ll be curious to see which one you choose and I’m sure it will look gorgeous when its all done! Looks like a big project though so good luck with everything! Happy 4th of July to you!

  17. Susan,
    Looking forward to seeing the finished garage project!!
    Thanks so much for hosting this wonderful party each and every week!! I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into it along with visiting all the links and choosing Features!!! Thank You!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

  18. You will love it!! In our previous home, we did the expoxy floor and also insulated/drywalled/painted our walls so we could use our garage for larger gatherings. (Our home was perfect for the two of us, but if we needed to feed more than four, we had to relocate to the garage.) We used it SO MANY TIMES in the four years we lived there. Holidays, parties, craft nights, the whole bit! We have moved since, and we are making plans to do the same at our new garage so we have space like that again. It’s so worth it!!

  19. Love the idea of the epoxy floor! I’m sure it will look very clean and tidy. I don’t envy you the job of moving the dishes, though! The cart idea is a good one.
    I often wondered what you used your formal living room(aka storage) for. I remember when you had those two beautiful shelving units that you were going to try to have installed. I LOVED that idea! Too bad it didn’t work out. Best wishes on your revamped garage project! Karen

  20. I’ve always wanted an epoxy floor in the garage, but our garage gets heavy use! Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out!

  21. Love your flooring choice. We were going to do that to ours before we decided to move to an apartment. I think it will make a HUGE difference. I love all you tablescape storage. Since we downsized I have a way smaller amount, but our apartment has a very huge walk in closet in the guest bed/bath…some shelves, some bins, some labels – and I am set. Oh, and by the way….I sent the slanted pillows back, too. Just could not get used to them…kept sliding to the bottom of the bed ! Have a great week !

  22. Elena M. says

    When we had to re-tile our living/dining room I had to move all the furniture, and empty out one china cabinet and one curio cabinet. It was so much work, I had to make what seemed like hundreds of trips to put all the dishes and crystal in another room. All the tiny collections from the curio had to be wrapped in paper and put in boxes. It took me 2 days to empty that room. Just looking at all the stuff in your cabinets makes me tired and sore. I don’t envy your “adventure”. But after all is painted, new flooring, and extra cabinets you will get, then, you can sigh and feel great, and it will all be worth it, right?

  23. Susan H Whetstine says

    We love our garage floors since we did the epoxy on them. But our double garage floors ended up with bubbles in them on the final layer. There was nothing that could be done about it so we’re having to live with it. It was something about vapors or something coming up through the concrete floor. The single car garage didn’t do that though. We still like them.
    I have some of those same checked napkins in different colors also. I love changing them out. Do you have a walk out basement? When we did at the last house we used our golf cart to cart Christmas things from the basement to the front door or the garage door of the house. The Christmas tree was very easy to transport like that.

  24. Love the garage floor!! Thanks so much for hosting this week!

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