Works For Me: Garage Room

We've sucked up every single ounce of living space in this house to the point that we've overflowed.  We've now set up living space (or at least shoe-putting-on-space) outside our four walls.  Next thing you know we'll have a sofa on the front porch, and then it's just a short trip to a Camaro up on blocks in the driveway.

I kid.  We're much too high class to have a Camaro up on blocks.  It would totally be a Honda.

No really, I kid.  But not about overflowing our house--that's for real.

We've set up a little area just outside our garage door--kind of a "garage room", if you will--that serves as a staging ground for all our comings and goings.  We've put down old rugs to make it feel more room-ish, and it's where the kids hang their backbacks, store their shoes, unload soccer equipment, etc.  We've crammed in as much shelf space as is reasonable, making it a decent little addition to the house.

And while I know not everyone has a garage, if you do, this has proven to be a handy use of space for our family.  Here's a picture:

Don't you love our wood paneling?  We had that flown in special from 1982. 

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Comments

[phyllis]

ooh a garage. wish i had one of those. looks so nice!

[Vickie@PursuingSimplicity]

This is exactly what I have been wanting to do but have not had the time nor vision. I have a utility room as you enter our home from the garage but I really wanted a place for the 'download' before coming into the house. Your pictures give me vision. I was struggling with how I wanted it to look. This is great!

[Smockity Frocks]

Thank you, Shannon. Great idea - love all the hooks for coats and backpacks.

[Karen@FamilyBriefs]

Love the tip! Glad to see someone else uses diaper boxes for organizing containers! You paid enough for 'em, after all!

[Heather @ Loving Our Homeschool]

Very Nice!

[LeeAnn]

We actually needed some extra space badly enough that we did a temporary conversion and turned 1/2 of our garage into a room for our teenage son. Since we live in CA- we don't really need the garage for parking and our son loves it!

[Ann Kroeker]

I love this--so many people's staging areas look like they're straight out of Real Simple magazine, with Pottery Barn shelves and cute fabric containers for each child, matching backpacks neatly hung in a row under embroidered nametags. It's awakens organizational lust, I suppose, and it's so pretty and so unattainable to me, I just shrug and move on.

But this, this is real. This is a lineup of hooks tacked up in a garage. The rugs are a great touch. I could *do* this! In fact, I think I *will* do this!

Because I *can*. Thank you for letting us see something real. Something with paneling. I've got some just like it in my basement.

[Amy]

I love those Pampers boxes. We use them for storage, too. Our garage looks like the Pampers warehouse, because every box is a Pampers box (sizes N - 5), with a label saying what's really in it. They're good, sturdy boxes, and they have handles. They're small enough that you can pack them full of books or paper and still lift them.

Real Simple and Pottery Barn can kiss our Pampers wearin' behinds! :)

[Cheri]

That's not bad at all. In TX it was not uncommon at all for a garage to become a man cave. Several in our neighborhood had sectionals and flat screen tvs. (no kidding) Heh, and this was a nice neighborhood, where if anything *we* were bringing down the property value. :giggles: We had not outgrown our house but we had determined since my Suburban wouldn't fit in the garage-that we were going to make it more of a usable space with a crafting area/workout area and indoor playspace for rainy days. We however did not have paneling-that's enough to provoke jealousy right there. :)

[Laura]

That's perfect Shannon!

[Q&Q]

That's a great idea Shannon. You are knocking yourself but that is neat and effective and looks good. I use huggies and right now they're living a second life as packing boxes.

[Deb - Mom of 3 Girls]

I love your idea - I think we're going to have to do something similar in our garage soon. We're overflowing the tiny landing which we enter the house from the garage into. What I wouldn't give for a real 'mud' room... Thanks for sharing! :)

[Dawn]

Why have I never thought of that?! GREAT IDEA!!! I have been trying to figure out how to put hooks and shelves in our teeny laundry room that you pass through to get to the garage!

Hubby is going to be busy this weekend! LOL

[Cindy]

We've often struggled to "multi-purpose" different areaas as well. I love this idea--and only wish we had an ATTACHED garage! :)

[Rain]

I think your garage room looks great! We may do that in our new place, its a great idea!

[Rain]

I think your garage room looks great! We may do that in our new place, its a great idea!

[Kelly]

Oh, how I wish I had a garage!

[Sarah]

I wish I had a garage too! When I have a garage, I will put your idea into practice! :)

[Nonnie]

Great idea!

[Michelle]

We use similar techniques in our garage. It does make our 1200 sq ft townhouse seem more spacious! :)

[Elizabeth]

I know this really cute realtor...

[Gina]

How Neat! Of course, I need the garage first.......is that paneling on backorder?

[Multi-tasking Mommy]

This is my first ever Works for Me Wednesday! I'm so happy to be participating in it. Thank you for hosting :)

I've often considered closing in our porch with glass in order to maximize our front hall space! We have such a small front hall that we would really benefit from another place to keep our shoes.

[Linda at 2nd cup]

This is a totally do-able idea that won't cost an arm and a leg after the holidays.

[Heidi]

I should show this picture to my husband to at least give him an idea of what organization in a garage could look like! lol