A garage can serve as all kinds of things. Even if you keep your car in your garage, it can leave space for you to use it for storage or other purposes. If you don’t keep a vehicle in your garage, you have even more space to work with and turn it into something else. One of the most popular ways to use a garage is to turn it into a workshop or hobby room. It gives you plenty of space to use for various things, from setting up a workspace to storing all your tools and materials. However, a garage isn’t exactly built with this purpose in mind, so there are a few adjustments you might need to make.
Get Power Points Set Up
If you want to use your garage as a workshop or hobby room, whether you’ll be doing woodwork or sewing, you’re probably going to have some electrical equipment to use. If you need to plug in anything, be it a circular saw or a sewing machine, you need to have power outlets to hand. They need to be in handy places so that you can easily connect all your tools and equipment. Your garage might already have a couple of power points, but it’s possible you might need to consider installing more or perhaps moving the ones you already have. Make sure you get a professional to do any electrical work.
Set Up a Workspace
You’re going to need a space to work in that meets your needs. You might be using whatever space in your garage isn’t taken up by your car, or you could have a bit more space to work with. For most hobbies, you’re going to need a workbench or desk. You could buy one or if you have the skills you can build one. You need a bench that will meet all your needs, so consider how you’ll be working. Will you be standing, sitting or maybe even both? Do you also need a chair so that you can sit down?
Be Smart About Storage
Storage is going to be an essential part of your setup, or else you’re going to have a very messy workshop. Before you buy or build any storage, you should think about what you need to store. The type of storage you use should depend on how you want to organize your different things. For example, if you want to keep all your woodworking tools organized, you might decide to hang some of the small ones on an easily-accessible pegboard. You can research clever ways to store the things you want to keep in your garage. Consider the best place to put waste too, as it will help you keep your space neater.
Picture taken from Amanda Reed
Stay Cool/Warm
You should also consider heating and cooling in your garage workshop. Garages aren’t usually set up with heating or an air conditioner because they’re designed for your car, not for you to live in. So you’ll often need to add in something if you want to stay cool in the summer or warm in the winter. However, installing anything too fancy might be a bit too much effort and expense for you. If you want something easier, small and portable units make more sense. You can get a portable air conditioner or a small space heater. Just make sure that you use them safely. Remember to switch them off when you’re not using them.
Get the Lighting Right
Useful task lighting is essential in your workshop too. A lot of garages might have one lonely hanging bulb, which is fine for getting into your car but not so good for much else. Some garages might have windows, but most don’t, which means they can be pretty dark. So you might need a lot of lighting to get the light you need into the space. If you’re doing something handy or crafty, you need to be able to see what you’re doing to be safe and achieve accuracy.
Consider a New Floor
Most garages have concrete floors or something else that’s equally durable and practical. While this could be acceptable for a workshop space, you might want to reconsider. Concrete can stain, which wouldn’t be very convenient. There are other choices you might consider, including rubber or tile. Think about how you’ll be using the space and how tough the floor needs to be. If you’re going to use it as a craft room, rather than for something heavy like woodwork or metalwork, you could even consider a laminate or wooden floor.
Set up your new garage workspace by considering what you need to get your work done. A garage needs some work to make it suitable.
