Ideas for garage conversion

Well the possibilities are endless. Study, second sitting room/snug, craft/hobby room, home gym, bedroom.

Definitely a good idea to put the space to work.

All of the above ?

Open up the kitchen ?

My son and DIL converted their double garage and by coincidence the job was complete just before first lockdown. Perfect timing for working from home, home schooling etc. They have large ikea units at one end with the GC’s books and toys tidied away(sometimes!) They sectioned off a portion at the back as a large utility room.

Friday is family movie night. They have a projector and watch their movies projected onto the white wall. I love being there on a Friday, it’s just like being at the cinema with all the comforts of home.
The large comfy sofa bed converts it into a bedroom for visitors. I’ve threatened to get my pjs on and get in to bed for movie night but haven’t done it yet. I’d probably end up with popcorn in my bed.

It’s a well used multi purpose room and they are very happy with it.

A room with a walk-in shower, preferably big enough to be wheeled into it.

I’ve had three friends over the last year with broken bones that meant they couldn’t go from upstairs to downstairs.

Good for washing the dog too?

We had a house with no hall, just a small lobby. We had plans drawn up to knock through into the garage to make a hallway with a cloak room and shower off it. The hall would have led onto the existing utility room and back door. Then we decided that we just couldn’t live with our neighbour any longer and put the money into a house with all the above in situ!

Thank you for all the ideas. I'd love to enlarge the kitchen but sadly it's at the opposite end of the house, and it dies open into a dining area anyway.
The shower option sounds good and, dog washing area, maybe like a wet room. I hadn't thought of that. Will have to check drains.
A sort of den sounds interesting Grannynannywanny for the growing GCs and movie nights sound fun! If I had that I could shut my husband in there this weekend to watch the Grand Prix!

A waste of space to you but should you ever decide to sell your house many people would appreciate having an integral garage Beats leaving your car out in all weathers.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202112/medium-478722-20211211-125058.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202112/medium-257339-20211211-125146.jpg

Please excuse the junk, the sawing wood is temporary!

A knitting/craft room with patio doors to let in the light. Or better still give it a glass roof!

If you have not got them already, then I would suggest and ground floor loo and an utility room, then use the rest of the space to enlarge your kitchen.

The previous owners of DD1’s new house converted their integral garage into a second living room/study. It’s now a bit of a gym for SinL.
DD2 converted her’s into an office with a glass lantern roof.
My friend’s son is currently having his turned into an informal sitting room with a bar! His wife and mother are not impressed!

We converted ours some years ago. Originally it was an extra bedroom for DS1, he loved it. But now its just us two. I have a through lounge with quite a large suite and a large tele. So we used the converted garage as a dining room. Its really good, especially at xmas. I do also keep my sewing machine on that table and do a bit of crafting, out of the way of DH, who moans at the trails of stuff i leave behind.
But actually doing the conversion was easy enough, so long as it is as sound-proofed and as insulated as you can get, with a good size radiator, you have nothing to lose.

Our neighbours converted half their garage into a laundry room, leaving more space in the kitchen. They still have a small space at the end of the garage for storage.

I don’t want to spoil your excitement but do check your title deeds first as on housing developments it’s not uncommon for there to be a restriction on converting the garage. If you do find that’s the case see a solicitor - often the original developer has the benefit of the restriction and might be willing to release it for a payment.

I think installing a walk in shower/toilet with a view to it being an emergency/eventual bedroom is a good idea but in the meantime it could be used a hobby room with a nice little wood burner in?

Is that a parker knoll chair?

Germanshepherdsmum

I don’t want to spoil your excitement but do check your title deeds first as on housing developments it’s not uncommon for there to be a restriction on converting the garage. If you do find that’s the case see a solicitor - often the original developer has the benefit of the restriction and might be willing to release it for a payment.

I agree. We didn’t need planning permission but had to check the deeds to make sure there were no covenants prohibiting garage conversions. Also make sure your builder follows the regulations on inspection and final sign off by building control services on completion of the work -you’ll need the completion certificate if you sell your home. There are fees added in for this - I think it was about £300 in 2016 when we had our garage converted but will inevitably be more now I suppose.

We had a detached house with integrated garage. Lounge/diner ran the full length on one side with the kitchen at the rear, off the dining room. The garage ran the length the other side, butting up with the kitchen, with the stairs in between. We opened up the garage and made the kitchen larger, incorporating a downstairs shower room and moved the dining space into the kitchen so so we had a bigger dedicated living room. Made a huge difference and added value on to the house when we came to sell.

Brilliant idea but remember once insulation and walls go over the top the room will be smaller.
My sister having similar done atm, hers is having a shower room with loo, the other part will have pool table with a sofa that converts into a bed.
Have fun planning it.

Josianne

Please excuse the junk, the sawing wood is temporary!

If I'd been able to buy the bungalow I wanted which had an integral garage at each end, I'd have had one garage converted into a bedroom with ensuite.

If our garage was integrated into the house I'd definitely do that to future-proof.

You could use the room for anything, craft room, extra TV room, until you felt you may not want to keep climbing the stairs.