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Home » Organizing » Garage Makeover REVEAL {Before & After}

05/06/2015 · 94 Comments

Garage Makeover REVEAL {Before & After}

Organizing· Space Reveals

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Over the last five weeks, we have completely transformed our 3 car garage from a hoarders dream to an inspiring and functional space.

We battled crazy travel schedules, way too much rain, and an incessant army of June bugs. Don’t they know it is only May??? If I hadn’t been committed to finishing this space as part of the One Room Challenge, I would have quit. Many times. Thank goodness for public accountability!

What a joy to have a huge flat work space for smaller diy projects and a big open space near the tools to bring larger ideas to life! Thank goodness for IKEA workbench hack keeping the space on budget.  

Throw in new lighting, easy access to power tools, and organized supplies and it really is a dream. There are no words for the copper floor coating or the wall art my husband came up with. When the neighbors want art for their nursery based on your GARAGE, you know you’ve done something right.

As a reminder, here was my floor plan from week 1. 

Garage-Space-PlanAre you ready for some mind-blowing garage before & afters?

Before:

Garage Organization BEFORE_-13

During:
Progress in the Garage - Week 2 of the One Room Challenge at A Prudent Life

After:

Our garage used to be a cluttered mess, but after a makeover we have plenty of room to create. Dividing the space into a workshop and "shed" was easy using $99 rolling shelving units.

The rolling shelving units were placed perpendicular to the wall to create two separate spaces – a workshop with open floor space and a “shed” for storage of things like the lawn and garden tools. 

These metal rolling shelving units were worth every penny of their $99 price tag. They add tons of storage to our garage, but are also mobile if we ever need to reconfigure the space.

All the car related supplies were grouped in a separate area by the garage doors.

Separating garage storage into zones in a great way to add function to your space. We moved all of our car related stuff to a separate area to make maintenance easy.

I know shelves aren’t that fun to look at, but the new wall art sure is! My husband knocked it out of the park again. It’s pretty amazing to open the garage and see the huge art.

Hand lettering isn't just for paper - this large scale garage mural is perfect for makers!

Hand lettering isn't just for paper - this large scale garage mural is perfect for makers!

As much as I love the art, the organized workbench is my favorite because it adds even more organized garage storage space! 

Remember the disturbing before?
Garage Organization BEFORE_-10

And my plan…

Workbench Area with Labels

And the “I can’t believe it’s REAL” after:

Our DIY work bench was put together with IKEA supplies to keep the price low. Using RAST dressers, LINNMON table tops, and KALLAX shelves let us customize the perfect space on a budget.UPDATE: There is now a full tutorial on building the DIY workbench here. 

We took advantage of the space between the pegboard and workbench to add wall mounted magnet strips, perfect for frequently used items like screwdrivers. 

Our DIY work bench was put together with IKEA supplies to keep the price low. Using RAST dressers, LINNMON table tops, and KALLAX shelves let us customize the perfect space on a budget.

 

IKEA KALLAX shelving units provide tons of garage storage for $35.

I love that among all the new garage makeover ideas, we were able to work in a vintage toolbox that belonged to Corey’s grandpa. 
Blending new IKEA KALLAX shelving units with a vintage toolbox creates stylish, but functional garage storage.

Adding pegboard and magnetic strips to the garage wall makes it easy to store tools in plain site. Perfect for a fun garage makeover.

I seriously can’t believe I have 115 inches of glorious counter top to create things on! It’s so great that I can spread things out during projects, but also know that all the tools have a home when I am done.

Our DIY work bench was put together with IKEA supplies to keep the price low. Using RAST dressers, LINNMON table tops, and KALLAX shelves let us customize the perfect space on a budget.

For the floor, we used the Rust-Oleum RockSolid Metallic system in Copper Pot. When I reached out to Rust-Oleum about the One Room Challenge and talked about doing the garage floor, I had no idea it would steal the whole show.

But I’m okay with that. Because it’s AMAZING. I think I’ve said this before, but it looks like you could dive in and swim in it. The level of shine is unbelievable. Everyone who has seen it in person thinks it is still wet.

We did a complete garage makeover in under 5 weeks! The garage now has a built in workbench, plenty of storage, and an amazing copper floor.

Obviously. I was fooling myself when I thought this post was the end of the garage talk around here. You can find more 3 car garage organization ideas in this post!

We did a complete garage makeover in under 5 weeks! The garage now has a built in workbench, plenty of storage, and an amazing copper floor. Wait until you see all the before & after photos!Also, don’t forget to visit Calling it Home to see the rest of the One Room Challenge linking participant reveals. I can’t thank Linda enough for organizing these events. If you happen to be a blogger, I encourage you to start planning now for the fall session. It is a painful, stressful, and FABULOUS process!

Special thanks go out to all of you who commented and cheered me on along the way, all of you are what make these challenges doable. And to my awesome friend Ana for stopping by to help with photos!

We did a complete garage makeover in under 5 weeks! The garage now has a built in workbench, plenty of storage, and an amazing copper floor.

And with that, the spring One Room Challenge garage makeover is in the books!

ORC

 

Make sure you check out my Fall 2014 (pantry) and Fall 2015 (master closet) ORC reveals next!

We DIYed our way to a complete dream closet. I can't even imagine how much this would have cost if we hired someone. Click to see the before photos and all our money-saving ideas.

Vintage Modern Chic Pantry Makeover Reveal

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melissa

Melissa George

In 2013, Melissa founded Polished Habitat to share her passion for intersecting style and function to make everyday life more beautiful and less stressful. She does this by sharing easy home organization tips, home decor tutorials, and creative ideas to help readers think outside the box, no matter their budget. Her work has been featured in print in Better Homes & Gardens and Room to Create Magazine, and online by HGTV, House Beautiful, Buzzfeed, & more. In 2018 & 2019, Melissa was named as a Style Maker by Better Homes & Gardens. In 2019, Polished Habitat was shortlisted for the Amara Blog Awards Best Interior Styling Blog - International. Read more...

« Guest Bedroom Essentials {Entertain with Organized Style}
My Favorite Reveals From the One Room Challenge {Spring 2015} »

Comments

  1. Vel says

    05/12/2015 at 11:06 am

    WOW! you probably tackled one of the most difficult rooms!!! Love the floor! Can you do mine next?! Great job!

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      05/12/2015 at 11:59 am

      I think I’m retiring from garages for awhile, but thank you so much!!!

      Reply
  2. Pat @ Life At Lydias House says

    05/12/2015 at 8:22 pm

    This is fabulous! I am envious of anyone who can get one car in the garage much less two! You have done an outstanding job!

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      05/12/2015 at 8:27 pm

      Thank you Lydia!

      Reply
  3. Brynne@TheGatheredHome says

    05/13/2015 at 7:49 pm

    INCREDIBLE! Absolutely amazing makeover, Melissa! You have totally inspired me to tackle our garage next! And that copper floor is downright sexy! Way to rock this challenge!!!

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      05/14/2015 at 12:58 am

      Thank you Brynne! Rust-Oleum should be getting all the credit for the floor, what an amazing product!

      Reply
  4. Julie - Being Home says

    05/14/2015 at 12:50 am

    Wow! Very impressive! I love everything and boy do I wish I knew about the metallic floor finishing, when I did our garage floor. I still love ours, but your liquid pearl, metallic finish is gorgeous!

    Great job bringing sexy back in the garage and inspiring me to hopefully finally get ours done – it’s been two years in the making. 🙁 lol

    High five!

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      05/14/2015 at 12:56 am

      You’ll be so relived when yours is done! It’s a pain to finish, but so worth it!

      Reply
  5. Joan Russell says

    11/24/2015 at 5:51 pm

    Where can I find your post on how to do the floor. It’s absolutely beautiful.

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      11/24/2015 at 5:54 pm

      Hi Joan, we haven’t done a tutorial post on it yet, but hope to in the spring. The weather and our schedules didn’t ever agree to finish the last little section and take step by step photos.

      Reply
  6. Heather58 says

    11/24/2015 at 8:32 pm

    Amazing garage! looking forward to the floor tutorial.
    Cheers
    Heather

    Reply
  7. Jenny Kavanagh says

    02/02/2016 at 4:08 pm

    Wow this is crazy amazing! I can relate to your before pic

    Reply
  8. Amanda says

    03/22/2016 at 6:54 pm

    How is the floor holding up?

    Reply
    • Melissa George says

      03/22/2016 at 7:30 pm

      Really well! We’re just a couple weeks short of the one year mark with it. I was even able to easily scrub off some accidental spray paint overspray (whoops!).

      Reply
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Trackbacks

  1. One Room Challenge Favorites - The Simply Luxe Life says:
    05/13/2015 at 7:00 am

    […] can’t forget the ORC rockstar – Melissa at A Prudent Life. Last time around, she made over her pantry and it was stunning. This time she tackled her garage, […]

    Reply
  2. The Best Ikea Kallax Hacks and 20 Different Ways To Use Them says:
    03/12/2017 at 3:10 am

    […] Ikea Garage Storage Solution from Polished Habitat […]

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Welcome!

In 2013, Melissa started Polished Habitat to share her skill of mixing decor & organization to add style & function to everyday life at home.

Her work has been featured in print in Better Homes & Gardens and Room to Create Magazine, and online by HGTV, House Beautiful, Buzzfeed, & more.

In 2018 &  2019, Melissa was named as a Style Maker by Better Homes & Gardens. In 2019, she was also short-listed by the Amara Blog Awards for Interior Styling, International Division.

Need to reach Melissa?
Email: Melissa @ PolishedHabitat.com

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