Organized Garage Makeover

I have dreaded cleaning and organizing our garage for years now. And I honestly never thought I’d tackle it for the One Room Challenge because I couldn’t imagine how I could turn raw studs and concrete into a photo worthy space. But the garage had gotten so out of hand that I had no choice but to finally do something. Since I work best under a deadline, the ORC seemed to offer me the best hope of starting and finishing the project, and the motivation to do it as well as possible.

And you guuuuys… guess what?! It turns out that dirty, dingy garage had more potential than I gave it credit for! I’ve somehow managed to create a space that is clean, bright, and even photo worthy…

I entered this project with the goal of creating an organized and functional space, and I am extremely proud of how I achieved that goal. But along the way I was able to also make it a heck of a lot prettier…talk about a happy accident! Come on in and let me show you all the details…

If you are new here, and wondering what the heck the One Room Challenge is all about, let me give you the quick overview. It is a twice annual blogging event hosted by Calling It Home in which hundred or more designers challenge themselves to completely makeover one room in their home in just five weeks time. We each post weekly updates throughout the process, starting with the the before photos and design plans, and leading up to the final reveal of our completed space. That’s TODAY!

This is my sixth time participating in the One Room Challenge, and you can find all of our prior ORC transformations here: little gentleman’s bedroom | modern graphic master bedroom | rock & roll under stair playroom | light & bright laundry closet | graphic glam master bathroom.

If you’d like to catch up on how we got here, you can catch up on each of the weekly garage makeover posts here: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5

Ok, back to the garage! YIPEE! Note that this post contains some affiliate links for your convenience {read more}.

This wall of storage makes me so happy! No seriously, you should have seen me dancing around the garage while taking these photos! And check out that shiny, pretty dance floor?! I partnered with Rust-Oleum to coat the floor in their gunmetal RockSolid Metallic floor finish, and it is ah-mazing! {You can read all about the floor product and the DIY process in this tutorial.}

I know there’s a lot to take in in these photos, and I’ll walk you through the details. But first, let’s look back at the before photo so you can appreciate just how far the garage has come!

This was six short weeks ago…

And today…

Not only did we manage to organize all of our stuff, we added so much to the garage that we didn’t have before… like a fridge and freezer. Do you see them? It’s like Where’s Waldo… See all of those paint swatches. Yep, there they are!

Over the years, I have pinned tons of photos of rooms with walls covered in paint swatches. I’ve always loved the idea of it, but could never imagine a space in my home where it would fit. But when the fridge and freezer were delivered and I saw all that white space, I saw it as a blank palette just waiting to be turned into art.

I’ll share the full tutorial on my paint swatch fridge and freezer later, but here’s the secret… magnets!

The fridge and freezer certainly make a major statement now… but they are well balanced by the white walls and the white storage bins and drawers. Let’s get down to details and I’ll show you how we organized all. the. things.

Paint Swatch Wall Fridge in Organized Garage

In the old rendition of our garage, we had an rolling cart that held our shovel, rake, brooms, etc. But it took up too much room. By using both the wall space and the space on the side of the fridge, I was able to fit all of these necessities into much less real estate. Heavy duty magnet hooks are my new best friend!

On the other side of the freezer, we installed an entire system of hanging shelves and drawers. This, hands down, was the key to solving all of our old storage woes. This entire wall used to be covered in stand alone shelving units, but the floor in front of the shelves was always filled with bikes, trikes, wagons, large tools, and more.

By doing away with the old shelf units and replacing them with the hanging system that frees up the floor space below, we were able to tuck many of the bulky items underneath.

And those drawers… I heart them so, so much! They provide us much easier access to many of the items that we use on a regular basis, and their lids keep everything inside clean and free from dust and bugs.

And if there is one thing I’m more excited about than the drawers, it’s the paint swatch labels! Details on these will be coming soon, too.

We are working our way around to the workshop corner of the garage, so how about another before and after?

We replaced the old plastic workbench and cabinet with a new metal workbench with a large open shelf perfect for our miter saw and tool boxes. The workbench came with a particle board top and bottom shelf. I replaced the particle board with birch plywood from Home Depot {$20 each}, which I stained with Rust-Oleum Summer Oak and added two coats of polyurethane for a higher end look.

Next to the stationary workbench, we added a rolling tool chest with tons of storage and an adjustable height work surface. Being able to roll this workbench out into the middle or the garage will make it so much easier when we are cutting long boards or working on other projects that require a little more elbow room.

Now I have a space where I can truly “DIY with Style”! But this sign is not just for looks… it’s actually hiding one of the major eye sores in the garage. Right behind it there is a big mess of electrical wires running through the studs. Plus the sign also gave me an excuse to finally use my new Cricut, and I love the shiny and reflective foil vinyl!

I’ve always wanted a pegboard where we could keep our most frequently used tools within easy reach, and I love the way it came together. In addition to hanging my hammer and screwdrivers, I also added a hanging file holder for all of the instruction manuals for our tools.

The ETC box holds three mason jar with pens, pencils, rulers, and graph paper notebooks. I was so excited to find these wood pencils with the colorful tops!

I also have a major love of typography and signage, so I was thrilled for the excuse to buy this metal R!

Last week, when I stepped back and looked at the workbench space, it felt like something was missing. That wall space above was calling for something. A fancy frame of course. LOL! But seriously, I couldn’t be happier with how this last minute paint brush art came together! {Tutorial coming soon}

Even with that entire wall of storage, we still had a few more things that needed a home, including our bikes and our tall ladder. They found a home in the opposite corner of the garage.

Here comes another before and after…

I was initially concerned about hanging the bikes because I am not strong enough to lift a bike down from ceiling hooks. Then we discovered these amazing pulley systems!

Hang bikes from the garage ceiling hang ladder

We will be parking two cars in this three car garage, and we were thrilled when the measurements revealed that we had just enough depth to add a storage box in front of one of the parking spaces. This solves another of our big storage challenges – where to put our outdoor cushions, pillows, and accessories during the snowy winter months.

Deck storage box in garage for outdoor cushions

Thanks for sticking with me! Here’s one final look at the before and afters…

The garage source list is below. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be sharing more details, including lots of organizational tips and some DIY tutorials. Until then, you’ll find me getting my DIY on in my stylish new space… and maybe even some more dancing!