See parts 1-4 of the remodeling series here.
Here is the hallway leading from the kitchen into the former garage. In part four of our whole-house remodeling series I showed the room to the left in this corridor, the laundry room. Now it’s time to share the other rooms we fashioned from the garage space: much-needed offices and a multipurpose workroom.
The Workroom
The door to the right off the hallway opens into a room we call the workroom, guestroom, or office depending on need. It’s a flexible space that stores my supplies, welcomes occasional overnight guests, holds a treadmill, and contains a storage wall that hides many of the house systems that used to live in the garage.
- We replaced the old double garage doors with large windows and a set of French doors, which bring in abundant light and connect the space to the yard.
- The double-hung windows along one wall are original to the house and were relocated from the side of the garage. Reusing them helped the exterior blend with the main house and preserved original character.
- We splurged on wood French doors with true divided lights; they match the ones installed in the dining room. Consistent materials and detailing help unify old and new sections of a house.
- The room is painted in Behr’s “Vanilla Shake,” a very light yellow that keeps the space bright and cheerful all year.
- One entire wall contains a custom storage system that conceals the fireplace back, the furnace, and the water heater. We needed both access and storage, so we designed a single long unit with three doors: one for furnace and water heater access, one covering shelving behind the fireplace back (used as a canning pantry), and a third for a deep storage closet.
- Our builder framed the enclosure to our specifications. New doors priced at $80–$90 each felt excessive, so we searched salvage options instead.
- We found a pair of French doors at a barn sale for $25 and adjusted the molding to fit. The single screen door was $10 and a double set was $15 at a local salvage center. The mismatched salvaged pieces add character and saved significant cost.
Working with salvaged items turned what could have been a cookie-cutter closet into an interesting feature. DIY projects often benefit from creative, budget-conscious solutions that end up enhancing the home’s personality.
The Floors
- We covered the entire remodeled garage (except the hallway) with 4×6 maple hardwood plywood sheets at a cost of $0.54 per square foot. The result is an attractive, affordable floor.
- In the workroom we cut the plywood into two-foot lengths and laid the pieces in a random pattern for visual interest.
- For the adjoining office we cut the plywood sheets in half. After installing both, we preferred the narrower, more random look and would recommend cutting longer strips to achieve that variety.
- I stained the plywood in both spaces to match the oak floors throughout the rest of the house and finished them with polyurethane.
- The floors have held up well, though this plywood is somewhat more prone to small divots than solid wood. We have only a couple of minor marks, but it’s worth noting if you expect heavy wear.
The Office
- This room is Brian’s workspace. A bi-fold closet along one wall stores office supplies, the printer, and additional equipment.
- We added narrow, high windows in both the office and the workroom to bring in more light and architectural interest. In hindsight, the western exposure causes strong afternoon glare and heat, so the windows often require coverings. If building again, I might skip those particular openings.
- The office paint is Behr’s “Gobi Desert” with trim in “Creamy White.”
The office windows have their own backstory. When we remodeled the main house we replaced a dining-room door and window with a double French door. We reused the door in the laundry room and intended to use the dining-room window in this office next to another similar window removed from a bedroom. I didn’t measure the windows accurately—though they looked identical—and the builder discovered a 2–3 inch difference during installation.
That surprise led to a quick trip to a discount window supplier, where we found a reasonably priced pair that fit. It wasn’t ideal planning, but when you DIY you learn to adapt on the fly. The two non-matching windows ended up installed on different walls in the new garage addition and work fine in their new locations.
If you DIY, you probably have a few of these stories too.
– Jami