For houses where space is at a premium, it may be difficult finding room for a home office. If you’re in this situation, you might find yourself eyeing the garage and thinking it would make a great space to hole up and get some work done. If you already have Wifi in your home, you probably don’t even need to add an extra internet connection – you just need to find a way to make this cold, impersonal space feel more like a proper place for creative brainstorming and deep focus.
Here are five tips for helping your new home office feel like home.
1. Add pleasant lighting.
Most garages don’t have windows – so you’ll want to compensate by adding proper lighting. Use lamps scattered around the room for a more pleasant atmosphere. Think about where you need lighting to do your work, and in the areas where you’ll be doing detail-oriented tasks, use strong standing lamps or desk lamps so you don’t strain your eyes.
2. Make sure you have adequate climate control.
Most garage spaces don’t have proper heating or cooling installed, so you’ll want to make sure you’re comfortable year-round by adding space heaters in the winter and fans in the summer. If you live in a very hot climate, you might even want to consider hiring a handyman to install a wall-unit air conditioner.
3. Spruce up the walls.
Odds are your garage is painted some very practical color. Don’t be afraid to go buy paint in your favorite hue – it will instantly start to feel more like a “normal” room. And nothing makes a garage feel more like a garage than that giant door on one side of the room. Covering the garage door will not only help the room feel more office-like, but it will also help block sound from the street and maintain climate control in the room. Use beautiful blankets or large, hanging area rugs to hide the door. (The only downside is that the garage door may contain the only windows in the room, and covering it could block the only natural light.)
4. Cover the floor.
If your garage is like most, you probably have a cracked, stained concrete floor that has taken at least a couple years of abuse. Invest in some sort of carpeting for the room to create a more cozy space – and to help absorb sound in the room. There are a few ways you can find affordable floor covering, if you don’t want to install wall-to-wall carpet. You can invest in a number of inexpensive throw rugs and put them down in an overlapping or “scattered” configuration. Indoor/outdoor carpet is also extremely affordable, and it comes in a number of attractive patterns and styles. Measure the room and take the figures to the home supply store, where they will cut the carpet to fit the room – you can just lay it down, or you can secure it with a special type of double-stick tape. Stick-down carpet tiles are another reasonably affordable option.
5. Create room dividers.
Your garage will seem much more office-like if you don’t have to look at things like the lawn mower, garden tools and bikes that are stored there. Use room dividers to create a separate space for you to work, and if you want to create a really dedicated space, you might even consider a backyard shed for storing all those items – you can purchase a shed for as little as $400 at some big-box home supply stores.