Building Your Dream Home? Don't Forget the Garage!

A home designed and built to your own specifications is one of life's true luxuries. There's just something amazing about moving into a house that nobody else has ever occupied, where everything is custom-configured for the needs of you and your growing family.

But if you drive through any new development, you'll see a common problem: unfinished garages. It's as if the owners ran out of steam during the design process and were happy to have a dark, boring place to store their vehicles and random “stuff.”

We think there's a better way.

After all, your garage is a room just like any other...

Why shouldn't your brand-new garage receive the same care and attention that your kitchen or family room received when you designed them? After all, if you're like most people, you enter and leave your home via the garage rather than the front door — so shouldn't it be welcoming and pleasant instead of drab and boring? If you thought to yourself, “Yes, it should,” then we've got some good information for you.

Keep reading to learn how to design a garage that is as much of a showstopper as the rest of your new construction home!

How to Design a Beautiful & Functional Garage Space

1. Start With the Floor
   

   Upgrade the look and performance of boring, plain concrete floors with a durable, granite-like polyaspartic floor coating.

   As with most things, the best way to tackle your garage renovation is from the ground up. That means starting with the floor. Right now, your garage floor is probably a dark gray concrete slab. A slab that will stain, spall and crack as time passes. However, a 100% polyaspartic floor coating can give your floor a beautiful granite-like finish that is incredibly durable, in addition to being UV, stain and impact resistant. And depending on the color you choose, it can also add a lot of light to the space.
   
   Polyaspartic floor coatings have been used in commercial and industrial applications for years, so you know they're tough enough for your garage. After all, if polyaspartic floor coatings are durable enough for a factory, commercial kitchen or airplane hangar, they'll certainly hold up to daily use in your home.
   
   But they're not just durable; polyaspartic coatings are straight-up gorgeous, too. When vinyl flake is fully broadcast over the bottom coat and then sealed with a clear polyaspartic top coat, the finished result looks like polished granite. But unlike smooth, slippery granite, that flake gives the surface a slight texture that helps add grip.
   
   Polyaspartic flooring has other advantages, too. Unlike polyurethane and epoxy coatings, polyaspartic flooring won't yellow and become brittle over time due to prolonged exposure to UV rays. And because polyaspartic flooring practically becomes one with the concrete surface below, it is highly resistant to peeling and delamination. In fact, in laboratory stress tests, the concrete will fail before the polyaspartic coating can be peeled from it.
   
   The only downside to polyaspartic flooring is that it needs to be professionally installed by an experienced crew to achieve a successful outcome. That's because only a professional polyaspartic crew will have the specialized industrial equipment and know-how to install a polyaspartic floor correctly.
2. Get Organized
   

   Heavy-duty, configurable garage cabinets and shelving keep clutter organized and out-of-sight.

   Once your floor is sorted, it's time to think about how you'll use your garage. Will it simply function as a covered storage area for your vehicles? Perhaps you'll want to use it to work on hobbies or DIY projects. Or maybe you'll want to use it as an overflow room for parties or family gatherings. Depending on how you configure your garage, the possibilities are practically limitless!
   
   Whatever you do, you'll likely need some storage. It's pretty rare to find a garage that doesn't also function as a home for various tools and machines — from lawn and garden implements to the basic pliers and screwdrivers needed to fix a leaky faucet or wobbly doorknob. For many people, their garage ends up as something like a giant junk drawer for their home, with various odds and ends piling up in corners or on makeshift pine shelves supported by cinderblocks.
   
   But since you're designing your home from the ground up, you can prevent this cluttered nightmare from ever happening. That's because now is the best time to add cabinets, shelving, slatwall and other garage storage solutions that will make organizing your garage a breeze.
   
   Ideally, shelving and cabinets should be made from heavy-duty powder-coated steel to resist dings, dents and warping over decades of use. Lockable cabinet doors are a great way to keep household chemicals out of reach of children. Shelving should be adjustable so you can continue to tailor your garage to your changing needs as your family grows. And individual “floating” shelves can be installed as needed to complete the design.
   
   
   

   Keep oddly shaped tools, equipment and sports gear off the floor with a slatwall or track system.

   Slatwall — like the kind you see at a sneaker store — is ideal for storing long or oddly shaped items like string trimmers, shovels and rakes. If a particular garage wall won't accommodate an entire slatwall panel, you can even add a track system, which functions as a single strip of slatwall.
   
   If you plan on doing some DIY or other projects, a garage workbench is a definite essential. Ideally, it should have a solid, flat surface that gives you ample space to work. A slatwall backboard is great for storing tools you need to keep close at hand. And, of course, it should be made from the same powder-coated steel as the shelves and cabinets.
   
   The same goes for a garage drop zone, which consists of a bench, shelves and hooks that make storing things like backpacks and rain gear simple and convenient. Since it functions as a transition area between your garage and home, locating your drop zone right by your kitchen door — or whichever door leads from your garage into your house is a good idea.
3. Complete the Look With Accessories
   

   Whether detailing your car or cleaning up the garage, a dedicated wall-mounted garage vacuum is the perfect tool!

   Now that your garage has a beautiful, durable floor and a variety of sturdy, ergonomic storage options, all that's left is to add the finishing touches.
   
   Some of the innovative garage accessories Hello Garage offers include a swivel bike mount to get the kids' bikes off the garage floor and out of the way and specially designed garage lighting to turn even the dreariest garage into a bright, welcoming space.
   
   One of the coolest garage accessories is an integrated vacuum system like the InstaVac™ from Hello Garage. Ready when you need it, out of the way when you don't, the InstaVac is up to five times as powerful as standard garage vacuums and is the perfect tool for detailing your car or just keeping your garage clean and tidy.