Once the garage and any mess are under control, your garage’s extra space can serve as a home office, work out area, child’s mini-classroom or even an “after five getaway.”

When you rethink your garage, focus on making this home space work harder for you and your family. Invest your time and efforts now and you’ll have extra space for years to come.

Fueling the transformation

A top-to-bottom revamping of a garage begins with decluttering and discarding everything from old toys to broken tools. As an example, discard dirty, leaky fuel containers that are a safety risk to your family. Replace them with clean, durable containers. Ones available on the market include Scepter™ SmartControl™ gas, diesel and kerosene containers. Made of high-density polyethylene, the containers feature a push spout, designed for fast fills without spills, and include a child safety lock and flame mitigation device.

Think about how best to store your belongings to create additional floor space for non-garage activities

On the walls

Once you’ve discarded items and approved others to stay, think about how best to store them to create additional floor space for non-garage activities. Look to your walls for help — you can add in all-purpose cabinets, slatwall and shelving to organize remaining items. Also, you can maximize space by adding heavy-duty racks and lifts in the ceiling.

On the floor

If your garage floor is stained and ugly, consider covering it with a durable coating. For example, the DaiHard® 100 Industrial Strength Epoxy Floor Coating Kit provides resistance to water, chemicals and oil stains. Add to the overall look of your finished floor and make it more slip-resistant by sprinkling decorative vinyl flakes onto the wet surface.

Closing it up

The transformation may mean changing your garage door. Ask yourself: Is its functionality still good? Does it allow enough light into the garage while still retaining your privacy? Consider an all-glass option featuring privacy insulated glass or a carriage house style. You can see a variety of energy efficient garage doors and visually “try on” styles of garage doors on your home at several garage door websites, including haascreate.com.

As an added bonus, think about the return on investment a new garage door would bring. According to the 2020 Cost Versus Value Study, a garage door replacement returns a whopping 94.5 percent of the investment cost for a homeowner who lives in the South Atlantic region, which includes North Carolina.