Converting Garage into Family Room
#1
09-16-08, 10:02 PM
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Panama City, FL
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Converting Garage into Family Room
Hi guys, I'm new here. This seems like a really nice place and I hope to get let of info and knowledge from all of the members here.
Anyways, down to business. I am the eldest out 8 children, soon to be 9 on Thursday. I want to help my family, especially my parents, by getting the house a little bit better organized and a lot more room for everybody. Right now, we are renting a 4 bedroom house, 2 & 1/2 bathroom house. Now, luckly, our house had an office, so we converted that to the little kids room, since there really was no need for them to have a room with a door, and the 4 older kids have the other 3 bedrooms. Here is what the little kids room looks like constantly. I would like to get all the toys out of there, and get a couple of dressers, and move all of their clothes in there.
Now, we do have a garage that is just basically a junk room. There are a couple of problems with turning this into a family room, or any type of room that can be used all the time right off the bat.
- We live in Florida, where it is hot all the time so the heat would need to be dealt with.
- The garage is a 2 car garage, and it has 2 garage doors. The problem I see with this is also another heat issue, is how do I keep the cool air that I get into the garage to stay in the garage?
- Another problem I have with the doors are that in each door, there are 3 or 4 windows in each door, and one is busted out. Maybe just add some type of caulk around the windows?
-Also, we are renting the house, so we can't do any major modifications to the garage, because my family may not stay in this house for too much longer, since a few of us will be going off to college soon, which means they will have a lot more money to spend.
Here is a picture of the garage in it's current messy state, and here is a picture of the window. As you can see, I have lots of cleaning up to do before I come anywhere near done on this project.
I have already said that I want to turn this room into a family room. When I say family room, I mean a place where my parents, my older teenage siblings, and my little siblings all would want to go and hang out. Obviously, the toys for all of the little kids would go in here, but I would also like to make this room for all of the older kids to invite their friends over and this would be the room where they want to hang out. And also make it sort of a place where my parents would like to invite their friends over to do whatever.
My budget isn't super-cheap, but isn't super-expensive either. Something that will hold up, but not something fancy, just simple. Also, sorry about all the crappy pictures, my digital camera just died, so I had to use my iPhone.
Any and all help would be greatly apperciated, as I have no idea where to start. Also, I'm 17, so just to make sure you guys aren't using vocabulary over my head. Thanks!
Anyways, down to business. I am the eldest out 8 children, soon to be 9 on Thursday. I want to help my family, especially my parents, by getting the house a little bit better organized and a lot more room for everybody. Right now, we are renting a 4 bedroom house, 2 & 1/2 bathroom house. Now, luckly, our house had an office, so we converted that to the little kids room, since there really was no need for them to have a room with a door, and the 4 older kids have the other 3 bedrooms. Here is what the little kids room looks like constantly. I would like to get all the toys out of there, and get a couple of dressers, and move all of their clothes in there.
Now, we do have a garage that is just basically a junk room. There are a couple of problems with turning this into a family room, or any type of room that can be used all the time right off the bat.
- We live in Florida, where it is hot all the time so the heat would need to be dealt with.
- The garage is a 2 car garage, and it has 2 garage doors. The problem I see with this is also another heat issue, is how do I keep the cool air that I get into the garage to stay in the garage?
- Another problem I have with the doors are that in each door, there are 3 or 4 windows in each door, and one is busted out. Maybe just add some type of caulk around the windows?
-Also, we are renting the house, so we can't do any major modifications to the garage, because my family may not stay in this house for too much longer, since a few of us will be going off to college soon, which means they will have a lot more money to spend.
Here is a picture of the garage in it's current messy state, and here is a picture of the window. As you can see, I have lots of cleaning up to do before I come anywhere near done on this project.
I have already said that I want to turn this room into a family room. When I say family room, I mean a place where my parents, my older teenage siblings, and my little siblings all would want to go and hang out. Obviously, the toys for all of the little kids would go in here, but I would also like to make this room for all of the older kids to invite their friends over and this would be the room where they want to hang out. And also make it sort of a place where my parents would like to invite their friends over to do whatever.
My budget isn't super-cheap, but isn't super-expensive either. Something that will hold up, but not something fancy, just simple. Also, sorry about all the crappy pictures, my digital camera just died, so I had to use my iPhone.
Any and all help would be greatly apperciated, as I have no idea where to start. Also, I'm 17, so just to make sure you guys aren't using vocabulary over my head. Thanks!
#2
09-16-08, 11:35 PM
Member
It is admirable that you want to get your household in order. But, you are renting. Any changes to structure will require landlord approval. It will also require a Building Permit from local housing authority. A garage conversion will also require a great expenditure. This is an investment that you do not want to make in a rental property.
While your desire is to maximize the space within the existing structure, it is best to focus on organization. Based on the pictures posted, there is a major lack of organization and great mass of clutter. There are other issues afoot here which you do not address.
There are many excellent websites that address clutter and organization. And, you state that your family is not staying in the house much longer.
This sounds more like a plea re: the lack of organization in your home and other issues which you do not state. If you are 17 and moving on in the near future and your family can not stay there much longer, you need to forget the garage conversion. At best, in your spare time, you can do some home organization on your own and try to reinforce the importance of this with younger siblings.
We oldest siblings inherit many burdens. Pick and choose carefully which burdens you choose.
While your desire is to maximize the space within the existing structure, it is best to focus on organization. Based on the pictures posted, there is a major lack of organization and great mass of clutter. There are other issues afoot here which you do not address.
There are many excellent websites that address clutter and organization. And, you state that your family is not staying in the house much longer.
This sounds more like a plea re: the lack of organization in your home and other issues which you do not state. If you are 17 and moving on in the near future and your family can not stay there much longer, you need to forget the garage conversion. At best, in your spare time, you can do some home organization on your own and try to reinforce the importance of this with younger siblings.
We oldest siblings inherit many burdens. Pick and choose carefully which burdens you choose.
