Your garage doesn’t have to be just a garage. If you feel like you don’t need a dedicated garage, you’d rather increase your living space, or you feel like your garage is being wasted – having become an unofficial storage unit, consider converting it to something else. 

With all the kinds of garage doors to choose from now, you can keep your garage door and create a cool conversion. Pair any of these conversion ideas with non-traditional garage doors, like swing-open carriage house doors or full-view glass and aluminum overhead doors. This is smart for when you eventually sell your home, in case the new homeowners want a garage-garage. 

Here are 5 ideas for converting your garage for different use:

1. Create a master bedroom suite

Converting your garage into a bedroom is a great way to add sleeping space to your house, or upgrade to a tricked out master bedroom. This is also a great excuse to add a bathroom to your house and create a sanctuary of a master suite.

2. Make a dedicated office

So many of us work from home now. And if you’ve got kids and/or pets, it might be difficult to cut out the noise and the interruptions and concentrate on your work. If you convert your garage into a dedicated office, you get the peace and quiet you need to be your most productive. Add a half bath and a mini fridge and it will truly feel like a work space. Huge upgrade from your couch.

3. Create a comprehensive home gym

Often, our home “gyms” are relegated to the basement, or that 4^th bedroom that is way too small to actually be a bedroom. Convert your garage to a home gym, and you have a spacious separate space to concentrate on your health. Room for dumbbells, bench presses, treadmills, ellipticals – whatever your workout style, you have space for it now. Line one wall with mirrors so you can always check your form. And hey – you now have room to do walking lunges now! Go ahead and cancel that gym membership; you’ve got it all at home.

4. Bonus room!

You’ve got a whole new room in your house. It could be for any number of leisure activities. Consider a gaming room, an entertainment room with a wet bar, a playroom for your kids, a craft room – anything you often think to yourself, I wish we had the space for this, you can make it happen with a garage conversion.

5. Make a multi-use space

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a second living room? You know – for those times one of you wants to watch a football game while the other wants to binge Real Housewives of NYC? Now you can do it at the same time! Choose a couch with a pull-out sofa bed and you’ve immediately got a combo den and guest bedroom.Hopefully this gives you some inspiration for what’s going to be a super-fun home improvement project. And if you need any help figuring out a garage door setup that doesn’t ruin the living-space vibe, call the garage door pros at SACS; we’re always here to help.