Turn Your Garage into More than a Car Stable

Americans' love affair with the automobile has not spread to the garage. In general, our garages are storage sheds and enclosed junkyards, harboring used clothing, broken toys and last year's Christmas tree. Each spring, we plunge into the mess, stick little neon price tags on everything and call it a garage sale, hoping that every item will be sold and end up in someone else's garage.

Two-car attached garage with workshop

Do you want your new garage to be more than a cemetery for discarded treasures, a stall for the family sedan? Before you buy your home plan, consider how you can maximize the role your garage will play.

The Numbers Game

How many bays should your new garage offer? Most people can count on one hand the number of cars they own, and equate that with the number of bays needed, but they sometimes forget to ponder the future. Don't make this mistake! What kinds of "toys" might you buy in the next decade or two? A fishing boat? An RV? A utility trailer? These types of purchases might need a stall of their own. Perhaps your lifestyle will require less space; a child might leave the nestÑand shrink your auto fleet by one.

Location, Location, Location

In relation to the house, where do you want the garage, and into which side should the cars enter? A growing number of home builders prefer that the garage be removed from the front of the home, placed to the side or rear and loaded from the same, so as to lessen its impact on the home's facade. Others choose a completely detached garage. The variations are almost endless: attached, front-loaded; detached, rear-loaded; attached, side-loadedÑyou get the idea.

If you choose a home with an attached, front-loaded garage, but aren't terribly excited about the garage's massive maw welcoming you home each night, there are tactics you can use to keep the door from taking center stage. The most effective is to incorporate a split-door design, which offers two separate entrances into the garage and makes it look more inviting and less like a loading dock. Of course, the down side will be your need for two separate garage door openers. If splitting the entrance is too costly for you, try "camouflaging" the door by painting it to match the color of your garage's exterior finish.

Don't forget the lowly one-car garage. While it probably won't increase your resale value, a tidy, one-car garage does little damage to the aesthetic of a home's faade.

Maximize Your Garage's Potential

What do you want your garage to do, in addition to housing your cars? One of the most common uses for the space above the garage is a bonus room, which can become anything you imagine: a simple storage space, a music room, a guest room, a playroom, a study, an extra bedroom, a sewing room -- the list goes on and on!

Detached garages are prime candidates for the addition of a rental apartment on the upper floor. Obviously, this option carries with it significant financial benefits, since the monthly rental fee could help supplement your monthly mortgage payment. If you don't need extra cash, the apartment could simply offer quiet quarters for visiting in-laws, or peace and privacy for adult children who've returned home for a time.

Detached garages also present an opportunity to complement your home's architecture. Even if you build your home first and add the garage years later, try not to pass up the chance to construct a fitting counterpart to your homeÑone that adds to the resale value and turns the heads of passersby.

Gardeners love their garages. They build gardening benches inside and add potting sheds to the sides. GardenStyles, a purveyor of imported greenhouses and garden products, sells two mini-greenhouses that are designed to attach to the side of a garage (see photo, following page).

Many of the home plans in this issue offer a space in the garage for a workshop; some may even designate a spot for your golf cart! These are relatively common uses; if they don't spark your imagination, get a little crazy.

Some homeowners push the envelope when it comes to garage use. They turn the third bay of their garage into a private pub or coffee shop. They throw open the main door and sit in the opening as if it were a porch, allowing them to enjoy summer evenings and converse with their neighbors. One Minnesota family placed basketball hoops at either end of their three-car garage and turned it into a regulation court! Another family uses their 34 feet by 36 feet heated garage for hands-on hockey instructions.

Your garage can be more than a car stable, too. Let your imagination and common sense guide you to a logical solution.