My COVID DIY Garage Makeover (Part 2- The Reveal)

I am SO happy to be done working on the garage! Now I can start working IN the garage :)

Noah had friends over yesterday, and he wanted to hang out in the "man cave" in the garage, so I definitely felt the pressure to get all the last touches completed. There are still a couple of minor things that I need to do (touch up paint, add a latch to the flood vent covers, attach heater to ceiling), but yesterday I was all about cleaning up the mess and putting everything into place.

I obviously didn't do anything to the floor. There are spots of drywall compound that I scraped off, but that can be wiped away with water. For the "man cave" section, I just threw down some leftover carpet we'd had from the bedrooms. It doesn't cover the whole section, but it helps a little.

I didn't want to buy new furniture or anything, so we still have the old hand-me down stuff. I painted the futon frame and the coffee table, and I am going to make a cover for the futon mattress using some canvas fabric I have. I did buy a mini-fridge for Jerry as an early birthday present, so we got rid of the big one. 

Anyway, here is my list of projects to get from "before" to "after":

• install insulation and soffit vents
• hang drywall on walls and ceiling
• tape, mud, and sand the drywall joints
• prime and paint the walls and ceiling
• paint the concrete foundation wall
• add trim to cover the sill on top of the foundation wall
• frame the windows, add trim, and paint
• install shades on windows
• install ceiling fan over "man cave"
• paint coffee table and futon frame
• build and paint shelving across one wall
• make covers for the flood vents (I also made a framed screen to go behind the covers)

I'm probably forgetting something, but that's what I can think of off the top of my head. It was so much more work than I had originally imagined, but as I saw what a difference each project made, I just wanted to keep improving things. I love DIY, so I really enjoyed working on this. And the "after" is so worth it!

Total cost from start to finish: roughly $2,000. (The biggest expenses were the drywall and insulation--$1500--and the paint--$250). I used up a lot of scrap wood that I had from previous projects!

And here are the before and after photos... the best part :) I tried to get them from the same angles where I could.

And there it is! I'm super proud of having done all of the work myself. Jerry kept asking if I wanted help, but I insisted that I wanted to do it all. I did need help lifting the ceiling drywall onto the drywall lift, so Jerry and/or the kids would help me do that. Drywall is SO heavy!

My favorite part is the man-cave, of course ;)

My brother gave me a heater and prepared the electrical work on the ceiling to hang it. So, this winter, I'll be able to work on projects out there without freezing to death.

After a little break from the DIY, I'm going to finish my brother's ceiling. And then I'm not sure what my next project will be!