Renovation Progress

Our Empty Garage + To-Do List

Today I’m sharing pictures of our empty garage plus an actual to-do list so that we can get this One Room Challenge makeover completed on time!

empty garage looking towards door

This weekend we actually started work on the garage, and we were able to clear everything off the floor and bring all our garbage to the dump.  It only took a few hours, and obviously looks much better than it did when it was full of mess!   Today I’m sharing pictures of our empty garage plus an actual to-do list so that we can get this makeover completed on time!

In case you need some help catching up, we’re giving a makeover to our garage as part of the Fall One Room Challenge.  It’s a twice-yearly event that challenges you to renovate a space in your home in just six weeks, and we’re just approaching the half-way point.

In Week 1, I shared some messy before photos of our single-car garage; and in Week 2 I shared the design plans for the spaceThere are 20 participating designers also updating a room in their homes, and other DIY bloggers can makeover their areas and link up too.

While most of the stuff in the garage went to the dump, we kind of spread everything else out in the shed, our living room and the back deck…

stuff from garage on back porch

We actually don’t have too much stuff in our garage, but everything is kind of big and takes up space!  I also wanted the Husband to put away our patio furniture while he was going back and forth to the shed… but I guess we’ll leave it out for a bit longer?

empty garage looking towards door

We even purchased our new shelving unit this weekend!  I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to get the exact same one as before (we bought it at Costco a few years ago) but thankfully they still had the same one, yay!  It was cheaper than the alternative I found, and is currently sitting in our living room waiting to be assembled.

oil spill cleanup in empty garage

I was hoping to have everything everything out of there, but the Husband just wanted to get the floor cleared up for the concrete people.

I’ve finally written down our to-do list for our garage makeover, so here’s what still has to happen:

  • Concrete floors resurfaced (happening this week)
  • Remove old heater
  • Remove cabinets/old peg board
  • Remove all random hooks + pieces on walls
  • Patch walls (and ceiling!?!?!?)???
  • Mix colour + paint walls
  • Purchase, paint + install new pegboard
  • Install casing around door
  • Install new shelving unit
  • Purchase + install new heater
  • Build + install overhead wood storage
  • Figure out (and install) tool storage hooks
  • Organize all our stuff

Since we have 3 more weeks for the One Room Challenge I’m hoping I can get at least 4 tasks accomplished each weekend.  We technically also need to give everything a good cleaning (I did vacuum a bit, but there’s still some nasty cobwebs and dead bugs that would get in the way of my painting…) but let’s just leave that one as a given.

peeling ceiling in garage

After taking a good look at the state of the garage, the Husband was kind of thinking we need to fix up the peeling ceiling too, (“because what’s the point of making everything else look good if that looks bad”).  But he didn’t really jump at the chance to volunteer to patch it, you know what I’m saying?  I was also hoping to get by with a quick patch in some of our problem areas, but I was going to skip the whole sanding it and making it smooth…

ceiling in empty garage

Oh, and the temperatures are starting to drop around here, and some days it’s super chilly (not good for patching and painting!) so I’m thinking we may have to rush that heater install if I want to actually get a lot of this work done.

Hopefully we get a few more warm days anyways!

reaching tall shelves in garage

Ha, I just had to include a picture of myself showing off our too-tall cabinets.  Tootsie is just staring at me from the doorway wondering what the heck is going on!

concrete missing in empty garage

Today the concrete people had to come in and take a foot or so of concrete out from the end of the garage. They are pouring on top of our old slab, and they needed to be able to create a deep enough section at the end so it doesn’t split off.  I think the pouring itself will happen tomorrow, so hopefully it cures in time for me to get in there to start the other tasks!

our empty garage and to-do list graphic

So that’s pretty much it, and I’m worried that we haven’t been getting enough done in the first few weeks. It will definitely be a mad dash at the end, but I’m pretty sure everything should be done in time! But for now, doesn’t the empty garage actually look sort of decent? (You know, if you ignore the peeling drywall, sinking concrete and what not…)

Nicole Q-Schmitz name signoff

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Emy
    October 19, 2017 at 9:17 pm

    Hi there! Garages are fun, aren’t they? ;) It’s nice to have someone to commiserate with! Want to know what made the biggest impact in mine so far? I cleaned my window. Haha! I never even thought about cleaning it before because it was so gross in there. But I walked in there today and the bright light felt so weird and I realized it was because I had cleaned the window. In really bad spaces, it doesn’t take much to make them nice. ;) So in a way, we have it easier. Dead bugs and all. Wishing you luck and a speedy concrete cure time!

    • Reply
      Nicole
      October 21, 2017 at 12:06 pm

      Ha thanks Emy, I’m still avoiding the window because of all the dead bugs! Think I’ll finally take the plunge today (I need to shop vac it, it’s that bad!). I’m hoping that once our garage is done, we’ll treat it like more of a “finished” space and take better care of it in the long run :)

  • Reply
    Bettye Greenwood
    October 25, 2017 at 4:41 pm

    We cleaned out and organized our garage last year and it made us both so happy. My husband was not on board in the beginning but as we made progress he totally got into it. I used a broom to seep away the cobwebs and dead bugs and that made a big difference right there. Good luck – you will be so glad you tackled this.

    • Reply
      Nicole
      October 26, 2017 at 3:27 pm

      Everything will be so fresh and new, so hopefully we can keep it looking good! I think that because there will a designated space for the Husband, he’ll be more on board with helping keep it clean :)

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