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The garage is often relegated to being a messy storage unit or a parking place, yet it holds incredible potential as the most flexible, untapped space in your home. Converting your garage into a hangout space — or a gym, or a space for your business — is a smart way to add a functional living area without the expense of a major addition. We will walk you through ideas to turn that dusty, underutilized space into a comfortable extension of your home.

Who says a garage is all about cars? Or a laundry room has to be a snore? In House Beautiful’s Whole Home concept house in Franktown, Co., we asked Coloradan-based designer Erin Hurley to transform both into rooms worthy of hanging out in. And, well, if you’re lucky enough to own the 2021 Porsche Cayenne Coupe, maybe all you want to do in your garage is stare at it (or simply ensure that the rake hanging on the wall doesn’t fall on it!), but the truth is, regardless of the size of your garage—and yes, this one is huge!—you can still transform it into a space that can be for work, fun, play or simply hanging out.

Since Hurley’s lived in Colorado for several years, she knows all about the 300+ sunny days everyone—and I mean everyone—talks about, and has gotten a good take on how much Coloradans enjoy being active. “Locals love being outdoors and any space that gives them more access to either their outdoor toys or just having proximity to the outdoors is a winner,” says Hurley. She quickly realized that this garage could be transformed into an enthusiast retreat for the avid car lover and cycling aficionado. She outfitted two of the garage walls with accessible storage and entertaining using a combination of Elfa shelving from The Container Store, beat-up proof steel cabinets from Gladiator and custom, textured gray melamine cabinets from Earthwoods Custom Cabinets. On one side, her friend and local artist, from Irreguardless Design created a neon lit bike rack—with mountain vistas in mind—to perfectly show off the Porsche bicycle, with cubbies for extra cycling paraphernalia.

Rather than taking up that third bay of the garage with another car, she created a den-like space using a wool rug by New Moon Rugs, to soften things up a bit, and two 1950s-inspired leather sling back chairs from Restoration Hardware. A massive 65” ROKU TV is set to stream movies, the Tour de France, or give the cycling experience during real-life inclement weather.

To ensure there’s limited need for actually entering the house. The other side of the garage is outfitted with an under counter beverage fridge made by Zephyr. It can hold up to 7 bottles and 112 cans of your favorite sports bev. The wall of storage is a gear heads dream, and makes keeping the whole garage spotless and always organized a cinch.

Right off the garage is the mudroom. This compact space fits in a ton in: side-by-side LG Signature laundry, along with their LG Styler steam closet (for a quick refresh for clothes, toys or anything in need of sanitization), a full Elkay sink and faucet (for those occasional trips for fresh flowers that need to be cut and fluffed!), a drop zone with upper and lower storage for removing those snow covered shoes, and the ezH20 Liv filtered water bottle filler right off the entrance to the house and exit to the garage.

“The convenience of having a water bottle filler in your home is a game changer,” says Hurley. “It reduces bottle waste for sure, but it also reminds you to hydrate coming and going everyday.” While this room is a utilitarian dream, Hurley didn’t want it to be a snooze. She created a wall of shelving to house decanted detergents—because clearly that’s prettier than your branded drugstore container—along with products from Colorado’s own ZERO Market that works with brands that reduce or eliminate waste. To further up the appeal of this room, repurposed brick molds and vases from locally run Rare Finds Warehouse added a bit of rustic-ness to this brand new space. “It was important for me to make this room functional and beautiful. The homeowners will use this room everyday. It should feel fully connected to their home and how they live,” says Hurley.

Ready to transform your dusty garage into the ultimate hangout space? Our home makeover experts specialize in maximizing underutilized spaces to deliver a high-quality, fully functional extension of your home. Call us today at 203.349.1295 or email us at [email protected]. or Follow us on IG.

Reference: [https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/a34361536/whole-home-garage-hangout/]