Garage Conversion

I don't think I have ever been prouder of my husband and am so thrilled to finally be able to show off all of his hard work from the past few months!

After finding out we were expecting a third child we spent a lot of time debating what to do about our living situation. We have lived in our 1,550 sq ft, 3 bedroom house for five years. When we moved in we had only Carson, and plenty of room to spare. Then, Deacon came along and our spare bedroom turned into a nursery. The furniture got dispersed throughout our house and attic along with all the random junk that the room held. We have fit comfortably into our home, but started to feel a little cramped with all the stuff we have accumulated through the years. And surprise: another pregnancy! Although we have some equity in the house now, the housing market sucks. We are afraid if we sell we will only break even, or worse, be in the hole.

We love our house; it is less than ten years old and is in a great neighborhood with lots of young families. When my aunt suggested that we consider converting the garage into another room, we started doing some research. We had about $3,000 to spend and decided we would go for it. Having a handy husband, who also knew a contractor helped us to cut costs. After about two months of work, mostly done on the weekends, we are about finished (with just a little more decorating and paint touch-ups) and it could not look more amazing!

We wanted to keep part of the garage for storage, so decided to build a wall that runs parallel to the garage door, which is still able to be opened, leaving the exterior of our house looking exactly the same.

I tried to keep up with pictures throughout the project (some are taken with my phone). I thought I took a picture of the garage before we started, but can't seem to find it. So here it began, framing (cost break-down is listed at the end): When framing was finished, the contractors took a couple of days off so that Brian could run the wiring for lights in the closet (the contractors built that too) and additional electrical outlets. Our garage only had one outlet; Brian added five more.
When he finished the wiring, the contractors came back to do the taping and floating. (I learned so many new terms!)
And then they textured:

Once the doors were installed and texturing was finished, so were our contractors! From that point on, Brian did all the work, with some help from our neighbor and family. He painted the ceiling, installed ceiling fans, ran air duct and vent, and put additional insulation in the attic:

My nephew, Ethan, spent a night and helped paint the walls.
Our neighbors are absolutely amazing! They traded services with someone and got laminate flooring for their house. After installing it in their dining room, they decided they didn't like it and replaced it with a different type. Since then, the flooring was stacked up at their house not being used. When they found out about our project, they GAVE it to us!! It saved us a chunk of change and it looks perfect in the room!After telling him what I wanted, Brian built the shelving in the closet. (I love that I come up with the ideas and he can execute them!)

When the floors and closet were complete, we finished up the project with beadboard panels! They really are my favorite part of the room and make it feel homey.


All that was left was decorating and cleaning! I am blown away by Carson and Deacon's new football-themed bedroom!!

We have a few things to hang on the walls (bookshelves and the boys names), but I couldn't wait any longer to share! There is SO much room for both guys, while still having the fun of sharing a bedroom!
Carson's clothes and toys have already been moved in, but there is still plenty of space for Deacon's stuff.
I think Brian and Carson's favorite part of the room is the extra touch Brian added: a 4ft x 6ft projection screen. We had a projector sitting in one of our closets, so Brian mounted it to the ceiling and ran wires through the attic and into the walls by the closet, along with surround sound speakers. There isn't any cable running to the projector, but the xbox is connected to it, allowing the boys to watch movies and play video games on a huge screen!
We also debated about whether or not to install a door leading to the garage. Brian wanted one added so that the boys would have an additional way to get out in the event of a fire, and it is nice to still be able to access the freezer in the garage from inside the house. (Door leading to the garage on the left, entrance to their bedroom on the right)
I am almost jealous of our big boys new 21ft x 15ft suite! It is wonderful to have so much more room in our house, and I think Carson loves having his room with a view to the living room when he falls asleep at night.

We are also thankful that our project came out just under $3k.