What do you do when a pandemic hits and you need more space? You convert your garage into a livable space!
This project was done for a professional couple who had two children, plus a grandchild move back home due to the Pandemic. We helped the family add over 600 SF to their living space that they desperately needed. They have a brick home that was built in the 1980s. The area we had to work with was an atrium (We don’t see many of those these days!) and a garage that would be closed in.
They needed an additional room & storage space including a mechanical room for the AC that would service this area and expanded office space for the husband who is a professor at TAMU. We turned the atrium into the extended office with a door into the new bedroom and walk-in closet. On the other side, we created a walk-in storage space with its own entry since they no longer have their garage for storage.
The primary difficulties were making the project not look like a closed garage and reframing the roof that had a valley that terminated at the atrium.
We were able to raise + level the floor of the garage so that it was equal to the rest of the home. We also matched windows put into the garage to other windows on the front of the house creating design continuity.
Often when we do garage conversions, we uncouple the driveway from the house to avoid the closed-in garage appearance. Unfortunately, on this project that was not possible because of the need for maximum parking. But with the design consistency, the conversion appears seamless with the house.
The roof framing turned out to be more problematic than we had anticipated because the garage roof had been created with trusses whereas the rest of the roof had been traditionally framed. That combined with the open atrium falling in the roof valley made the infill framing a challenge. Ultimately, we were able to fill in the roof over the atrium so that it looks like it was always there.
Where there had once been a garage door, there was now a bedroom wall with two large windows. In addition to the two large windows, light-colored paint and flooring also contributed to the brightness of the new space. The bedroom has a walk-in closet with built-in shelving. On the other side, we created a large storage space for the family to use since they no longer have their garage for storage.
