Have you ever thought “I’m embarrassed to open my garage because it’s so messy”?
Is the garage your “shame place”, “the dumping ground”, or “the home eyesore”? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
An Impulse Research survey found that 24% of homeowners are embarrassed to leave their garage doors open.
Considering the average garage door opens and closes approximately 1,500 times annually, that’s a lot of potential embarrassment to endure if your garage is a disaster zone.
That’s why the garage’s interior, in addition to its exterior, should be a big part of anyone’s plans to boost their curb appeal and home value.
Look beyond the obvious with your curb appeal and home value
When we think of curb appeal, it’s your property and exterior home features that immediately come to mind.
There are many things vying for your attention and time to keep looking their best. Your front door and porch, roof, rain gutters, house siding and masonry, windows, exterior lighting, driveway, lawn and landscaping, fences, and garage doors all require varying degrees of maintenance.
But if you look beyond the obvious when considering what has a positive impact on your curb appeal and home value, you’d realize that your garage’s interior shouldn’t be overlooked, either.
Like it or not, we’re all constantly being judged by others every day. Our homes are, too.
A clean, beautiful garage makes a strong statement to neighbors, passersby, and visitors about the high standards you have for your home’s appearance.
Braun Research surveyed 500 realtors and 88% of them believed that maintaining an organized garage reflected an owner’s pride in their home.
Let’s learn more about why it’s so important to improve how your garage looks and functions. We’ll also provide a few suggestions about what steps anyone can take to boost both their curb appeal and home value.
52% of homeowners want a garage their neighbors envy
A Thompson’s Company study found that 52% of homeowners their garage to be envied by their neighbors.
Despite that stat, most homeowners still overlook the garage when it comes to making home improvement upgrades.
It seems that garage upgrades fall into that “I’ll get it done someday” category. A Peachtree Consulting survey backs that up. It found that more than 50% of homeowners planned on reorganizing their garage within the next two years.
But according to a Wall Street Journal survey, only 11% of homeowners say they’re satisfied with their garage and wouldn’t want to improve it.
Why wait until “someday” to make positive changes to your garage? As American author and entrepreneur Janet Daily once said, “Someday is not a day of the week”.
It all starts by clearing out the clutter
A home organization study done by Moen (North America’s top faucet brand) found that the garage was the most cluttered space in homes. 50% of homeowners surveyed by the National Association of Professional Organizers also named the garage as the most disorganized area of their house.
To make any garage truly envy-worthy, the first plan of action is to start eliminating most of that pesky clutter. “Removing junk” ranked as the top answer from those asked how they could enjoy their garage more in that Wall Street Journal survey.
That doesn’t mean making a “lateral” storage move with most of that stuff that’s gradually swallowed your garage floor space over the years. Renting a storage unit isn’t the answer.
They only end up wasting your money and giving you an offsite clutter-harboring space whose contents will need to be dealt with someday (there’s that word again).
3 steps to transform a dysfunctional garage
In that survey of 500 realtors, 79% of them agreed that garages deserved as much organization attention as any other room in homes.
Transforming a garage from dysfunctional to functional and keeping it well-organized requires three things:
- A first step of clearing out the unnecessary items in your garage that haven’t been used in years, are broken, or will likely never get used much.
- Choosing the right garage makeover professional who can show you which storage systems work most effectively and can successfully execute a redesign plan.
- A dedication to keeping the garage clean and tidy with regular maintenance.
It’s disorganization and not a lack of space that causes 80% of household clutter, according to a Soap and Detergent Association study.
So which storage systems have the biggest positive impact on a garage’s functionality?
The garage is your home’s most useful storage space
Forget the attic or basement – realtors say it’s the garage that’s the most desirable storage space for homebuyers.
The garage is so highly valued by homebuyers for storage because if it’s designed properly, it can be your home’s most useful storage space.
Using slatwall, specialty storage racks, and a cabinet system in the garage will enable you to maximize storage space and stay organized with less effort.
This allows you to get more functionality out of the space, whether it’s for more storage, parking, or setting up a garage workspace.
If you’re one of the 20-30% of homeowners who are unable to use their garage for parking due to clutter, you’re just not utilizing it to its full capabilities. There are numerous other reasons you should be parking in the garage as well.
Yard tools, sports equipment, holiday decorations, bulky storage bins, seasonal items, and many more things can all co-exist in an organized manner when stored in the garage, while taking up literally 0% of your floor space.
The value of a high-end garage interior look
When your garage is open, it’s the only interior part of your home that anyone who’s in the vicinity outside can see.
While people (hopefully) won’t be lurking around outside your home waiting to get a peek inside your living space, you never know who may be looking your way when your garage doors happen to be open.
You could be driving in or out of your garage or just putting out the garbage and recycling.
Your garage’s appearance doesn’t rely solely on how tidy it is. It’s also about what the room’s décor and design elements convey to anyone who sees your garage.
Instead of doing “the quick open and close” with your garage doors because you’re embarrassed about the state of your garage, wouldn’t it be refreshing to actually want neighbors or passersby to peek inside?
Take the garage floor for example. Upgrading it can definitely have an effect on your curb appeal and home value, in two significant ways.
Neighbors and passersby may not fully notice the showroom-quality appearance of a polyaspartic-coated floor from a distance. They will, however, be able to tell that your floor is something more than the standard dull grey, unattractive surface found in most garages.
A durable Floortex™ floor coating will also protect your cement floor for years to come, making it a sound investment.
A garage interior is capable of turning heads by utilizing colors and décor features that can be customized for a bold or more minimalist aesthetic. A garage can even be designed with colors that will accentuate the colors of the vehicles parked inside it.
Anyone who does get a closer look when your garage is opened up will be very impressed with what you’ve done with the space.
Garage doors are your home exterior’s most visible feature
While we’ve been focussing on the garage interior, any blog post about boosting your curb appeal and home value would be incomplete without calling attention to the garage doors.
Your garage doors are one of the most prominent exterior features your home has. They can take up as much as one third of a house’s front façade and are often the first things visitors notice about a home.
Modern garage doors have more color, material, and design options than ever before, which is a major asset when creating a dynamic exterior look for your home that will turn heads.
Here’s one more benefit new garage doors provide – they pay long-term dividends when it comes to raising your curb appeal and home value.
New garage doors have one of the best returns on investment of any home improvement upgrade. Typically, 80-90% of your costs for new doors will be recouped.
Other ways garage upgrades increase a home’s value
New garage doors aren’t the only garage upgrade that pay off when it’s time to sell your home. All of those interior garage upgrades will make your house more enticing to prospective buyers.
After all, who wouldn’t be impressed walking into a room that’s typically disorganized and drab and instead finding an ultra-tidy space with an appealing, modern look?
A nice garage interior may even be the home feature that wins over a buyer who otherwise wasn’t even aware that a garage could be kept so tidy and have such a high-end appearance.
When purchasing a home, 80% of buyers factor in the garage when making their decision, according to the previously referenced Impulse Research survey.
And consider that in that survey of realtors, 82% of them said that disorganized garages have a negative impact on the first impression of buyers looking at homes.
Take pride in your garage to boost your curb appeal and home value
Instead of being embarrassed about how your garage looks to others, why not have the home on your street whose curb appeal and garage are the envy of the neighborhood?
The great impression others will get from seeing your fabulous garage is only the bonus this home improvement project provides, however.
You’ll get even more enjoyment from the pride and satisfaction that comes with owning a garage that’s truly a beautiful extension of your living space.
You can make it happen by relying on an experienced and trusted garage makeover expert like Garage Living to handle your project.
Schedule your free design consultation with us today.
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