Your family may have simply outgrown your home, or you may need an extra bedroom for those times when company stays over, no matter what the reason, you can convert your garage into one or more bedrooms fairly easily. If you still need protection for your car, consider a free-standing carport.

Sketch out your plans first

Sketch out how your want your bedroom(s) to be laid out.  Most garages enter into a home through the kitchen or laundry room, so you may want a small hallway leading from the door to the garage bedroom for added privacy.

It doesn’t have to be a professional floor plan; simply sketch where you would like to place the bedroom closet, bathroom, and windows.  Also consider where electrical outlets will be placed, and allow room for wiring or vents.

Start by closing the new bedroom in

The best place to start your project is to enclose the space where the exterior garage door is currently placed.  You might want to keep the door if you plan on building a detached garage later on, or sell end up selling the home.

Knock out the areas where you want to place windows for the bedroom.  Once the entire area is enclosed and sheltered from the weather, start framing interior walls; this is also the point at which you should install any electrical wiring that is needed.  Place plenty of fiberglass insulation between the wall studs; this will keep the room warm in winter months and cool in summer months.

Including a bathroom?

If you are going to include a bathroom in your renovation, it will be necessary to make room for plumbing and pipes.  Break through a concrete floor with a jackhammer.  You also want to consider placing the bathroom near another room in the house that has water, such as an inside bathroom or the kitchen.  This will place your new bathroom close to an existing water source, so you won’t have to run great lengths of pipe and plumbing materials.

Electrical tasks

Next, you will want to install electrical outlets, light switches, light fixtures, etc.  Carefully consider where you will need plug-ins, so that you won’t have to run extension cords in order to plug in the stereo, computer, television, etc.

The next step will be to attach drywall over the framework you built around the walls, as well as to ceiling rafters.  Once that is complete, finish out with joint compound to make surfaces even, then sand and paint.

You have a couple of options when it comes to heating the bedroom(s); you may want to install an electric heater on the exterior wall, or connect to an existing heat source through new vents.

Install the floors and you’re done

Other than installing the bathroom commode, vanity and shower, if you choose to include a bathroom in your remodeling project, all that remains are the floors.  Install wood floors or carpet, whichever you prefer.  With carpet, install a thick pad to help make walking on the carpet a bit more plush.  If you are considering wood floors over the concrete, have a pest control company come out and treat for termites.

Now that your new bedroom is complete, it’s time to start decorating!  This is the fun part, and you can enjoy choosing new furnishings, linens and accessories.  You can do it yourself, and save a bundle of money.  Enjoy your new bedroom!