When I go quiet on the blog, it’s not because I’ve run out of things to say (I don’t think I could ever run out of things to say). We’ve just been moving so quickly on projects and jumping from one to the other that it’s been hard to keep track of everything and share as we go. But I thought I’d check in and give you an update on the big project we’re working on now. Getting our garage ready for summer.

You may have already read about our bar and it’s big move across the garage, which not-so-subtly hinted at the main focus of this extra space. It’s worth noting that this “extra space” is actually a multi-room garage that’s almost the same square footage as the first floor of our house. This gives us endless opportunities, ideas, and (loving) arguments on how to set up the space for summer. To give you more of a visual, here’s a drawing of the garage.

We started with the back workshop, which was an 8×12 unfinished space. The biggest project in there was putting up the drywall (which we’ve already had some practice doing, thanks to the work in our office). The challenge in the workshop was that we were working with 10 ft ceilings rather than 8, and Dan’s stubbornness meant that him and I were holding drywall above our heads, just the two of us. I can still feel the shoulder burn as I type this. Once it was up, Dan spent the next few days patching, sanding, and re-patching the seams, and I took a few days after that to prime and paint the room.

Now that the bones of the room were complete, it’s time to make this blank room what it’s supposed to be – a man’s workshop. So far, Dan added baseboard molding to the room, put one of the shelves back in place, built a chalkboard to sketch up his ongoing woodworking creations, and added a work bench.We also painted a pegboard blue, an easy way to add a bit of fun to the room, and also a great way of making memories trying to get the 5×4 board into a Chevy Malibu. Let’s just say it ended with a phone call to Dad so his much larger vehicle could come to the rescue.

Dan also used an old cabinet on wheels to make a custom table top for his miter saw. Added some brackets and screwed the saw into place. Pretty clever, and will make it much easier to move around.

Next up for this space is organizing Dan’s collection of tools. And since Uncle George has now challenged him to a tools-race, this room is likely to fill up pretty quickly.