Converting a dark and dreary garage is a wonderful way of adding more living space to your home and potentially adding value to the property too.

But choosing the right type of conversion for your house and your lifestyle takes some consideration.

There are some things you need to bear in mind before deciding what to do with the garage: is your garage attached or detached? What is your budget? Investigate planning regulations and know how to get planning permission if needed.

Garages are traditionally designed as long and narrow spaces unfit for human habitation. You may want to demolish any internal walls to make the new space habitable. Or you might want to add dividing walls. The floor might also need some remodelling to make it fit with your plans. And of course, whatever you do with walls and floors needs to be reflected in the roof.

There are many reasons for a garage conversion, perhaps you need extra every day living space, a boot room, a shower room, a store room, or even a TV room.

To help you get started here are 5 of the most popular and successful garage conversion ideas:

1. A garage converted into an office

Recent world events have taught us that if our work or business is office based then we need one at home. It seems that the home office is here to stay, especially as it seems that hybrid working is being adopted by more and more employers.

A home office could also be used by children to do their homework or university assignments. You might need to setup a rota though to share the space.

If you want to hold meetings in your home office then it would be best if the garage conversion had a separate door so that work/business people don’t need to go through your personal space. You will need to think about access to a toilet and a tea/coffee making facility too if independence from the main house is your goal.

2. Convert your garage into a hobby room

Having a hobby room in the house comes with its own advantages; it could save on gym subscription fees if you are into fitness or you could learn a new hobby at home instead of going out to a class for example.

A dedicated hobby room would keep the rest of the house clutter free as well.

Here are a few hobby-related activities people use a garage conversion for:

• Cinema or home theatre
• Gym
• Gaming area
• Library
• Art and craft room

3. Build a utility room out of your garage

A garage conversion is also perfect for pet owners. It could be the ideal spot to house all the paraphernalia attached with owning cats and dogs. The garage could also make a perfect laundry or ironing area. Utility rooms aren’t meant for specific purposes as they tend to act as secondary spaces for just about anything you haven’t got room for in the house.

4. Convert the garage into a visitor’s room

Have you thought about making the garage into a room for visitors or perhaps as an extra bedroom for a family member? You might even be able to divide up the space to add a washroom and small seating area. We have even know people use this idea and hire it out on Airbnb.

5. Build a playroom for the kids

If you don’t have a spare room in the house to use as a dedicated playroom then re-modelling the garage for this purpose is a great solution. Imagine the children, and all their toys, safely keeping themselves amused while you get on with something else. The more interesting the playroom is the more likely the children will want to stay there. Of course, you will need to make sure that the converted garage is a suitable space for unsupervised children.

That’s just a few ideas to get you going as we said, there are many more. You could even knock down the garage and build a completely new living space on it’s footprint.

The most popular garage conversions are to an office, playroom or utility room – but don’t let that stop you coming up with something even more inspiring or useful.