Garage owners usually fall into one of three categories: those who fill every square inch with things they don’t need, those who keep their garage obsessively clean and organized, and those who start businesses in them.
The third type is more important than the other two types, especially when it comes to making money. Those are the people who have figured out that a garage is a viable option for a home office.
But unless you enjoy sitting at your desk in the winter with your teeth chattering, or you like sweating like a marathon runner in the summer, you’ll have to make a few adjustments to convert your garage into a home office.
- Make sure you have enough electricity. A licensed electrician can install extra outlets. If you live in an older home, the outlets will need to be grounded.
- You’ll need Internet access. If your house has wireless access, you’ll be fine.
- Add a business line or use your cell phone. If you know that you’ll spend most of your time away from your home office, consider using your cell phone as your business line. Unless someone in your family is involved with your business, make sure you’re the only one who answers your phone when clients call.
- Install adequate heating and air conditioning. A simple solution is to run off your existing system if it has enough capacity. Check with a local heating/air conditioning contractor if you’re not sure. Another option is to install a common form of HVAC called ptac (packaged terminal air conditioners) that you see in hotels and in small areas. A window unit is a last resort, but it’s noisy and not very attractive.
- Make sure there is enough lighting. You can always supplement ceiling lights with floor and desk lamps.
- Install carpeting, use area rugs or paint the floor. Even if you paint the floor, you’ll still need something on the floor to absorb sound. An area rug, or if looks don’t matter, carpet you have left over from when you carpeted your home, would work.
- If you have separate garage doors and you’re going to use only half of the garage, disable the side with your office so papers don’t fly everywhere. You may even consider adding an exterior door to go in and out of your garage without having to open the overhead doors.
Of course, you can always do a major remodeling project, replace your garage doors with large windows and do away with your garage completely. But keep resale in mind. Down the road will someone be interested in buying your home if there’s no garage?
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