The COVID pandemic has made many of us leave our offices and start working from home. For some people, this is a great opportunity to cut back on commute times, spend more time with their families, and overall live healthier and less stressful lives. But others have had less positive experiencing. Working from home can be difficult; focusing is harder and the division between work and private life erodes. Luckily, there is a solution to this: you can build yourself a home office! The best part is that you don’t even need to sacrifice any space in your home. With garage conversions Los Angeles, you can transform your garage into an office instead. That way, you’ll have the space to do your work and you won’t even need to give up that spare bedroom.
Why transform your garage into an office in the first place?
A garage already has a purpose – it’s there to house your car while you’re not driving it. So why bother hiring an ADU contractor Los Angeles to turn it into something else? The answer is twofold. First, let’s look at the benefits of having a home office in the garage. You’ve certainly learned during this pandemic that working from home isn’t as easy as it seems. Focusing is much harder and the line between the professional and personal blurs. Having a home office would help with that. Furthermore, having a home office outside of the home itself would help separate work from family and even save space inside the home. But what about your car? That brings us to the second part of the answer.
If you have a big enough garage, you can easily divide the space and have it serve two purposes– as both your office and your garage. If you don’t have enough room in the garage for both, however, you can find other solutions for your car. Parking in the driveway, for example, is an option in many LA neighborhoods because the weather is not an issue. Thus the downsides can be avoided or mitigated. So why wouldn’t you set up a home office in your garage?
Transform your garage into an office with these 6 steps
If you’ve decided to turn your garage into a home office, you’ll have some work to do. Garages are not necessarily difficult to convert because they typically come with a lot of open space that’s easy to work with. However, they’re also not meant to be used for work. So some changes will definitely be necessary. Here’s what you will need to do:
1. Clear out the space
Before you can transform your garage, you need to make it a blank canvas that general contractors West Los Angeles can work with. So start by emptying it out. You’ll need to park your car somewhere else. Then, you’ll also need to take out anything you’re storing in the garage such as your tools, car paraphernalia, and other things you don’t use much. Finally, if you’ve put up any shelves, cupboards, or other types of furnishings, you’ll need to decide what to do with it – keep it and just upgrade it for your office or take it down and start fresh.
2. Take a good look at what you’re working with
Once the garage is empty, you’ll have a better idea of what you’re really working with. This is a good time to take measurements. You’ll need to figure out if there’s room for your car and office. If so, you’ll need to decide on how to divide the space. Next, you’ll need to look at where any potential windows are so you can place your office near natural light. Then, you should take note of any outlets – you’ll need electricity for your office. This will all help you decide on where exactly to set up your office and how to organize it. It will also make clear what exactly you need to do to make this project work.
3. Make sure the installations are working
At the very least, you’ll need electricity and wifi for an office. You may also want running water and some type of heat that doesn’t run on electricity. Some garages will have these utilities already installed through the home. If yours does, make sure everything is working properly. If it doesn’t, however, you’ll need to install the utilities in your garage before moving forward.
4. Make it more comfortable
You’ll be spending a lot of time in your office so it’s important to make the space comfortable. For that, you’ll need insulation and heating to regulate the temperature. Then, you’ll also want to figure out the flooring – most garages have a concrete floor which isn’t conducive to moving office furniture or walking on comfortably. Invest in laminating the floors or cover them with rugs.
Finally, you want to look at the entrance to the garage. If you’re no longer parking your car, you can replace the garage door with a regular one. Otherwise, you can install a regular door on the side so you don’t always have to open the garage door to get in. Depending on the current state of your garage, all this may require a lot of work. But with the help of general contractors Los Angeles, it won’t be too hard.
5. Set up the lighting
You’ll need good light to do work, especially if you’re writing things by hand. Unfortunately, garages are not exactly famous for having good lighting. With few if any windows and little artificial light, they’re not ideal for desk work. You’ll need to rectify this if you want to set up an office. You can add a window to the garage in your office area to get some natural light. But you will also need to install plenty of good overhead lighting and invest in a good desk lamp.
6. Furnish and decorate
Finally, your last step will be to actually design and set up your workspace. You’ll need to repaint the area first. Use light but stimulating colors and add accents to make the space more interesting. Then, you’ll want to put in office-grade furniture: a desk and a chair to begin with. Finally, you’ll want to liven up the place with some decorations. Remember that this is supposed to be a place where you’re doing work so design for productivity to achieve the best possible results.
In order to successfully transform your garage into an office, you’ll need to think practically
When you decide to transform your garage into an office, it’s crucial to plan the space with its use in mind. An office is where you need to be productive so the way you set it up should be conducive to getting work done. If you can’t get electricity or internet in your garage, for example, then there’s no point in planning further. Instead, you should contact professional contractors who can help set this all up for you.