If you are doing up your garage at home, but want to make sure it is environmentally friendly and cost-effective then why not consider using reclaimed materials to help get it into shape. You can scour reclaim yards, flea markets and other secondhand shops for items to upcycle and recycle to give your garage a whole new lease of life.
1. Storage
Garages always need storage units so why not pick up some old shelf units or wardrobes from a second hand or charity furniture shop and use them to store all of the tools and bits and pieces which currently cover your garage floor. Recycle old coat hooks to create useful hooks to hang things like lawnmowers and bicycles from the wall in the garage, as a real storage space saver. Small drawers used for bathrooms or even old jewellery boxes, can be reclaimed as storage for screws, nails and other smaller DIY items in the garage.
2. Wooden flooring
Use reclaimed wood to build a new floor for the garage if it is currently concrete and you want to decorate it to use as a bedroom, office space or craft room. Using recycled wooden flooring will give the garage a whole new look without costing the earth.
3. Old reclaimed doors
If you are adding an internal door from the garage into the house, making it more friendly, or even a door from the garage out to the back garden, then look for old doors from a reclaim centre, rather than buying brand new. You are bound to get a bargain, and old doors can be more heavy and solid, aiding your security and energy bills.
4. Make your own work areas
Reclaimed wood, including wooden floorboards or other large planks of wood, can also be used to create new workbench areas or worktops for your garage. If you are looking to make a craft table or work areas around the side of the garage, then use reclaimed wood to build your own. That way you can convert your garage into a handy space without spending a fortune on new worktops or furniture.
5. Reuse unwanted furniture
If you have old chairs and small tables lying around, taking up space, then you can recycle them to create useful spaces in the garage, to sit at and work, or do a craft, or whatever it is you are using the garage for. Pick up second-hand furniture like desks and drawers at flea markets to furnish your garage to become a useful room.
6. Recycle old fabrics
If you’ve recently changed curtains then why not make your garage more homely, if it has a window, by recycling the old curtains and hanging them in the garage to create a more comfortable feel, mainly if it’s now going to be a well-used office or craft room. You could also add to the comfort by using carpet cut-offs as rugs or mats to wipe your feet as you enter the garage. Update old chairs with new covers, to give the garage a brighter feel and make the most of it as a useful additional room in the house.
Whether you reclaim an entire wooden floor, or just recycle some old storage hooks and curtain fabric, you can decorate your garage and turn it into a useful part of the house again, using reclaimed and recycled materials throughout.
Giving old storage units and wardrobes a new lease of life as a garage shelving unit, or creating new worktops and work tables using reclaimed wood are just a couple of ways you can be creative and recycle old materials to create new and useful features for your garage area.