Garage Makeover Reveal With Care

It's finally here, the day I get to share our garage makeover reveal with you. This project took a lot longer than we anticipated due to delays with materials and summer plans, but in the end it has all come together beautifully. Check out this before and after to see a truly amazing transformation. 

Some things I learned doing this reno:

1. Renos ALWAYS take longer than anticipated. Even small projects have delays, so you just have to roll with it. I try to remind myself that we are incredibly fortunate to have a place to renovate, and the means to do so. 

2. Making reno choices is really hard. Who knew? As someone who hasn't done much of this stuff I found it really tough. There are so many choices for finishes, colours, textures...plus the budget! I was so happy to be able to bounce ideas off of our friend Krista of KMSalter Design & Diana at The Garage Door Depot. I now know why people hire designers, especially on big projects. Thanks ladies!

Here is my original inspiration from earlier this spring:

Looking out on our backyard now brings me the biggest smile. The garage turned out better than I ever could have imagined.

Not only is the garage beautiful and totally changes the look of our yard, but the garage door actually works! Like really really works. It's almost effortless to open and close, which makes it way easier to clean up the kids toys and bikes at the end of a long day. I know I sound like a nerd, but I love this door. I was so impressed by The Garage Door Depot's customer service from start to finish. The way they helped me design, measure and tailor the door to suit our needs was amazing.

Originally I was thinking of a pretty basic door, but after looking at the options and chatting with Diana I decided on a gorgeous carriage style door (Acadia North Hatley by Garaga). I figured it's an investment and something we will be looking at for a long time (comes with a limited lifetime warranty after all), so we should go with one that we love. I'm obsessed with all the little details on this door. The windows, iron handles and hinges give it such a classic look. Plus I love that it's Canadian made.

I usually enjoy a good DIY, but our new garage door was one thing I definitely wanted professionally installed. There is something about a large piece of metal suspended from the ceiling that makes me vote for a pro. The installers with Garage Door Depot were incredibly knowledgeable and worked efficiently to get our door installed and ready to use.  Plus they cleaned up the area before leaving. I know that sounds silly, but as a busy mama who is always cleaning up after someone, I aways appreciate when in-home service providers leave the space as they found it. *If you're in need of a new garage door mention With Care for 10% off Insulated Garage Doors with The Garage Door Depot Toronto

We debated simply painting the metal siding on the garage, but after learning how much work was involved for a short term fix, we decided to change up the siding and go for something eco-friendly and local. We chose Canadian-made stained wood siding from Maibec. We eventually want to refinish our screened in porch at the front of our house to match and wanted the classic look of wood, without all the the upkeep. This stuff is warranted for rot for 50 years, and the stains are warrantied for anywhere from 8-15 years depending on what you choose. I absolutely love this natural tone charcoal grey that we picked to compliment the existing brick facade of our home.

Please note that we installed the siding ourselves because of our budget, and because we're those kind of people ; ), but if it's in your budget, I would always recommend hiring someone for large jobs like this. Especially with kids under foot. If you are someone who likes a challenge, is handy, has the right tools, a little help, and some extra time, it's doable (make sure you choose the em+ installation system if you're going DIY and read through the whole installation guide so you can plan your project). We hope to do the front of our house next year (ahh it would look gorgeous!), so maybe I'll write out a little DIY guide if we do.  

For now I'm just excited to enjoy time in our backyard and smile at this beauty of a garage...and maybe start dreaming up ways to make the inside prettier and more functional. I can already hear Brian (my partner) rolling his eyes from here ; )

If you're planning a garage makeover don't hesitate to get in touch, or check out some of the amazing products and services I used below. 

Care

In this Post:

Garage Door Depot Toronto (Mention With Care for 10% off Insulated Doors): Acadia North Hatley Garage Door by Garaga     |     Maibec: Coastal Charcoal URBAHN Brushed Wood Siding in Rabbeted Bevel     |     Plant World: Hay Bail, Planters, Pumpkins + Wreath     |     Wayfair: Goosneck Light Fixtures

*This is a sponsored post which means I was provided compensation and/or product for this post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own. I only partner with products and services that I genuinely love and want to recommend. 

Garage Makeover Inspiration + GIVEAWAY! Enter to WIN a "Smart Garage Door System" with Garaga

When we were looking to buy a home in Toronto we never thought we would get lucky enough to have a garage, let alone the big 2 car garage we managed to snag. The only issue was that it was a bit of an eyesore with peeling paint, old sharp metal siding and an ugly broken garage door that faces directly into our yard. Fixing up the garage has been on our wish list for the last 4 years, and finally this year we decided to do it. We love our gardens so much, and want to enjoy our beautiful backyard with a fresh backdrop. 

I've been gathering inspiration for our makeover on Pinterest, but it's been tough. I love a combination of old and new, and was originally thinking of going with a sleek contemporary look. After playing around with the options on Garaga's Design Centre I realized that I wanted to go with more of a country rustic vibe. I absoloutely love that you can add your own photo to their online designer to get a realistic sense of what it will look like. For someone like me who isn't as visual, this was a huge help.

Here's the super rough mockup of what we're thinking (I'm definitely not a photoshop expert, but it gives a good idea of the fresh look I'm going for). I'm still debating if we should add windows in the top panels of the door. Any thoughts? I'm also still deciding on what siding to use. I have some beautiful wood siding samples on the way from from Maibec to check out. 

I will be adding a new light fixture and some type of planter for the wall where the window used to be. I'm also debating painting the regular door black or keeping it white. Comment with your vote! Here's some of my inspiration. You can see more on Pinterest. 

If you have a garage that could use a little pick me up, check out this AMAZING Giveaway Garaga is hosting. You could Win the Garage Door of your dreams plus a Smart Garage System. AKA a garage door you can control from your smart phone! Genius for people like me who always question whether you actually closed the garage. The contest ends June 28th, so don't wait! See Garaga for full contest details. Enter by simply clicking here and following through to design your dream garage door and fill out your information. 

Huge thanks to Diana and the rest of the team at The Garage Door Depot (Local Toronto company who will be installing our new door) for all of your help narrowing down the choices and figuring out what we need.

Stay tuned for our Garage Makeover Reveal this summer and don't forget to Enter Garaga's Smart Garage Giveaway!

Care

*This is a sponsored post which means I was provided compensation and/or product for this post. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.