How to turn your garage into a home office?

Life is pretty odd right now as we are in our fifth week of lockdown. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves let’s try and make the best of the situation! If you are having to work from home: how about making a home office – turn your garage into a working space and save yourself from the noise and anxieties from the house that may interfere with your work. It doesn’t have to be expensive, have a look at our ideas and extend the living area of your home and turn unused spaces into an efficient workspace.

Undoubtedly, transforming the garage into a home office is a task that requires the right planning, ingenuity and creativity. The good thing about converting a garage is that, when you are not using it for work, your new home office can be very useful as an informal hangout or homework space for the kids. Since you’re not adding a room to your home, you won’t have to worry about getting permits from your local authority, so we can get started with ideas for your brand new work space right away.

What are the basics when converting a garage to an office?

What if we tell you that you could have a chic, isolated home office which will feel both workable and personal?  First step, you must make sure that your garage is actually usable as a space for more permanent living. Here are some things to check for yourself before starting a conversion project where you can get our professional help. Check your flooring - it is probably concrete so you need to consider what sort of flooring you would like. What are the walls like? You will need insulation. If your garage has a regular door, you can give it a quick coat of paint for a more professional look and to welcome your clients.

Garages are commonly full of broken bikes and off-season decorations, you'll need to find a new home for these items if you are to have a suitable space to work in - you don’t want to be distracted by all that clutter. If you’re one of the few who has windows in his or her garage, consider yourself lucky! Every workspace requires clear and bright light. Make sure you get a qualified electrician to install decent lighting - we can help you with that. Another way to add light to your garage is, of course, installing windows or replacing the old garage door with translucent glass panels or sliding glass doors, which would certainly provide you with great natural light, but of course this will make the project a little more complicated and expensive. However, this new space will be part of your home until you decide to move so think long term. Installing windows and replacing doors in your new home office would undoubtedly prove to be an investment for the future and it would certainly add value to your property. Since garages are not designed to be a living space, you have to bear in mind that this new space will be in use all year round so you’ll need to think about heating and cooling. In the long-term, you can invest in wiring your home to ensure that the garage’s temperature will match the rest of your home.

Which style should you choose for your new home office?

Well, first of all what will you be doing in there? Will you need a desk? A treatment table? Sound proof studio? Get the basic furniture required for your type of work, don't forget about storage! The fun begins when you can personalise your space to suit your style.

Do you need planning permission?

Since this work is internal and doesn’t involve enlarging the building, planning permission shouldn’t be required.

However, sometimes permitted development rights have been removed by a condition that may prevent a garage from being converted without planning permission and that is often the case if your property is located in a housing estate. The other requirement could be the garage remaining as a parking space.

In these cases you’ll need to apply for permission to vary or remove the condition and, if this happens, you can contact us and we will submit all documents for you or explain to you what you need to do.

How much does a garage conversion cost?

Since your office-to-be space already has solid walls and foundations, and also power and plumbing, a project like this will cost you significantly less than a home extension. Still, expect to pay between £5,000 for a typical single garage conversion; that's around £1,000 to £1,250 per square metre. Design costs will be additional and will vary from £1,200 to £2,500, plus £300 to £400 for a structural engineer. You should also include planning permission fees just in case, applying for full planning permission costs £172 and party wall agreement fees are approximately £700 to £1,000, but you’ll have to check everything with your local authorities.

One last thing…. if the original structure is unsound, knocking the original garage down and building from scratch might be cheaper!

Feel free to contact us by email: support@staac.co.uk or call us on our freephone: 0808 1699964 for any additional information. We look forward to working with you and hope to help you realise your dreams and ideas!

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