Garage Conversion Reveal: Living Room, Laundry Room, Home Office, and Storage at Martha’s House
/My friend Martha had a vision for this garage conversion: to turn her unfinished catch-all garage into a beautiful, hard-working space that could function as a living room, media room, playroom, laundry room, home office, and storage zone. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t entirely convinced all of that could fit. But somehow, it absolutely does — and it turned out even better than I imagined.
This post is in partnership with iCabinetry who I was excited to work with again after such a great experience working with them on my friend’s kitchen project. Their cabinetry selection is unparalleled (they even have inset)! The quality is top notch, they arrive pre-assembled, and you get a pro kitchen designer included. The process is truly hassle free! Their focus is in kitchens, but as you’ll see below, their cabinetry transforms any space. As always, all words and opinions are my own. (When you reach out, mention GOLD35 for 35% off your new cabinets!)
Be sure to drag the arrows in the center of these photos to swipe between the before and after photos!
(If you aren’t seeing both the before and after images in your blog reader, click through to the web version of the post.)
I was pregnant and then early postpartum while this project came together, so I didn’t get to see much of the renovation happen in real time. In many ways, I got the reveal right along with you — and it was such a fun one.
Martha and Danny’s garage was never used for parking cars. It had long been doing double duty as storage and laundry, but not especially well. It was one of those spaces that held a lot, but didn’t really support how they wanted to live.
And that’s what made this garage conversion so fun: the goal wasn’t just to make it prettier. It was to make it work.
Here’s what they wanted the space to do:
Play!
Martha and Danny have a great relationship with their neighbors - kids play in the driveways daily, and families gather outside for a scheduled weekly hang out. It’s what neighborhood dreams are made of! They wanted the garage footprint to improve the play - providing an additional space to gather and store all of the play-things conveniently.
goal: storage for board games and toys, a projector/tv, various seating, a drink fridge, a kids art station, and access to outdoor toys
Work!
They needed a home office (they both work from home). The space didn’t need to be giant, it just needed to be a dedicated place to focus and take calls without interrupting the rest of the house.
goal: a desk with some file storage, and a door for quiet work phone calls
Store!
With their major home renovations mostly behind them, they were ready to retire a lot of the DIY tools and make room for the things that actually need storing now: bulk paper goods, cat food, seasonal décor, gym gear, and all the not-pretty but very-real stuff of life.
goal: closed storage, a solution for all the bikes, and room for gym equipment
Wash!
Their laundry setup needed to work smarter too.
goal: stack the washer and dryer, hide cleaning supplies, upgrade the sink, enclose the area.
When Martha first explained that she wanted all of this to fit in the garage, I remember saying, “Oh… so you want to add on?” But she was confident we could make it work within the existing footprint. I had my doubts, but I also love a design challenge, and she was right.
Their garage is a pretty typical two-car garage for our area. It opens up into a driveway, has access to their side yard, and a door into their kitchen. You can see a video of the space here (or below).
Disclaimer: Building codes and garage conversion rules vary by region, so definitely research what applies where you live. This project has plenty of egress, includes no bedrooms, and the family is not parking cars inside.
Check out the evolution of the project renovation here (or below):
Here’s how we made their wishlist fit into the same footprint:
Laundry/Office
We added two walls to enclose one corner of the garage, creating a dedicated laundry room and home office. A new window above the desk overlooks the garden and makes the little room feel surprisingly lovely. One of the walls includes a pocket door, so the office can be closed off for calls and focused work.
iCabinetry cabinets support the new sink and conceal the laundry and cleaning supplies which instantly makes the room feel less distracting when also trying to work in there. Martha chose iCabinetry’s Value Semi Custom line in the color Retreat, paired with these cabinet cabinet pulls. Sources for everything are listed at the bottom of the post!
On the opposite side of the room, there’s additional storage behind soft-close drawers, plus a drink fridge. iCabinetry cabinets arrived pre-assembled, with doors and drawers already installed and adjusted before shipping. The contractor who converted the garage was able to install them way faster than a flat-pack cabinet box nor was slowed down waiting custom cabinet maker. Even a confident DIYer could follow the installation guide with great success!
This corner of the garage is only 10.5' x 7.5', but it now works so much harder than it ever did before.
Kids Craft Area
Outside the door to the office and laundry room is a wok zone for the kiddos. The kids drawing table and rolling cart provide little ones room to get creative - and the magnetic paint (under a layer of white wall paint) lets the artists hang their pieces with magnets easily.
Living Room Storage + Bookcase Wall
On the other side of the new wall, we added a bookcase for their growing collection of books and treasures. Below the open shelving is closed storage for board games, toys, and play gear. These bookcases and cabinets are also from iCabinetry, this time in a Maple finish from the same Value Semi Custom line.
One of the biggest benefits of working with iCabinetry on a project like this is the design support. We could start with a loose idea — like “can we make this wall feel like custom built-in furniture?” — and their designer turned that into a detailed plan with just the right cabinet sizes, shelf proportions, fillers, toe kicks, and all the little technical pieces that make the end result feel thoughtful and polished. That’s really where semi-custom cabinetry shines. It gives you more flexibility than stock, without the leap to fully custom, so you can make a space feel tailored to your home and your needs.
The lower cabinets wrap around the corner for even more toy storage, while a new window above them floods the room with light and helps the whole space read as a living room rather than a garage. And when they want movie night, a screen pulls down over the window, the ceiling-mounted projector turns on, and the room transforms into a little theater. It really is one of those spaces that just keeps surprising you - what can’t it do?!
The L-shaped bookcases surrounded by a couch and chairs create a perfect cozy living room - I think it’s bigger than my own living room! For curious minds, the bookcase wall is 7.5’ and the wall with the window is 13’.
Gear Storage
Martha traded open shelving and plastic bins for iCabinetry’s semi-custom cabinets in Retreat. After editing down what they no longer needed, they organized their bulk storage and recreation gear into three 36" wide cabinets.
The closed storage keeps the space looking tidier, but this is still real life - not everything needs to fit in a built-in cabinet! We left room around The new cabinets for tool boxes, the EV car charger, a ceiling-mounted bike rack, rolling toys, and a spot for bulky suitcases on top.
Another reason cabinetry was such a good solution in this garage conversion is that it can evolve with the family. iCabinetry offers lots of configurable storage options, but Martha intentionally kept the interiors simple with adjustable shelving so the storage can shift over time as their needs change. That felt especially fitting for a family space like this, because you know it’s going to keep growing and changing right along with them.
This project is such a good reminder that cabinetry isn’t just for kitchens. In a garage conversion like this, it becomes the backbone of the whole room — hiding clutter, adding warmth, creating function, and helping a former garage feel like a true extension of the home.
Sources:
Cabinets: Value semi custom generic line in the maple finish and Retreat painted finish from iCabinetry (mention GOLD35 for 35% off your new cabinets!)
Bike rack (the E-bike is now outside under a cover)
Lounge chairs and covers
Couch design has been retired but this is similar
Projector and screen
Countertop in office and laundry: Alabaster lbc large black scored at the quarterly seconds sales in Oceanside
Standing Desk - FB marketplace
All art is thrifted except the Connect Four print
Rugs are from FB marketplace
They added two deck boxes to their side yard to hold paint and outdoor stuff like beach chairs and umbrellas
