Garage Reveal - Finally!

Like my beach cruiser? I love that bike. I also like our new wall clock in the garage. No excuses for not being in
on time for dinner, ball games/practice, or bedtime anymore (he, he! Aren't I a stinker?! Pretty and practical!)

Forgive me, dear readers (OMG! I sound like Dear, Abby!). I've taken some much needed time to collect my thoughts and take a family vacation, so I've been absent for some time from the blogging world. Life has been VERY full over the last year and I just had to step back for a while to regain some direction and do a little soul searching. Ever been there? So many things have happened, both good and bad that I began to feel like I had lost my focus. I just needed to take some time to figure out what the next step is. I'm still not really sure and most recent news of my other grandmother's diagnosis of early Alzheimer's hasn't helped, but I do feel much more gathered after some time off. We took a wonderful, much-needed-by-everyone, family vaction to Sanibel Island, FL last week. It was so nice to just lounge by the pool and  on the beach! I'll be sharing photos soon:)

In the meantime, I FINALLY got around to getting some after shots of our garage that has been mostly completed for a few weeks now. There are still a few finishing touches to do yet, but for the most part it's  finished. Ready? No laughing at the befores, which I'll start with a few of! I'm showing just how bad it really was so you can truly appreciate the redo:

Forgive the fuzziness. Unfortunately, I can't retake these! See how horrible the baseboards looked in here?! 

Gross! The walls had never really been painted (just spray primed when built)
and the baseboard were disgusting and peeling). 

This is why I painted the doors black. See all the nastiness little hands leave? It's hidden much better by oil-based glossy black and is about as scrubbable as you can get. Not to mention it just looks way better. 

This floor was driving me batty! Hubby painted it Gull Gray, which is a gorgeous color if no one lives on it.
Around this part of the country with red mud, it showed every speck of dirt and tire prints like bright white. Yuck!

We even inherited holes in the front wall where the previous owners had apparently driven or backed into it!
These weren't even the worst. I found literal holes all the way through
behind the shelving and had to put my patching skills to use.

GROSS! I hate bugs and this was the constant behind the blinds. I pulled those suckers out and pressure washed them, removing everything from dirt dobber nests to spiders. Makes my skin crawl looking at all those little critters!

I tested ever color I had on hand before finally just dumping all the white and creams
into one five gallon bucket to get the final color on the walls. 

Now, a little improvement and one of my favorite things... my newly painted glossy black doors!

My new glossy black doors, magnetic house number, thrift store coat rack,
entry table with sunscreen/bug spray bucket (a.k.a shelving), door mat
and hardwood hand rail courtesy of Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

All my shelving is currently covered with vinyl table cloths and work as entry tables of a sort.
I still plan to find a better way to cover and store items so that they are out of sight,
but for now this will suffice.

I was determined to put up a wall clock the "men" could see so I no longer had to come tell them it was time to come in. Instead, now I can just give them a time to be in:)

Many trips were made to Goodwill, boards painted and installed in studs, hooks hung and items organized. By it all being on the front wall, no one sees it unless they literally come into the garage.
The door can be left open and no one driving by can see all our toys and tools.

Don't you like my newly painted floors? I am proud to say that when this picture was taken, a car had been parked in and out numerous times. Other than sweeping I did no cleaning for this picture and
it shows little evidence of black tires, unlike the before shot.

I am really proud of my planters this year. they have gone gang-busters and look so healthy for mid summer!

There you go. There's a few more things to show you on the outside, but the weather hasn't cooperated and I wasn't willing to wait longer to post the inside pictures. The outside before and after will just have to wait until I can get a good sunny shot.

See, I really have been working on a garage for ... um... a while. But it was worth it. I'm no longer embarrassed by my totally untouched, cluttered and filthy garage that EVERYONE uses as the main entrance to our home. Instead, I'm proud to say it now looks presentable and sets a good impression... like any good FRONT door should:)