5 Affordable Luxuries for a Hard-Working Garage
Just having some time alone in the garage is a luxury for most of us, so building our dream shop with all the bells and whistles often stays a dream as we focus on simply enjoying what we have. Just because we can’t have 2000 square feet, a mill, a lathe, and a lift does not mean we should ignore little touches of luxury that make our projects more enjoyable—or, at least, more tolerable.
A luxury does not have to be a big-ticket item, merely something that makes you look forward to your time in the garage or that makes your projects run a little smoother. With that goal in mind, here are five affordable upgrades for just about any space.
Affordable Luxury #1: Good Lights
Lighting technology has come a long way in recent history. Compact and efficient LED work lights are easy to hang, run tens of thousands of hours with little maintenance, and sometimes can even be put on a dimmer. That last feature may seem a little absurd, but I don’t particularly enjoy how surgical my garage can feel when I want to just hang out with friends.
Hardwired, battery-operated, or plug-in, lights are great options that can fit anyone’s needs at almost every price range. Consider lighting an investment. It might feel like a decent chunk of change now, but most lights will last years, and they will make working on just about anything more enjoyable.
Affordable Luxury #2: A Decent Stereo
The jury has been split 50/50 here whenever I bring up having a television in the garage, but it’s pretty much universally agreed that a good stereo is a must-have. While the Panasonic boombox purchased with Pepsi points in 1996 might still be cranking out the tunes, if you care about sound quality at all, a good set of speakers and a decent amplifier are very affordable, and they allow you to advantage of any music format you might prefer.
Obviously, no one would want to keep records where they use an angle grinder, but not every garage is focused on fabrication. After I splurged for in-ceiling speakers and a tidy wall-mounted amplifier, it became so much easier to listen to music, and the sound doesn’t change much no matter where I am in the space—and my setup cost about $200. Do what works for you, and make it sound good.
Affordable Luxury #3: Sturdy Shelves
Even the most minimal workspace must include storage. The prices of sturdy, strong, and decent-looking shelving are budget-level when you consider that it takes a lot to wear out shelves. Similar to the lighting above, good shelving is a buy once, cry once decision. Adjustable shelving can be had for just a couple hundred dollars, perfectly suited for the projects and parts you store currently. It can even leave you room to grow or change the space in the future. For the same price, you can also buy materials and build custom shelves for your space.
Affordable Luxury #4: Reels
If your garage is bigger than a closet, the addition of extension cords or air hoses is less about convenience and more about necessity: Overhead or wall-mounted, retractable reels make it easy to keep tripping hazards to a minimum. These have gotten budget-friendly as of late—just be sure the wire gauge is appropriate for your use.
Some of the low-end, cheap electrical reels can be 14-gauge or smaller, while most heavy-duty plug-in power tools are best served by 12-gauge. Roll out the length of hose or cord semi-regularly to inspect for imperfections or damage. Cables and hoses that live on the floor pick up debris and, if those bits are rolled into a reel, they become grinding compounds that can damage cords over time.
Affordable Luxury #5: Rugs
Okay, maybe not a rug. We couldn’t imagine a garage with wall-to-wall carpet, but something that people can wipe their feet on, or a standing mat at your workbench are little things that go a long way to make a workspace feel less industrial and more like a place you enjoy being in. Use them to inject a little personality into your space, if you want: Novelty door mats can say just about anything, so we won’t give you any ideas.
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I would add a good compressor and a media blaster cabinet.
Even a cheapo small pancake compressor is OK for blowing things off, or inflating tires. I have even used a detail sprayer for small jobs with one.
Insulation on the garage doors. Somewhere, long ago, I saw a full size blanket type of insulation that would be attached to the doors and still allow them to open and close without a problem.
I put rigid 1-1/2” styrofoam panels on my garage doors. Had the fiberglass blankets on last house, and was a messy, ugly eyesore. The styrofoam is practically weightless and looks like it belongs there.
I had westward-facing metal doors in Houston. Putting the foam panels in the sections mad a big difference. I was surprised.
I feel your pain, fellas, heating and AC systems, tools, lights, stereos, lifts, so many thousands of dollars spent on stuff to effectively do maintenance and repairs on old cars. I did one important upgrade to my garage, I had 240-volt power installed so I can plug in my EV that I won’t have to do anything to ever–EVER…
But, you’ll say washer fluid, tires, brakes — that’s about it — as often as it needs, the shop can do this.
You see, I got real tired of the battles with 1937 Buicks, 1994 Toyota Pickups, 2000 Land Cruiser, 2002 MB C230K which all spent some time in that now nice and empty garage. Someone else is now fighting those battles with those cars and I have time for lots of other things. I know some of you like to fight those battles and I have much respect for you but believe me, there will come a day when “you’re done”.
Oh, my electric bill is about $85 per month — in NY — but I’m retired and no longer drive 100+ miles per day commuting. One fill-up in that damn Land Cruiser would be $85-100 depending on the price of premium. I still have that one so if anyone wants an archaic gas guzzler let me know. I must say it is one of the best vehicles I have ever owned. The reality is, I probably spent about $40,000-$50,000 in gas in its 150,000 mile life time.
Like Ferris Bueller said ” It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.” And then spend less time in that damn garage. That will be me, waving as I pass by the gas station.
Example of my disconnect from this story: Concrete floor
Been there, I feel for you!
Shop Cat
Climate control. I built a wall mount for my dual hose 14,000btu portable A/C unit vented outdoors through the wall.
3 electric oil-filled radiators provide heat keeping it a few degrees above freezing in the winter.
Last thing is a portable dehumidifier that helps keep the air around 35% humidity for my cars and tools.
Comfort is king!
WiFi and a well stocked minifridge.
Full disclosure; I’m a weirdo. That established I never listen to music when I’m working in the garage. I didn’t really think about it until I was helping a guy with an engine swap and he asked what music I liked. “None, you pick” was my answer. When I do have audio in the shop I’m listening to lectures, podcasts, or sermons. I said I was weird already.
Rush used to keep me entertained in my garage. Now local AM talk radio has an afternoon lineup that includes a guy who was his call screener back in the day … but I’ve also become reacquainted with tunes from my classic 60s rock, via Alexa. 🤣
Very timely that you posted this, Kyle. Today marks the one-year “anniversary” of my tripping on an extension cord in the garage, going down HARD, and breaking my right hip. I just don’t bounce off concrete floors the way I did in my 20’s!
My son immediately bought me a ceiling-mounted cord reel, and I am eternally grateful.
WATCH THOSE CORDS!
I lived in Michigan and instead of paying to winter store my Corvettes I bought a 4-post lift for my garage. Best investment I ever made! Now I live in NC and have a lift in my garage even though I drive my Corvettes all year. Makes it easy to work on your cars, provides extra storage capacity, and doesn’t really cost that much for all the extra convenience, especially if you plan to stay for awhile. Highly recommended.
Love the classic Radio Shack speakers! When we downsized our home a few years ago, I worked hard to replicate my garage shop. Checked off 4 of these 5 (+ wi-fi). Since we didn’t have this house prewired for stereo, I depend on Alexa to provide the garage tunes. 🫤
My retirement project was a 1200 sqft garage with a 6″ heated concrete floor. Extremely well insulated – it costs $300/year to heat electrically in eastern Ontario. I bought used industrial shelving for one wall. Cheap, solid, ugly and put pool noodles on the shelves at car door height. Lots of LED lights on the ceiling. A piece of bowling alley for a workbench. Wifi, Alexa, fridge. Still need to get a lift.
For those of us in northern climes, a heater is a real luxury in the winter months. I have a sealed combustion, direct vent unit that meets building code for garage use. I only run it when I am working in the garage. It is also very handy when doing regular maintenance on the daily driver.
REALLY good point, especially for floor level heaters! The natural gas fired heater that I had for many years had an inlet (combustion) air duct concentric with the through-the-wall flue duct. Therefore no danger of igniting errant gasoline or parts cleaner fumes that might have collected on the floor.
I put large pieces of cardboard (mostly new TV boxes that I find people put out on recycling day) all over the garage floor. They are softer than concrete to walk on, things make a “POCK” when they fall and that helps me find stuff, they are warm but not hot to lie on under the car, they absorb oil drips pretty well, and when they get grimy they get recycled and I put down another one. And they are free.
For entertainment I’ve learned to use retired stereo components and the recordings I already have. I’ve got boxes of cassettes that sound kind of crappy but good enough and more CD’s than cassettes. And an old but still solid FM radio. There’s a jazz station and a classical station and I can always plug a connector between the earphone jack of an old cell phone that still can stream stuff through wifi and the AUX input of the radio.
Our weather is mild all year so there’s no need for climate control.
I second the cardboard trick, and I agree with all your reasons. TV, refrigerator/freezer, outdoor grill boxes are perfectly sized for fitting under my four-post.lift. As you stated, cleanups are simple – fold up the nasty cardboard and put a fresh one down.
It’s almost a travesty but the shop stereo includes a pair of Klipsch La Scalas. Wife says they are too big for the house. Guess I will make the sacrifice! LOL