Does your garage need a makeover?

If you have ever drooled over Jay Leno's "Big Dog Garage" or secretly imagined your garage converted to a spectacular man cave, complete with a big screen TV, bar fridge and comfy chairs, you might be excited to hear that smaller improvements can make a huge difference. 

Many house hunters include a garage on their list of must-haves. So often this space intended to protect your vehicles from the elements becomes a storage facility for everything from Christmas decorations to gardening supplies, kids toys, power tools and more. If your garage is being used to store these items, you might want to consider cleaning things up a bit, and the floor is a great place to start. 

While a standard concrete floor is functional, it doesn't have much of a wow factor. The first step is deciding how you would like to cover the concrete. The most affordable option is a coating, which is available in two options - paint or epoxy. Paint works well to cover stains and is offered in just about every shade of the rainbow. Epoxy is more aesthetically pleasing, with a wide range of eye-catching finishes available. 

Another option for covering your garage floor is tiles. They will generally run you about $2.50 - $3.50 per square foot. Rigid plastic tiles should be made of 100 percent PVC and are usually ¼ inch thick and capable of standing up to the spills you may encounter in a garage - oil, chemicals and grease included. They are fairly easy to install. The second option is interlocking flexible floor tiles. One advantage of these tiles over the rigid option is they are much more comfortable to stand on for long periods of time. They are also available in a wide range of colours and patterns, but they won't handle spills as well. 

After you've improved the floor, the possibilities are endless! Finishing the walls is an obvious next step. Try one improvement each spring and in a few years you can have a garage worthy of your friends' envy!