Adapting to Change - New Family & Garage Transformation in Progress

LBejaran

Songster
6 Years
Apr 14, 2013
846
148
148
Deep South Texas
Spoiler Alert: If you want to get to the gist of this post, just read the bold/italicized bits.

It's been awhile since I've posted one of these personal threads, but I feel like I'm gonna need a bit of support.

You see, about a month ago, my family "adopted" a boy. He was in a bad situation and with no familial support, we felt it was best that we bring him into our home. So far, it's been going pretty well. He's respectful, he's a bit kooky, but he's easily tolerated and only occasionally needs reprimanding for being insensitive (something he's become much more receptive of and is correcting himself).

However, I gotta say, I'm having trouble. I think he's a good kid. He's nice and he's got a great personality. But I just wasn't ready for him to enter my inner sanctum.



As an introvert, I have a hard time opening up to people like him (read: extrovert). My family has been a pretty good mix of the two (often ranging closer toward introversion than extroversion), so I mostly live in an atmosphere of balance. And when I'm not getting enough space or quiet time, I would go to my room and relax.

Now I can't. Not really. His room is next to mine where he's talking with my sister and they are joking around and I can hear them laughing and being obnoxiously loud and all I can think is that I'd rather live in my chicken coop than inside the house.

I'm pretty used to adjusting to these kinds of social situations. A lot of my extended family members are extroverts who love to socialize and make small talk. I'm used to doing that for a bit and then politely excusing myself from the room so I can cool off before calamity strikes. Heck, I went to college (for graphic design) and endured two years of extroverts throwing everything from ideas to aggressiveness at me and I endured with a couple milligrams of prescribed anti-anxiety meds and meditation.

At this point, I really wish I could afford to move out. Jobs just aren't really available lately (and I had to quit my last job due to some extreme moral differences between myself and my employer), so I'm working a freelance job that pays just well enough for me to keep making payments toward my student loans so I don't stay in debt.

Hence the garage transformation. I need a little moral assistance with that. I need space desperately and I wouldn't dare to tell my mother that she did the wrong thing by bringing this boy into our family. He's practically a brother now, a super loud and annoying brother, but a brother nonetheless. And so I'm going to do my best to clean out the garage and set up shop there. I'm an artist and re-upholsterer and graphic designer (I run a freelance jack-of-all-trades sort of business from the house), so I could probably convert it into a temporary bedroom and workspace. It is insulated and has a half-bath and a large window in there, so it'd be comfortable. Might need a window unit to get through the summer (temps range anywhere from 80 F at night to 110 F during the day), but I know I could manage it.


It goes without saying, "If only I can manage to get through all this crap!"

What I'd love is to throw some ideas around on how to fix this garage up to be a comfortable living space for myself (and most likely my younger sister for a time). I'm going to get over my fear of heights and go into the attic tomorrow to see how much stuff I can fit up in there (it is likely that I can fit loads of stuff in there, actually, but my family has a phobia of rodents/heights/dark spaces/attics collectively and we haven't really tried very hard to set it up) and I'll see if I need to have a garage sale to get rid of some junk.

I have until May 7th to get most of this work done. My little brother is coming home from a semester at school and all our rooms are being used up. Either we move the new brother into the garage (and I still have to share my room with my sister) or I fix the garage and move us into the garage where we'll have more space between the two of us and I can actually start working more efficiently. I feel that the answer is clear.

I would really appreciate any ideas/help/guidance!

P.S. I can easily have a garage sale in a week and get some cash in my pocket. I work from home (mostly at night) so I can easily spend the day in the garage pulling things out and moving stuff around. I just need a little guidance and maybe some ideas (cheap room partitions, inexpensive shelving, best way to sell stuff, etc). I'll be giving up my current bedroom (the one I painstakingly cleaned and decorated), so I'll be adjusting a bit but I can make this place feel like home again. I just need some moral support. And sometimes a moral push to morally get over myself and stop pouting over what I'm losing. A little tough love wouldn't hurt, honestly.
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I'm sad to hear that your little sister is moving in there with you, I was hoping that you would be able to have your own space. Maybe that sounds mean, but I know how important a private, personal space is for an introvert. DH just doesn't get it, he is always popping in to see what I am up too.

I had an aunt and uncle who lived in town. They spent a lot of time just hanging out in their garage. They put a fridge in there, and eventually built a bar. The mosquitos were driving them crazy, and he never parked his car in the garage anyway, so they framed out the garage door opening and made a screened in wall there to keep the bugs out. The garage door still closed, so it was secure when they weren't actually out there enjoying their party room. If you are planning to be able to open the garage door for ventilation at all, then you may want to consider doing something like that.

If you are not going to be using the garage door at all, then you can pull the emergency release and put a clamp in the track to secure the door in the down position.

If you are going to do any painting or wood finishing in there, you will need to be able to open the garage door and get really good ventilation, you can't sleep in a room with paint and/or finish fumes.

Keep you eyes open for some carpeting for the floor also.
 
It's likely that she'll move in there with me temporarily. At least until my younger brother goes back to school. I just figured that the garage would give us both space that we otherwise wouldn't have if we stayed in my current room.

Mom was very much ready to give NewBro the garage, but it doesn't make sense for him to have all that space when he's all alone in there. This way, the garage is a work room and a bedroom.

The window A/C unit should help with ventilation but the window in there should also help. That's a good concern, though, that I should look into.

We never open the garage anymore, especially from the outside (the remotes have all died on us and no one replaces the batteries (I'm also pretty sure they are broken). However, I'll likely end up locking it securely from the inside. My dad will probably want us to make use of that entrance once the garage is clean but it's not going to happen. Of it becomes a bedroom, I won't willingly let people come stomping through just because it's an easy entrance. Nope, nope, nope, not with all the work I'm putting in.

As for carpeting, I'm thinking of getting another couple thousand yards of yarn and crocheting a big rectangular carpet for myself. Something sturdy and thick that'll make it feel more like me in there. It'll take time to make but will end up saving me hundreds of dollars. Rugs or real carpeting are so ridiculously expensive and I want to be able to move a rug out of the way if I'm working on something messy for work (which is bound to happen). The versatility of a concrete floor would really be helpful. I might have my sister come out and help me seal it, though, just to make sure nothing seeps into it.
 
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For your comfort, installing a wall infront of the garage door would be an idea. Making a wall isn't hard. You just make a frame with 2x4, and then either screw drywall or OSB against it. If you insulate it, you will be so much more comfortable.. that door would likely make things hot in the summer and freezing in the winter.

You can also move said wall forward, add a door so you have seperate space behind it, especially if temperature swings for your work area are not a big deal.. you could still open the garage door that way. You could use the space to store some of this stuff too.. or you know, open it on a nice day, so you're basically working outside.
 
For your comfort, installing a wall infront of the garage door would be an idea. Making a wall isn't hard. You just make a frame with 2x4, and then either screw drywall or OSB against it. If you insulate it, you will be so much more comfortable.. that door would likely make things hot in the summer and freezing in the winter.


You can also move said wall forward, add a door so you have  seperate space behind it, especially if temperature swings for your work area are not a big deal.. you could still open the garage door that way. You could use the space to store some of this stuff too.. or you know, open it on a nice day, so you're basically working outside.


That's a really good idea! I wouldn't know if I'd need a permit, though. I know it wouldn't be permanent but still, it's possible I'd need one.

Still, I could insulate the wall and and make it more comfortable for myself. Maybe even just add inner panels to the garage door so it can still open and insulate the door itself. That would probably be easier. Maybe. I should research that.

I'm just clearing a space so I can lower the attic ladder. It's packed tight in there. I also have storms on the way, so I'm running back and forth so the birds don't end up learning how to swim.

I am really excited to work on this. I know I can do it. Just gotta have a little faith and some confidence in the plan.
 
That's a really good idea! I wouldn't know if I'd need a permit, though. I know it wouldn't be permanent but still, it's possible I'd need one.

Still, I could insulate the wall and and make it more comfortable for myself. Maybe even just add inner panels to the garage door so it can still open and insulate the door itself. That would probably be easier. Maybe. I should research that.

I'm just clearing a space so I can lower the attic ladder. It's packed tight in there. I also have storms on the way, so I'm running back and forth so the birds don't end up learning how to swim.

I am really excited to work on this. I know I can do it. Just gotta have a little faith and some confidence in the plan.


If you dont put electricity in it, and it's not load bearing.. I doubt it. Usually permits are needed for serious structural work.. a little false wall? Nah.
 
Okay, did some asking around and it looks like my sister's boyfriend is going to come take a look to see how much it would cost to put in a wall. Honestly, I was thinking some insulating would make more sense budget-wise, but we all agree that looking at all options is important.

As for the attic, I took a trip up there today and we have so much unutilized storage space! Some plywood is all we need to make it secure for boxes and crates of our stuff.

We did manage to stick all our Seasonal holiday stuff up there but there is more to do. We have loads of totes to soft through so we can decide what we can sell and what we need to keep. A lot of it seems like junk but you never know.

We have a water softener in the garage that we no longer use, so we'll also be asking about installing a very simple shower stall in it's place. Dad can salvage the water softener for something (he welds), so we'll be good to go if we can get it to his metal pile in the backyard.

I am going to have a conversation with him about some dressers, though. We have desks and dressers in the garage that he wanted to fix but they have been in there for ages. If he doesn't have any plans for it, I feel as though I can give it a quick revamp and we can sell it (he can keep he money, I just need it gone or moved).

Lots of good stuff happened today. Here's to hoping we can get even more done tomorrow!
 
It is such a good feeling when a plan starts to come together!
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It sounds like you have a good start on your plan.
Congratulations on the future personal space.
 
for storing in the attic, make sure there isn't anything that will melt in the boxes - like candles. I had a couple of Santa candles in a box of decorations, and they melted into the Christmas towels that I had in the box also. Also had a mouse make a nest in one of the boxes and chew and poop all over everything. I had a Santa wall hanging that lost an eye and had the mouse nest in its beard.
 
We have rats, not mice, haha! But seriously, we are boxing everything in thick plastic totes and will be leaving cedar blocks and traps up there if we need to. We allowed the cats up there and they didn't seem to find anything. We will probably put out something to keep them away.

As for stuff that can melt, we don't really store those things up there. In Texas, it's just not a reasonable thing to do, haha!

I have a lot if boxes Togo through still. Gonna hand in the garage for several hours just to check every single thing before I get help putting stuff up in the attic. Hopefully we can clear up more space. I want to stain the floor but I need to be able to see it in order to do that! ;)
 

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