How To Prepare Your Garage for a Family Get-Together

As a homeowner, the garage isn’t just a place to store cars and tools. It’s also an open space for hosting a party! We’ll share some handy tips to help you prepare your garage for a family get-together, whether it’s a family reunion, holiday, or graduation party!

Clear Out Everything

The first thing you’ll want to do is give your garage a deep cleaning. If your garage is a storage unit and a workshop with tools, supplies, dirt, grease, and oil stains on the walls and floor, you must clean it before welcoming guests inside.

Stary by clearing out everything. Everything, including the cars, bikes, tools, lawn equipment, and storage boxes, must go. This includes anything hanging on the shelves and walls.

Declutter Your Garage

Now that your garage is clean and all your belongings are in one place, it’s time to declutter the garage. You probably use the garage as a last resort storage space when you can’t find a place for something inside your home. Unfortunately, this makes your garage a black hole of miscellaneous items.

Since you have everything laid out in front of you, take the opportunity to get rid of some things that have been taking up space in your garage for years. Decluttering will open up space for your guests and make your garage easier to clean and organize in the future—a win-win!

Clean the Floors & Walls

With everything out of the garage and the floor and walls bare (for likely the first time in years), you’ll want to start cleaning the floor and walls. If the walls and floor are concrete, you can use a pressure washer to get rid of the dirt, grease, and other stains. You can purchase a pressure washer or rent one for the day to get your garage looking good as new.

Now that everything’s clean, you could update the floor or walls with a new coat of epoxy or paint before hosting your family get-together. Here’s another win-win: you host your event in a clean space, and you can finally change up the look of your garage!

Organize the Garage

After purging all the unnecessary items from your garage and giving the floors and walls a deep clean, you can organize your garage belongings. Vertical storage is your best friend, especially if you have to store many items in your garage but need to make room for the guests and party supplies.

Hanging shelves and slatwall panels is excellent for organizing your tools and belongings while making them accessible. Instead of throwing them in a box or drawer or tucking them away in a place where you’ll forget about them, keep your tools in sight with garage slatwall!

Cover the Walls With Décor

While the walls are great for organizing your garage belongings, you can cover your newly clean garage walls with décor for the get-together (unless you want to show off your new shelves and slatwall to your guests). Hanging up old sheets or decorative curtains on the garage walls makes a huge difference for the atmosphere of the gathering.

Instead of feeling like you’re having a party in a garage surrounded by tools and equipment, it feels more like a normal party room with festive décor and colors! If you’re celebrating a special event or holiday, decorating the garage walls is a perfect for the occasion and can rapidly transform your garage into a lively venue.

Lay Down Some Rugs

After you’ve taken care of the décor, lay down some rugs. It’s important to do this before you start bringing in tables and chairs for the party. While you may be proud of how clean the garage floors are, bare concrete underfoot isn’t conducive to a fun party atmosphere.

If you have rugs storage, consider bringing them out for the event to make the garage feel more comfortable. You can also invest in cheap outdoor rugs just for the party. They can turn a cold concrete box into a welcoming atmosphere for your guests.

Add More Lighting

The lighting is one thing many people forget when preparing their garage for a family get-together, especially if it lasts for hours. Most garages have functional, fluorescent overhead lighting, which is practical but not the best for a party.

Additional lighting is a great way to make the garage more comfortable at night. Hang bistro lights, lanterns, or floor lamps from inside your home. Even if you’re hosting the garage party during the day, the minimal lighting in garages can make the space feel dark. This is especially true if your garage lacks windows, so adding a few lights is a great idea for your event.

Add Heating or Cooling

Whether you’re having the get-together in the middle of summer or the dead of winter, you’ll want to add some temperature accessories for the comfort of you and your guests. Garages, as we know, usually aren’t as insulated as the rest of your home, so yours might lack climate control.

If your party falls on a chilly day or night, you’ll want to bring in some safe heat sources, like a portable heater designed for garages. If it’s a hot day, don’t assume keeping the garage door open will be enough—add some fans to keep your guests cool.

Get Creative With Entertainment

Lastly, don’t forget about entertainment for your guests! While the size of your garage may restrict your activities, there are plenty of ways to add fun to your garage party. For example, you can set up a photo booth corner for people to take pictures together. Complete the fun with props from a party store!

You could also set up a projector to show movies or shows on the garage door or walls covered in those spare sheets, which is a great idea if you want to entertain many kids!

Conclusion

We hope our tips help you have the best family get-together possible! If you’re interested in slatwalls or other garage organization solutions, check out storeWALL’s products or contact our staff with any questions.