A good garage can drastically improve the value of your home. It’s something that most prospective homeowners and all real estate agents will focus on, and a little care and attention can go a long way here.

You don’t need the biggest budget or the best DIY skills either. It just takes a takes a few minutes and a little hard work to bring your garage up to scratch, as these 4 Tips for Improving Your Garage show.

Maintain Garage and Garage Door

Garage Door
Garage Door
It’s easy to lose interest in your garage when it begins to fall into disrepair. The mold creeps in, the spiders take over, and the door rusts so much that it begins to sound like the entrance to a haunted manor house. Most homeowners have designs on making the perfect garage, on keeping it clean and useable, only to lose track and then give up when the rot sets in.

But it doesn’t need to be like that as essential maintenance is cheap and easy to perform. The first thing you should look to do is replace the torsion springs on all garage doors. According to Garage Door Nation, who lead the way in the sale and installation of these products, it should take you less than 10 minutes. That way, when you open your garage door on a morning you won’t expect to be greeted by a servant named Lurch.

The door itself may need replacing as well, but most of the time you can get by with a good clean and a few little DIY improvements. Fill the holes, replace broken/rusted parts, add an electronic opener, and finish it off with a lick of paint.

Make it Parking Friendly

Garage Parking Friendly
Garage Parking Friendly
A garage should be one of two things: an extension of your home, or a place to store your car. It should not be a giant dumpster where you store everything from unwanted Christmas presents to empty appliance boxes.

If you decide to use it to house your car, then make sure it’s fit for that purpose. Remove the junk, hang a tennis ball from the roof so you know when to stop reversing, and remove anything that can cause damage to the paintwork.

If it’s a tight squeeze you should also place bumpers along the walls of your garage. You don’t need to cover the entire wall. Simply use something that sticks out in the middle of the wall. Pool noodles are great for this, as they are soft, spongy, cheap and easy to affix to the walls.

Make it Storage Friendly

Garage Storage Friendly
Garage Storage Friendly
If you want your garage to be an extension of your house, then add some flooring, lights and furniture. Put up a storage rack, some drawers and some other units.This way it’s still a room for storage, but the storage is neat and orderly, and it can also be an additional bedroom, a den or an office.

Don’t overlook the ceiling when it comes to storage. There are sliding storage racks, hanging storage systems and much more that will make use of all that previously untouched space. If you don’t have the budget to buy steel shelving units, then just make them yourself. You can get the raw materials cheaply and it’ll only take a few hours of your time.

Here are a few more storage ideas:

  • Screwdriver Rack: Puncture a series of holes into a length of wood, nail it to the wall and you have a handy place to store your screwdrivers.
  • Plastic Storing Containers: Use cheap, open plastic containers to store all of those smaller items for easy access. Make sure you write down the contents on a label and stick it to the front of the boxes.
  • Pegboards: A few simple pegboards can be used to store loose tools. Just hammer some nails in and hook those tools on them.
  • Tin Cans: Tin cans can be a great way to store small tools, while transparent pots and jars are ideal for screws, nuts and bolts.

Make it High-Tech

High-Tech Garage Door
High-Tech Garage Door
There are a number of cool gadgets and tools for your garage. Some will make your life easier, some are just fun to play with. You can purchase devices that connect to your smartphone and warn you when you garage door is open, either because you’ve left it open or because it has been broken into.

There are high-tech garage door openers that will open and close automatically and can also run off backup battery power, just incase there’s a power cut. There are also doors that require security codes to gain access, and the more high-tech of these will randomly change the codes at regular intervals, ensuring that only the owner has the correct access code at any given time.

Alarm systems, security cameras and insulation are also a common feature of high-tech garages. They will keep your home safe and secure, while helping you to cut down on those energy bills and to reduce the risk of mold and animal infestations.