The Case for Investing in Your Garage Design

• The garage is one of the most used spaces in the home, yet it is usually the last to receive serious design attention.
• Not making the garage large enough is one of the most common regrets, and resizing later is expensive and disruptive.
• Built-in storage planned at the build stage stops the garage becoming a dumping ground.
• A well-positioned, wider internal access door makes daily unloading and movement considerably easier.
• Sealed flooring, a floor drain, good lighting, power points and ceiling height all make the space genuinely usable.
• The garage door occupies a large part of the front facade, so it has a meaningful impact on kerb appeal.

Size: Getting It Right From the Start

One of the most common garage regrets in new homes is not making it large enough. A standard single garage may be sufficient for a single vehicle, but most Perth families benefit considerably from a double garage, and many wish they had gone wider or deeper than the standard dimensions. Once the home is built, increasing the garage size is an expensive and disruptive undertaking. Getting the size right at the design stage costs a fraction of what it would cost to modify later.

Consider not just how many cars you need to fit, but what else the garage will need to accommodate. Bikes, surfboards, sporting equipment, a chest freezer, a workbench, a lawnmower, and garden tools all take up significant space. A garage that is generously sized from the outset handles all of this comfortably and still leaves room to move and work. Adding even half a metre of extra depth or width to the standard garage footprint makes a noticeable difference to how much the space can actually hold.

Storage Solutions Built Into the Design

A garage without planned storage quickly becomes a dumping ground. Boxes, tools, and equipment pile up without any system, making it difficult to find what you need and impossible to keep the space looking presentable. Built-in storage, whether in the form of wall-mounted cabinetry, open shelving, overhead storage racks, or a dedicated workbench with tool storage, transforms the garage from a chaotic catch-all into a genuinely organised and functional space.

Planning storage into the garage at the build stage, rather than adding it piecemeal after moving in, produces a far better result. Built-in joinery is more durable, more space-efficient, and more visually cohesive than freestanding shelving units. Even a modest investment in purpose-built garage cabinetry has an outsized impact on how well the space works every day.

The Internal Access Door and Its Importance

The connection between the garage and the main home is something that is easy to overlook but has a significant impact on daily convenience. An internal access door that opens into a well-positioned entry point within the home, ideally near the laundry, kitchen, or a dedicated mudroom zone, makes unloading shopping, bringing in children, and transitioning between the garage and the home considerably easier and more efficient.

The width of the internal access door is also worth considering. A wider door makes it easier to move large items between the garage and the home without the frustration of squeezing through a narrow opening. If the garage is planned as a workspace or hobby area as well as a vehicle space, this connection becomes even more important.

Flooring, Drainage, and Practical Finishes

The floor of a garage takes a significant amount of punishment over time, from vehicle tyres and oil, to dropped tools, water, and general wear. A concrete floor with a quality sealer or epoxy coating is far easier to clean and maintain than bare concrete, and it also looks considerably more finished and presentable. Planning for a floor drain in the garage during construction is a practical addition that makes cleaning the space much easier and manages water from wet vehicles or equipment.

Adequate lighting is another garage element that deserves more attention than it typically receives. A garage that is poorly lit is frustrating to work in and makes finding stored items unnecessarily difficult. Bright, even lighting throughout the space, with additional task lighting over any workbench area, transforms the garage into a genuinely usable space at any time of day.

The Garage as a Multi-Purpose Space

For many Perth families, the garage serves purposes well beyond vehicle storage. A dedicated workshop or hobby area, a space for a home gym setup, a zone for children to work on projects or store sports equipment, or simply a well-organised utility space that handles the overflow of family life. The more thoughtfully the garage is designed, the more effectively it can serve multiple roles without any one purpose compromising the others.

Including power points in well-considered locations throughout the garage, planning for adequate ventilation, and ensuring the ceiling height accommodates any equipment or storage systems you have in mind are all details worth discussing with your builder before construction begins.

The Garage Door and Kerb Appeal

In most Perth homes, the garage door occupies a significant portion of the front facade and has a meaningful impact on the overall kerb appeal of the property. A garage door that complements the architectural style of the home, whether through colour, material, panel profile, or detailing, contributes to a cohesive and polished street presence.

Timber-look panel lift doors have become increasingly popular in Perth new builds for the warmth and character they add to contemporary facades. Crisp white or charcoal sectional doors suit more modern or minimalist homes. Choosing a door that ties in with the overall exterior colour palette and architectural language of the home rather than treating it as a purely functional afterthought makes a noticeable difference to how the home presents from the street.

A Space That Works as Hard as the Rest of Your Home

At Ross North Homes, with over 45 years of experience building homes across Perth, we encourage every client to give the garage the same thoughtful consideration they bring to every other space in the home. A well-designed garage is a genuine asset to daily life, and the decisions made at the design stage are the ones that determine whether it lives up to that potential.

If you are planning to build and want to explore home designs that make every space work as hard as possible, visit one of our display homes or speak with our team today.

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