There was one project that I didn’t share in my Home Goals post back in January. Of course, it was the biggest one. A garage!

(I am so excited.)

At the start of the year, we were in the plans and permit application stage, and I didn’t want to share anything until everything was approved and confirmed.

We have received our permits, demo is underway and construction will hopefully begin later this month.

So let’s talk about the garage.

Here is our current floorplan.

And here is my (not at all to scale) floorplan of what’s going to happen.

The indoor pool will be filled in (yay to no more pool!). The west wall (top wall in this floorplan) will be pushed out 10 feet. A wall will be built to make a mudroom.

From the outside, it will look something like this.

I want to do as much demo myself as possible before our contractor arrives. It will save us a bit of money, and it’s fun to be involved in this project.

I started taking apart the pool in February. The first thing to go? That terrible indoor-outdoor carpeting coating the lower half of the walls.

Yes, I will continue to share this photo as much as possible.

For the most part, the room has come apart fairly easily. The awkward thing is working around the pool. I feel very high when I’m up on a ladder with this deep gaping hole behind me. Matt’s Dad helped remove the siding above the windows. I only took down part of the ceiling, as the sections over the pool felt too high. I’m in the middle of taking down the deck off the kitchen. Hopefully I finish that off this week, and then the inside demo is done.

Nine years ago during our home inspection

Outside, I want to strip the brick and pick up patio slabs. The brick will be saved for future projects, and the garage will get new board and batten siding. But we need a bit more snow to melt before outside demo–or construction–can begin.

The garage has always been top on my reno list. Being able to load or unload the car without worrying about the weather. No scraping snow or frost off the car. Taking out the recycling without walking across the driveway to the driveshed. A mudroom with heat so that our boots aren’t freezing. So many good things are coming our way.

As long as I’ve been thinking about this project, now it’s time to make some decisions. I’ll be sharing some of those in upcoming posts and asking for your input.

And I’ll be sharing updates as construction begins.

Matt and I were saving for this project when Ellie was born. Our plan was to build the garage last year, but I decided to wait another year. I’m glad to be finally going ahead and working to realize our vision.