The Garage Plan Shop Blog

If you are challenged by a sloping lot but wish to add extra living and parking space to your residence, this unique garage apartment plan is worth taking a second look.  Arts and Crafts styling dresses up the exterior ensuring it will blend nicely with your Craftsman style home. The drive-under garage tucks neatly into any hillside with side-entry stalls for two vehicles. This two-car garage offers 880 square feet of unfinished parking space complete with dual overhead doors and a convenient service entry. Furthermore, the extra deep bays easily handle oversized vehicles and work well for boat storage. Handy exterior stairs offer access to the living quarters from the lower level, or you can enter from the covered front porch where sturdy columns atop stone pediments greet all. Inside the living quarters, two coat closets stand at the ready in the entry, which directs traffic to the open floor plan beyond. Here, the studio apartment with full bath delivers comfortable accommodations for weekend visitors, the in-laws or even you college student. Thoughtful extras include a meal-prep island and vaulted ceilings paired with sparkling windows making the living areas feel spacious and comfortable. Stylish and functional, this unique garage apartment plan can’t be beat.

Tags: Garage Apartment Plans, garage plans, Unique Garage Plans

If you’re in the market for garage plans, consider yourself lucky. There are plenty of residential designers drawing garage plans in all sizes and styles and incorporating a multitude of extra features. Today’s garage designs are fashioned to do more than just house cars. Not only will a new detached garage plan add value and street appeal to your home, but it will add functionality to everyday living as well. Floor plans available for purchase on websites such as www.thegarageplanshop.com range from a simple one-car garage to much large designs that hold four, five, or even more cars. Furthermore, they offer everything from workbenches and half baths, to offices, storage lofts, rec rooms and finished living quarters. Before your purchase a detached garage plan, take some time to consider your preferred size and style of the garage as well as the features that might come in handy for you and your family.

·         What size is your lot?

·         Home many bays do your need?

·         What architectural style blends with your home?

·         Should your garage enter from the front, side or rear?

·         What do you plan to use the garage for? Parking? Storage? A work space?

·         Do you need a workshop or workbench?

·         How much extra storage do you need?

·         Do you prefer one floor or two?

·         Will a drive-thru bay be an added or necessary convenience?

·         Do you need an extra deep bay for an oversized vehicle or boat? How deep?

·         Do you plan to store an RV? What size is your RV/motor home/camper (length, width and height)?

·         What other large/motorized items do you plan to store? Golf cart? Canoe? Motorcycle?

·         Where should the service door be located? How many service entries do you need?

·         Can you use an office space?

·         Is a full or half bath important to you?

·         Do you want finished living space such as a game room or recreation area?

·         Should the finished living space be flexible?

·         Do you want a guest suite or full living quarters for visitors, the in-laws, or someone else?

·         Are you interested in renting out the garage apartment for extra income?

·         What accommodations/amenities do you want in the garage apartment?

·         Do you plan to use a garage apartment to run a home-based business?

Thinking about what you need and how you will use your detached garage will help you determine what features will best suit your lifestyle and needs. After you consider your answers to these questions, you’ll be ready to start browsing garage plans.

Tags: Detached Garage Plans, garage plan features

If you’re like most boat owners, a garage plan with boat storage is necessary, providing a place to keep your investment safe from the elements when you’re not out on the water. In general, boat storage garage plans are detached garages usually designed to hold one or two family cars along with a boat and trailer. Typically, boat storage garage plans offer at least one extra deep bay accommodating the length of the boat. Most of the designs in The Garage Plan Shop’s collection have a bay that is at least 28’ deep. Some garage plans with boat storage even offer an overhead garage door at the rear of the boat storage bay allowing you to pull straight through the garage to park and store your boat rather than facing the hassle of backing the boat in or out of the garage.

Boat storage garage plans are available in a wind variety of sizes and styles ensuring you’ll find just the right one to satisfy your needs and fit nicely in your backyard. Different combinations of garage doors, rooflines and exterior finishes contribute to a greater selection of designs to choose from making it easy to find a garage plan with boat storage that compliments the architectural style of your home.

Some garage plans with boat storage provide convenient extras like a full or half bath, workbench, storage closet for holding fishing poles and lifejackets, or an upper level loft. There are even some with an entire living quarters above, great for a vacation home at the lake giving you a place to store your boat rather than towing it back home with you.

While boat storage garage plans are primarily designed for boats, they are well suited for other uses such as a workshop, storage for basement or attic overflow, or storage of lawn and garden equipment. If you wish to accommodate a much larger boat, take a look at our RV garage plans. These designs might better satisfy your needs and deliver many of the same features.

If you are shopping for a garage plan to shelter your boat, take some time to browse The Garage Plan Shop’s garage plans with boat storage.

Tags: boat storage garage, Detached Garage Plans

The Garage Plan Shop is pleased to announce PDF garage plans are now available for purchase! New this spring, we are now selling electronic versions of many of our garage plans and adding more new designs every day. Because the PDF is an electronic file of your garage plan, it can usually be emailed to you within 24 hours of placing your order during regular business hours Monday-Friday. PDF garage plans are especially convenient for people who want their blueprints right away and don’t mind taking the electronic file to a local print shop to make copies. Furthermore, receiving your floor plans by email eliminates shipping costs! Plus, the PDF allows you to print blueprints in various sizes depending on your needs. You may only need a small version (11”x17”) of your garage plan to obtain material estimates while you’ll need full size (usually 20”x24” or 24”x36”) copies of the blueprints for actual construction. Please Note: PDFs cannot be altered electronically and cannot be returned once the designer has emailed the garage plan to you because it can be copied.

Tags: garage plans, PDF files, PDF garage plans