DIY Spotlight: From Garage to Adventure Space

Our rubber flooring has been a popular staple in garage gyms for years, but Christie Schneider’s family has taken it to a whole new level. Learn how this customer from Colorado incorporated rubber flooring to turn her garage into a year-round recreational activity space for her family.

Keeping a family of four active during the cold winter months in Colorado takes creativity, resourcefulness and innovation. But Christie Schneider was up for the challenge, converting her family’s garage into the ultimate activity space.

“We love the challenge of living small and the savings that come with it,” Schneider said. “Instead of adding on or moving up, we thought why not convert the garage space we already have that we hardly ever park in into an active space?”

Now she and her family have a multi-purpose recreation room available to them year-round. Their new garage is complete with a hammock, crash pads and a bouldering wall, and more additions are in the works.

Schneider says the design and reorganization came easy, but she and her husband were stumped on one big thing.

Flooring.

Enter, us! We asked Christie how she decided on the rubber flooring for her new garage space, how the product has been working out for her and what tips she has for other DIY-ers looking to get creative with their garages. Here’s what she has to share about her experience.

How did you decide on rubber flooring?

“The garage was in pretty rough shape with random shelves and cabinets, a stained concrete floor and no real overall organization,” Schneider said. “As we started to work through the design it was relatively easy to determine how we could maximize storage space with the built-in cabinets, cubbies and workbench and still maintain the option of parking the car in the garage, but we were stumped on the flooring.”

It hit Scheider one day while at the gym to use rubber flooring like the kind she was working out on.

“It made perfect sense for our needs and, even better, would be easy to install!”

Schneider said she referred to our Rubber Flooring Buying Guide to learn more about the different options and what would make the most sense for her budget and use.

Related content >> Home Gym Flooring Buying Guide

Which product did you go with?

“We decided to go with the 8mm Strong Rubber Rolls with 10% gray flecks to help disguise debris that would get tracked in. Rubber rolls stood out specifically for ease of installation and to limit the number of seams. After installing the flooring, we used the leftover rubber in the bottom of the cabinets, tool drawers and in the cubbies to help protect against moisture from shoes and boots and on the vertical face of the concrete foundation that was exposed in the garage as the floor slopes away to the garage door.”

Featured product >> 8mm Rubber Rolls

How has the product been working out for you?

“In addition to a recreation space, we also do a lot of woodworking projects for our home and gardening. The workbench works great for those uses and the rubber flooring is so easy to clean up and accommodate to spills and dropped hammers. We also can pull our car in if it’s going to hail, as it does frequently in Colorado, or if there’s a big winter storm coming through. We also bike almost every day to school and work and the flooring works great for wheeling our bikes in and out and for parking before we get them hung up.”

How does your family like the new garage?

“We love it and have spent lots of time out there already! I’m so pleased with all the storage and better yet that it’s out of sight behind cabinet doors, in most cases, with the more frequently used items in the cubbies for quick access in the mornings. It was nice to be able to design a space specifically for the things we have, including a power washer, air compressor, many power tools, storage Tupperware, ladder, step stool, filing cabinet, camping gear and backpacks, ski/snowboard gear, bikes, paint and painting supplies, just to name a few….

The boys love crawling in and out of the hammock and using it as a swing, riding trikes, building forts with the crash pads and spreading out Legos, blocks and books. As a family we set up challenges on the bouldering wall and also plan to add additional training equipment such as rings and a hangboard.”

What tips do you have for others who may want to convert their garage into a recreational space?

• Be sure to use cabinets with doors. It makes the space feel so tidy when everything is put away and also much safer as a recreation room.
• Bring in natural light if possible. We switched out our basic garage door for a frosted glass and aluminum door and, although a bit pricey, we have no regrets. It lets in so much light and completely changes the feel of the space. We can also open up the garage door when it’s nice out and let some fresh air in. 
• Do as much work as you can on your own. It saves a lot of money! The only thing we hired out was the garage door replacement.
• If possible, build a simple model or sketch it out before you start. I use a program through Google called SketchUp (I’m a landscape architect so also use this professionally) to create a design my husband and I can agree on before we start.

SHOP 8MM STRONG RUBBER ROLLS 

What we all really want to know is, how did you build that awesome bouldering wall?

“We referenced an awesome guide from Metolius Climbing for the bouldering wall.” 

Awesome guide >> How to Build a Home Bouldering Wall

Follow Christie on Instagram to keep up with her adventures: @christie_murman

Create Your Own Adventure Space

Inspired by Christie’s garage renovation? Take the first step toward your own project today! Order samples of our rubber flooring products to find the best fit for your needs.

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