Garage conversion - storage solutions

[CalamityJ]

We're thinking of converting our garage into a living room which which don't really have as our downstairs is all open plan.

We are in the middle of a row of terraced houses so our back garden access is down the side of a neighbour's house. So we have a big shed but it's hard to access easily. People who have converted their garage, what do you do for storage? Bins are probably going to be OK as we've got a deep driveway so can put a wooden bin store on the driveway. But where do you store the windscreen wash, engine oil, car cleaning stuff and then just general stuff!

If you have room for a bin store, would there be space for something like this?

www.homebase.co.uk/keter-store-it-out-woodland-midi-garden-storage-brown-845l_p105213

Alternatively, could you 'loose' some of the space in the new room and have a big inbuilt cupboard?

Thanks for that link. There's certainly room out front for more storage so it's good to see there's possible options. We already have a big under stairs cupboard. It's more for the outdoor stuff and bikes/scooters etc.

Save a few foot at the front of the garage if you can put a window somewhere else ? Keep the existing garage door too that way.

We reluctantly put up a shed in the back garden, taking away space from the tiny area we have. Luckily, my oh's office has a store room so we can keep outdoorsy stuff there as well plus all tools & diy stuff. He owns the business luckily.

This spring I'm thinking of getting a solid secure bike storage unit in the front garden as carting bikes through the house is a pain.

Sorry if this is a dense question but do you have a back door? If so I wouldn't worry too much about having to bring odd car stuff through the house. The most commonly used stuff could live under the stairs, and the rest out the back. With a good all-weather path to the shed you should be fine. The problem is more if you use bikes a lot, as they are tricky to bring through. You might need to relocate some things, Eg any recycling boxes that are in the garage might need to come into the kitchen or outside the back door.

Our lawnmower, garden chairs and BBQ now live in a shed in the back garden rather than in the garage, and I'm not sure why we ever kept them in the garage. So there are gains to counter the losses.

We're middle of the terrace so no side windows unfortunately. We do have a rear door but because it's a long thin house with a long thin garden it's a pain to drag anything through the house. Secure bike storage could work though.