On one hand, this just seems so wrong: converting a perfectly good garage — or workshop! — into a 250 square-foot home. On the other hand, when you read about the circumstances of its owner, Michelle de la Vega, and how she acted as a general contractor and went to welding school to learn how to build furniture and architectural fixtures, you start thinking that this is kinda neat.
And then you find out that many of this Seattle house’s furnishings were found in industrial salvage yards. For example, those gray units on the back right in the picture above, now serving as closets, were formerly old lockers from a United Airlines maintenance building; the metal ladder to the sleeping loft was once on a ship; and industrial latches are used as towel hooks in the bathroom and kitchen.
The picture above shows the beginning of the conversion. Ms. de la Vega raised the roof four feet for a sleeping loft, added space for a bathroom, and installed a wood-burning stove. The entire renovation cost $32,000.
Several more pictures are available at the slide show link below.
Now if it were just a bit bigger, and had room(s) for tools, it would meet most of my criteria for ideal living: a nice garage with a house attached.
Converting a Garage Outside Seattle [NY Times]
Garage Days Revisited [NY Times slide show]