My Winter Sanctuary ~ Scenes from a Garden Room

sunny Garden Room on a January morning

My sunny Garden Room on a January morning … come with me on a tour of my sanctuary and see how it was transformed from garage to garden room sanctuary!

If you were to ask me which room is my favorite in our house, I would promptly say, “Our Garden Room !”

This would not have been my answer five years ago when we moved into our Fairfield Home. Then it was an awkwardly placed, dark one-car garage attached to the back of our double garage. One tiny window let in barely enough light to see your way down the concrete steps. The former owner had worked on engines there and it was a very basic shop that reeked of grease and oil. With a rough, unfinished slab floor and block walls, it wasn’t pretty, but I was still happy just to have a storage place for all my garden stuff.

Three busy years passed as we upgraded and put loving touches on this older home and started a garden. I started toying with the thought of using the space to do projects in winter. But it was so dark and dank, I’d start out all fired up, get in the room and lose my inspiration. It was time for a change.

So, we had our carpenter take out the garage door and cut a hole in the outside wall to add two sliding glass doors. He even saved us a bundle by finding them and two skylights marked down to dirt cheap at the lumber yard! A windowed door was added and a small deck with a bench rail covered the former garage ramp. Drywall, trim and paint transformed the walls and ceiling. Initially, we thought we would just stain the concrete floor, but everything else looked so good now, we decided to have it tiled (our biggest expense!).

Craig’s List and yard sales turned up most of the furnishings: a table and chairs, a baker’s rack, shelves and a futon. An oil stained workbench, left by the former owners, was renewed with gel stain. My friend gave me shelving she was throwing out, which we installed over the workbench to make a bonafide potting bench. Then in came my grow lights, plants and indoor gardening equipment.

In the end, for a total of $3,500 and a few weeks of hard work, we turned an ugly little garage into a sunny Garden Room that we now use and enjoy year-round.

my potting bench https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

my potting bench ~ worktable on top and storage below

fairy in reposehttps://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

fairy in repose

sunny Garden Room on a January morning https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

sunny Garden Room on a January morning

potting bench work space https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

potting bench work space ready for the next project

baker's rack https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

baker’s rack filled with plants & garden accents

quilt-covered futon for resting & reading https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

quilt-covered futon for resting & reading

insect sculpture & clivias https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

insect sculpture & clivias

Bee Fairy on the baker's rack https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

Bee Fairy on the baker’s rack

orchids bloom year-round https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

orchids bloom year-round

entering the Garden Room from our garage https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

entering the Garden Room from our garage

mulched paths & fence in ~ you can see the garage we converted to the left https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

Stage 1 ~ mulched paths & fence for the dogs ~ you can see the garage we converted on the left

New sliders and deck before the potting sink https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

Stage 2 ~ New sliders and deck before the potting sink

Outside the Garden Room ~ deck and potting sink https://ourfairfieldhomeandgarden.com/my-winter-sanctuary-scenes-from-a-garden-room/

Stage 3 ~ Outside the Garden Room ~ deck and potting sink fountain

2 Responses so far.

  1. debbie says:

    this is how I want my garden room at our new farm. We have good morning eastern sunshine and a long roll of southern sun in the afternoons.

    • Barb says:

      Sounds like great exposure for a garden room! This is one of the most used rooms in our house, especially in winter! Hope you enjoy yours as much as we do ours!

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