Licensor Approved My Garage Conversion Today :)

[small_steps]

My licensor visited this morning and approved the garage I've had converted into my daycare room. I'm so excited. There's still a lot of work to do but the hard part is done. My daycare parents have their own door to come in. They don't have to walk through my living space or see my laundry that needs folding sitting on the couch . I'm going to love it and I think that they will too.

I'm trying to think of how I want it decorated now. It's like starting from fresh. New painted walls with no staple holes. I may do a theme...not sure yet. Anyone have any ideas?

[DaycareMama]

Woo hoo!! Thats awesome! Im so much happier having a seperate daycare door. A lot less worried about the rest of my house being perfect

[Heidi]

I'm not sure what the name of your dc is.

I always thought it would be cute to do a garden theme, and name to dc Little Sprouts. I think a woodland theme would be cute.

If you have birch trees in your area, you can make a really cool dramatic play area. You use 4 as posts, and 4 more around the top. Sort of like a 4-poster bed. Then wrap christmas lights and tulle around the whole thing. very cool!

[small_steps]

I'm in Texas and don't know much about trees so I'm not sure if there are any birch trees around. A garden theme would be cute. The name of my daycare is Small Steps Childcare, not sure there's any themes that would go with that besides maybe footprints?

[Abigail]

How large of an area are you working with? How many kids are in your daycare? Do you separate your play space into centers?

If you do centers you could do the foot prints from one center to another. You could also build small steps to your quiet area for reading and make a platform that is maybe 8-12 inches off the ground and then turn that area into a tree-house feel with draping those canopy bed material from the ceiling.

[Heidi]

http://progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com/2011/01/creating-quiet-spaces-for-young.html

check out this site for some really awesome spaces....

I would love to have a space that was not your "typical" childcare space. I would love to get away from plastic and primary colors...

[small_steps]

How large of an area are you working with? How many kids are in your daycare? Do you separate your play space into centers?

If you do centers you could do the foot prints from one center to another. You could also build small steps to your quiet area for reading and make a platform that is maybe 8-12 inches off the ground and then turn that area into a tree-house feel with draping those canopy bed material from the ceiling.

About 400 sq feet and I have 9 kids but can keep up to 12. They vary in ages from 13 months to almost 5. Mostly 2's, 3's & 4's currrently though. I do use centers. Tree-house look would be cute. I'm so not creative though

[small_steps]

http://progressiveearlychildhoodeduc...for-young.html

check out this site for some really awesome spaces....

I would love to have a space that was not your "typical" childcare space. I would love to get away from plastic and primary colors...

I don't care for primary colors either. Some of those spaces are really cute. I love the loft and plan to have one built sometime next year. This project (the conversion) has drained me financially. Realistically it was only about $2500 but I'm a single mom and this close to Christmas...well I should have waited. But I was so anxious to have my home back. I'm going to try to buy just a little at a time. I'm still new so I guess eventually I will get there but...I want it all now!
I'm going to try to find a "quiet" area for the kiddos and use some of the ideas from the site you gave me. I'm just afraid I will be tempted to go crawl into the quiet area .

[Abigail]

About 400 sq feet and I have 9 kids but can keep up to 12. They vary in ages from 13 months to almost 5. Mostly 2's, 3's & 4's currrently though. I do use centers. Tree-house look would be cute. I'm so not creative though

How many stalls do you have in your garage? I'm not good with square feet, only how many feet this side is and that side is, . Did you take before and after pictures of your garage? I would love to see some! Next year we will finish our garage and insulate it. What will really not be fun is standing out in my un-insulated garage in 35-40 degree weather trying to stain wood for the floor trim. I can't wait to have a finished garage.

[small_steps]

Its a 2 car garage. I did take before and after pics and will post some in a little bit.

[misspollywog]

wallies.com has really cute stuff for those of us who aren't creative! ::

BTW, I am soo jealous. I want to convert my oversized 2 car garage, too! It's connected to the bottom half of our split level home and we already use the entire downstairs but I want MORE ROOOOOM! Plus I want a separate entrance as well.

Do you mind sharing how much it cost? I'm thinking hopefully by next summer we can get ours done if it isn't too much.

[small_steps]

wallies.com has really cute stuff for those of us who aren't creative! ::

BTW, I am soo jealous. I want to convert my oversized 2 car garage, too! It's connected to the bottom half of our split level home and we already use the entire downstairs but I want MORE ROOOOOM! Plus I want a separate entrance as well.

Do you mind sharing how much it cost? I'm thinking hopefully by next summer we can get ours done if it isn't too much.

So far it has cost me about $2500. I had my brother in law do the labor and he I paid about $800 for labor...it only took him about 20-25 hours of work to do it. The actual supplies were the other $1700...this includes a $500 window unit that is a/c and heater. I did the very basics. The wall he build has a door and a window and also a place for my a/c window unit. I will post pics soon. Just a crazy day today. I love it so far. And it's a great tax deduction.

[bubby]

That's great that you can have a separate space dedicated to your daycare and not have parents trampoling through your house. I too converted my daycare but was told my licensor that it could not be used as the primary space because it was not considered a "true" living space. I know others who have also converted their garage but they hvac installed for not too much. My set-up doesn't allow for hvac connected to my house because of how the house is built. Would love to know how you converted yours. Did you have to get permits etc. Would love to see your final set-up when your finished if you're willing to share.