9 Projects To Upgrade Your Workshop Without A Major Renovation

Workshops can be a touchy subject for the average homeowner, especially if you also happen to be a procrastinator. There’s always some project that needs attention no matter how small, and associating that tiny (and often stuffy) environment with hard work can be off-putting. That’s not even accounting for the actual maintenance needed for you to exist in the workshop’s space — if you avoid visiting your workshop until it’s absolutely necessary, we see you, we hear you, and we understand you.

Despite the discomfort, it doesn’t have to be a chore to be in your garage or workshop. However, it’s true that the average workshop configuration leaves much to be desired in terms of comfort. That means you’re going to have to get your hands dirty to bring it up to your tastes.

Now, workshop upgrades don’t necessarily come cheap, especially considering the level of renovation required to bring a debilitated one up to standard. However, you don’t have to break the bank to upgrade your workshop. In this article, we’ll delve into nine projects you can embark on, any of which will significantly improve your quality of life in the garage. Similarly, SlashGear’s list of gadgets to upgrade your workshop can also help you get started. 

You kind of need to see what you’re doing to complete workshop projects. You wouldn’t trust yourself to drill holes into planks with your eyes closed, and but that’s essentially what you’re doing in a poorly-lit workshop: You’re running the risk of not just making mistakes in whatever craft you’re involved in, but also as possibly injuring yourself. You don’t even need to make mistakes to be affected by poor lighting, as eye strain is going to take its toll over time.

These effects could manifest in the form of headaches, fatigue, or even decreased concentration — none of which are ideal for working in a workshop. So, instead of consigning yourself to squinting each time you have some handiwork to do, invest in lighting up your work area. There’s more to this process than simply buying as many lightbulbs as you can get your hands on; it requires careful consideration of the type of environment you currently have and the one you’re trying to build. For instance, we have a list of ideal work lights for mechanics that offer some great starting points.

Factors such as brightness, color temperature, ceiling height, and energy efficiency have to be taken into account. Overall, you want a lighting system that’s just right — not too bright, not too dim — especially if your garage has any degree of natural lighting seeping through the windows. 

A common garage workshop problem to run into is the lack of a dedicated workbench. It’s not out of the ordinary to see DIYers using the bare floor as a work surface for whatever project they’re working on. That can happen for one of two reasons: They don’t have a workbench, or the workbench they do have is cluttered with all sorts of items. If you fall into the latter category, SlashGear has a DIY solution in the form of a custom pegboard to help you conquer that clutter.

Not to exaggerate, but having a good workbench could make or break your experience in the workshop. It’s not a good idea to use just any old makeshift surface — you need a sturdy base to clamp things down you’re working on. No matter your project scope and experience, you’d need a dedicated work area that can cater to your specific needs. 

Workbenches come in various forms: stationary, portable, and even those with adjustable heights. If you already have a designated space, you’d probably be better off going for a stationary setup. Otherwise, portable setups are good for smaller areas to preserve space. Also, workbenches can pull double-duty as mini storage units — you can never have too many of those. Models equipped with built-in drawers, power strips, and pegboards are great ways to keep your workshop tidy without undergoing wholesale renovations.

There are few moments worse than not being able to remember where you put your favorite power tool. That can happen easily when you’re not properly organized. If you leave your tools strewn all over your workshop, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when a handful of them start to turn up missing.

An obvious solution to the tool organization paradigm is to construct a cabinet and holistically dump all your equipment in it. That is, if you’re working with drawers, you can say that one drawer holds your hammers, another is for your drills, and yet another holds your nail stash. 

However, there’s an even more efficient method for keeping your drills properly lined up. Instead of laying the drills horizontally, you could set up a wall-mounted drill shelf to let them hang. If you make adequate electrical arrangements, you could even charge your while they’re being stored — a two-in-one fix for organization and efficiency.

Workshops floors are often unique. More than a few may feature concrete flooring, while others might favor epoxy, interlocking tiles, or rubber. I’ve even been around a few that used hardwood for some reason. However, just because you met your workshop in one configuration doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.

The flooring you use in your workshop should be determined by the type of work you do there. If you work on cars, for example, you won’t have the same flooring setup considerations as someone who only works with wood. You need to take the weight of objects in the workshop into consideration — ceramic may be sufficient for mundane repair tasks, but it will crack under the weight of car tires if you ever tap into your mechanic inclinations.

Your floor’s ability to carry weight isn’t the only factor to account for. Other variables like the material’s resistance to chemicals and oils, as well as general slip resistance, should also play a role in your decision-making. Ideally, you’ll want a floor that’s both aesthetically pleasing and lasts the test of time under the conditions you put it under, so you’ll need to do lots of research. The more time you spend, however, the better the potential end result.

Nobody wants them to, but emergencies happen. When you consider the type of daily activity that goes on in the average workshop, you can see why it’s standard practice for these spaces to have safety codes. Whether this manifests in wearables such as personal protective equipment (PPE) or simply having tools like a fire extinguisher on standby, the importance of safety cannot be overstated.

Now, your garage or basement workshop may not be up to industry standards, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t follow those same practices to keep you and your surroundings safe. The first step to doing this is to have all the necessary safety equipment at hand, and the next is to build a station where they permanently reside within your workshop. You can’t dump your safety gear just anywhere; imagine frantically looking around your garage for your fire extinguisher in the event of an emergency. 

So, how do you decide where to build this permanent stand? First, you should take note of your regular workflow (or if you haven’t started using the workshop yet, visualize what your ideal workflow looks like). Note zones for different activities, and factor in proximity when considering where you want to situate your safety station. Have some chemicals that may be a little too reactive and unbalanced? You probably want your safety equipment stationed as close to them as possible.

Let’s face it: Garages and workshops can be unpleasant environments. Factors like temperature and humidity can make working in one highly uncomfortable. If you don’t have proper ventilation or climate control, a trip to your workshop probably ends in a shirt soaked with sweat. This can be a major nuisance when you’re trying to focus on the task at hand.

Heat is just one end of the spectrum. In winter, your workshop can be rendered unusable without adequate heating. That’s not just inconvenience for you, either; some tools and materials can react negatively to extreme temperature changes. So, how do you ensure you keep your work area human-friendly and usable throughout the year? It’s pretty straightforward: Get a climate control system installed. 

Admittedly, this is easier said than done. If your workshop is attached to your home, extending existing climate control configurations to cover the area can prove to be expensive. However, you don’t need to go over the top; a portable air conditioner in the summer is a good idea. Likewise, a space heater could go a long way in the winter. Don’t want to use one of those? SlashGear also has ideas on alternative ways to heat your garage like adding in-floor radiant heating. You might also want to consider adding a dehumidifier to reduce dampness and improve air circulation, as well as looking into door materials that provide better insulation.

If your workshop is situated in a residential area, you’re bound to run into noise pollution problems. Whether workshop noises end up bothering your neighbors, your partner, or even worse, your own ears, you could end up reducing the quality of life of those nearby whenever you’re working on a project. At varying degrees of noise, you and your neighbors can experience raised stress levels, lowered focus, and even hearing damage.

Nobody likes being in a noisy area, and you’re certainly not making any friends while you’re working on a loud project. The first step to making your workshop habitable in this regard is to invest in soundproofing. Ideally, this is a project you’d want to carry out before the building is fully constructed, but you can soundproof your workshop without tearing the whole structure apart by installing acoustic panels.

This solution isn’t perfect for holistic soundproofing; they won’t stop external sounds from seeping into your work area, for example. However, they are good at absorbing sounds that come from within. That’s significant when you consider all the clanging that goes on in a workshop, especially since you don’t need to tear down any walls or reconfigure your existing layout with acoustic panels. You may want to take the cost and material type into account — some panels have fire rating issues that could pose a hazard if you’re working with flammable chemicals.

It’s unavoidable: Your workshop is going to gather dust and grime. If you’re into woodworking, you probably know that sawdust and wood filings can be particularly stubborn to clean up. It can seem like you’re fighting an uphill battle to keep your garage free from dust; you could run your vacuum nonstop and still observe stray specks lying around.

Sometimes the grime isn’t even directly as a result of your efforts. Other factors also come into play,  like dust infiltration from cracks in windows and stagnant airflow if the workshop isn’t properly ventilated. Left unchecked, beyond the untidy aesthetic that a dusty environment brings, a workshop without a proper dust management system could trigger allergies and lead to respiratory issues.

To keep your workspace dust free, you’ll need to create a dedicated cleaning setup. This should include a garage dust extractor — they’re more effective than regular vacuum cleaners at picking up finer specks — a dust filter for your vents, and a floor mat to catch fine particles before they become airborne. With these upgrades, your workshop will be less of a pain for you to manage. You’ll also want to deep clean every couple of months for this setup to be fully effective. 

Workshops can be a challenge to organize, even when you’re at the top of your game. There are so many tools to put away. With that in mind, one of the biggest problems you will run into in keeping your workshop clean and tidy is managing your power cords. It’s all too easy to drop one tool here, funnel a wire from an extension cable there, and before you know it, your layout resembles a rat’s nest of electrical cords.

Beyond the obvious visual eyesore, there’s also the topic of tripping hazards. You could be walking normally and suddenly take a tumble because a power cord wasn’t kept out of your walking path. That poses serious risks for your physical health, especially with so many tools and other potentially sharp objects lurking about.

To keep your floor clear of trailing wires, you have to be a bit intentional about your means of storage. For instance, instead of leaving your corded drills on counters or shelves with their wires dangling, you could use the drill shelf we suggested earlier to keep those cords safely tucked away — the simple act of keeping them suspended in the air eliminates the problem. The same logic applies to power cables — you could invest in an extension cord organizer to keep them coiled and easily accessible, or you could think up a more elaborate solution if you have designated work zones where your power tools reside.