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How To Convert Your Garage Into A Preschool, Daycare, or Play Room

    If you’ve ever considered starting a preschool but aren’t sure if you want it in your home, then you may just want to convert your garage into the preschool, daycare, or play room!  Of course, you certainly don’t need to convert your garage into a preschool room if you’re starting a preschool, but it’s an option to consider.

    We wanted to convert our garage into a preschool room this summer because I wanted to separate our home and preschool.  You see, we had been using almost all of our home previously to house the preschool and now that I am going to be having a baby soon I wanted my own space separate from the preschool business.

    Watch this great video below to see what we did to convert our garage into our preschool room this summer.  We’ve got some great tips and techniques for you that will help you as you convert your garage.

    YOUR TURN!

    Be sure to post all your comments and your own tips on how to convert your garage into a preschool room below the video!  I can’t wait to see what you think about our brand new preschool room!

    About the Author

    Joy Anderson

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    Preschool expert Joy Anderson is the creator of Preschool In A Box, the complete business kit to help women start preschools in their homes. She is the founder of the home preschool model and has helped thousands of women create a supplemental or full-time income by simply teaching preschool classes to 3- to 5-year-olds for a few hours each day. She still runs her own wildly successful preschool and can often be found running after her five children and husband in Boise, Idaho.

    61 thoughts on “How To Convert Your Garage Into A Preschool, Daycare, or Play Room”

    1. Nancy – Actually we hired my brother in law from VA to come out and do all the work. (I didn’t know where to start either!) He is a jack of all trades and did everything for us. If you don’t know someone with handyman skills, then I recommend you ask around for recommendations from your friends/neighbors on people they know that do drywall/concrete/electrical/plumbing, etc. Good luck!

    2. Priscilla P. Jumuad

      Very inspiring. The conversion was so nicely done. Thank you so much for sharing. Can you give me an idea how much it cost you to complete this conversion?

    3. That is EXACTLY what I am going to do with my garage, only we are only going to convert half of the garage and make it a single-car garage and then add a carport on the side. We are going to remodel the front to not look like a garage and have our entrance there. Our city limits the size of the preschool to 400 square feet, so we can’t really use the whole garage. I will send you pictures when we do it. I am going to be remodeling in the spring and then start the preschool next fall, but we already have our plans drawn up.

      Thanks for sharing. This inspires me. I was worried that maybe it was tacky to convert the garage, but now you have given me the confidence I needed! Thanks!

    4. Joy, thanks for sending this to me. It looks amazing and so comforting and enviting for the kids. I cannot wait to get back to the states to have a house where I can do something like this too and have more room. Great job! The kids will love it!

    5. The garage conversion looks really good! There is another preschool teacher here in my area who converted her garage as well, which is major with the cooling issue for Texas. I thought about it for like two seconds and dismissed that one right away.

      I’m converting my formal living room into my new preschool room. The biggest part is figuring out the lighting, which I am still stumped about, since all we have is one lamp in there right now. Track lighting? How do I install that? But that is nothing in comparison to the work you have put into your new room.

      Congrats!

    6. hi, this is really wonderful idea. i already have a preschool and i am going to add these great tips. Congrats.

    7. Your classroom looks great. Just the inspiration I needed. If you don’t mind me asking, how much did this cost?

    8. Joy, all of your ideas for a preschool are inspirational! You make kids and their parents laugh with “joy”! LOL Your new preschool room is wonderful.

    9. Thank you for sharing this video with us. It looks great I always wanted to convert my garage but did not know where to start from or if it was tacky. Know I know how beutiful can it look. Thanks alot for the tips.

    10. Looks great! I love the flower designs on the walls. I have to say I feel a little nervous getting my home ready for a preschool…but I am so excited at the same time!

    11. Joy,

      Love what you did to your garage!

      Did it cost you a pretty penny to do? How do you like having your preschool out of your home? How many ladies work with you or do you do it alone? How many children do you have at a time?

      Nancy

    12. Joy, where did you get your tables? I need to get some and I really like
      yours. Any idea where I could get a table that folds up?
      Thanks , Emily

    13. Hi Nancy – We love having the preschool in a separate area. I have one teacher who teaches a class of 10 students.

      Hi Emily – I got my tables from DiscountSchoolSupply.com

    14. Hi Joy:

      I enjoyed this video very much. I have been planning to convert my garage into a preschool and your idea on the floor is very helpful. I also got some great ideas from on how to arrange the area.

      Your room look wonderful.

      loraine

    15. Thank you joy for the message on the conversion of a garage into a preschool room.

      It is a very wonderful idea, I had an Auntie who did that in Ghana. I would probably do that when I go back to Ghana.

      Stay abundantly blessed.
      Grace

    16. LOVE,LOVE LOVE it!!!!!! I’ve been a preschool teacher for a long time and I’m considering doing the same thing out of my home. It looks amazing!!! Great job!!

    17. Hi, great job and congrats on the baby. I have a 10mth old and until now her room has also been then daycare room. It is NOT fun having them together and can’t wait till I move into the next house which has a seperate room for the daycare. Again good job and congrats on the expecting arrival

    18. That was a great video. I too have converted my garage but does not look quite like yours. I had never thought of using bead-board. Great decor idea! How did you install your heating units. I used a space-heater last winter that did a really good job but would love to just have the vents like you. Love the use of the curtains. We actually built a 3/4 wall up to the garage windows so I still have natural light. But would still like to put in some windows too. I am also curious as to the total cost.

    19. Hi. I love the idea. I had been thinking of making my house into a preschool but our house is small and I just couldn’t commit to using it full time for that purpose. How do you heat and cool your garage?

    20. A few of you have asked how we heat and cool the garage. We have added an air duct that connects to our central air in the house, so it gives us heat and air conditioning. We also have extra wall heaters in the room for extra heating on those really cold mornings.

    21. Love the idea of covering the garage door just in case it doesn’t work out or moving. I like the ideas that you showed us.

      Thanks a bunch, now I am ready to start my remolding of my double garage.

    22. Hi Joy,

      Just watched your garage conversion and getting ready to do the same. I directed our church preschool for 5 years here, and last year quit to take care of my 88 yr mom who passed away this past month. Will be using her room which was a converted garage already. Miss the preschool, as we closed our doors when my husband and I resigned as pastor.

      We are scaling down quite a bit, but feel this is what God would have me do. You’ve done a great job and given me ideas. We have so much stuff and room dividers that held toys that we will have to decide what we have room for. Anyway, your super!

    23. Hello, wonderful job. Question….how do you keep the heating and air from escaping with the curtain just covering the garage…did you have it sealed around the edges?

    24. If you had put the curtain out a foot or so, you could have used it as a drama staging area and had them put on plays there. Love all of the ideas though. What a bright and cheerful space you have created. I am sure the children will love coming there.

    25. Hello, I love your garage conversion. I am in the process of doing the same thing but having a hard decision about the air and heating. Where did you purchase your heater and thermostat? Do you fing it has heated your entire garage for months at a time.

    26. Thank you for sharing this video with us. It looks great I’m planning to convert my garage into a home daycare but did not know where to start from. You gave same great Ideal love the video

    27. For those wanting to convert their garage into a Preschool Room in California, is this allowed?
      I would like to convert my garage as well but I am not sure if this is allowed in CA.
      Who should be contacted for this? I live in the Bay Area.

    28. Thanks for the great ideas on converting the garage into a preschool room. I will be doing the same thing this summer. My question is what’s holding your garage door in place, since you removed all of the metal parts.

    29. hi i wanted to turn my garage into a daycare i wanted to know the estimated cost on converting the room itself not including supplies just the room with the door and blocking off the washer dryer and heating untits adding windows and such the floor basicly what you have without the tbles and decorations and things i just want to make sure im not in over my head you did an amaing job best of luck to you hope tp here frm you soon

    30. I would like to do the same but not sure if it’s allow in California ??? Please help . Thank you and great job

    31. Hi all, a few more answers – this is a popular post!

      Elizabeth – The estimated cost is probably between $5,000-$10,000 depending on what you use and who does it for you.

      Yvette and Navid – Unfortunately I don’t know what the city code is for your area in California. Best idea is to call your Planning & Zoning director in your city.

      Amber – Yes, the floor is slightly cold. Nothing socks and shoes can’t fix.

    32. Hi
      its looks nice , can you please let me know how much it cost you ,,, if you are not sure give me a rough idea about the cost.
      Thanks

    33. Awesome, I got this link while I was searching for ideas to convert my 2 car garage into a daycare. It would have been awesome if you could have showed the inside of the restroom and storage too

    34. Vonettia Calloway

      Hello,
      You have a cute little daycare. I have operated a home daycare for 2 years and now would like to convert our daycare once we move into our new home. Please advise if you brother is interested in duplicating his work.

    35. Hello!! I am really interested in opening up my own preschool here in my home in PA. I am going fort bachelors in ECE and already have experience working with preschoolers, as I have been an assistant teacher for 4 years and a lead teacher for 2. I really do not know where to start and who to ask about this, I looked through this website and found a lot of your information very helpful… Would you be able to tell me where to go or who to call to get the “ok” to open a preschool!! I really love your preschool room!!! Thanks for Sharing 🙂

    36. Omg, I love everything you did!!! It’s such a great idea to have your pre-school separate from the rest on the house.

    37. This video was very helpful since my husband and I r in the process of turning our garage into a daycare

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