While we dote over our pet project of home improvement or building a new dream home, garages usually take the back-seat. However, when you spare a thought for the utility garages bring in and “what if” there was no garage, would we realize the important place garages occupy in our daily lives. No less a company than Hewlett Packard was first started out of a garage! This garage is now a much visited museum, called the HP Garage.

Over time garages have undergone significant changes. Until 1960s, when owning a car was still considered a luxury, garages were usually disconnected from the main dwelling place. There would be a long driveway. After 1960s, when automobiles got interwoven into our day-to-day lives, garages typically got attached to the main dwelling unit, with a walkthrough door connecting the garage to the house. This ensured a person is not exposed to elements of nature after parking and before getting inside the house. As garages got closer to houses, garages were no more a solitary place accessed only for parking or taking out the car. It became a storage place for various tools, equipment and materials, a place to do home improvement activities in and even to run a shop out of!

Now, there are a variety of garage styles, suitable for ones needs, local conditions and legal requirements. From the erstwhile, Victorian Style garages to modern RV garages, garage design has come a long way.

A garage can be a plain building only to park vehicles and to store some goods in or it can be a structure with space for dwelling or recreation. A garage can come with a loft, which one can turn into a space for guests or for running home business. Garage plans with dormers are quite popular, for while providing space for loft, they also allow for headroom and ample lighting.

Garages with apartments come with a full-furnished apartment quarters, complete with bedrooms, kitchen, bath and living room. This living quarter can be as a second floor saving floor area or in the same level as the main garage, where floor area is of no concern. Some garages come with a built-in shop along with living quarters, which can be either rented out or used for one’s own needs. Utility garages do not care for aesthetics, but only for the functionality. Utility garages are usually used in rural areas or for industrial purposes. A garage size primarily depends on the number of vehicles that need to be parked, which usually number between one and three.

Behm Design (www.behmdesign.com) is one of the leading designers of garage plans. One can easily conceive and confirm the ideal garage plan suitable for individual needs and local circumstances. While a preview of each design, among hundreds of garage designs, is shown for a basic understanding, full-fledged garage plans are available for download at a nominal price. One can also order a complete plan on papers along with an exhaustive list of materials. For each such order, Behm Design sends out four sets, so as to help one submit plans to local authorities for approval and to the builder. Along with garage plans, Behm Design features many helpful articles and widgets, in order to support an individual in building his ideal garage in every possible way.