Old Garage Upcycled – Our Empty Nest

When you can take a small, unused space and make it your own, magic happens. Such is the case with the little house Seattle artist, designer, and welder Michelle de la Vega built.

Michelle de la Vega in the mini house she built. (Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

B E F O R E

With a lot of vision, creativity, and ingenious design, Michelle took a tiny old detached garage and transformed it into a mini version of her dream home.

Michelle had bought the garage (and the house in front of it) with money from a divorce settlement. “At that time I was coming out of the ashes,” she said, “and knew I needed to come up with a good survival strategy for starting over as a single person.” To generate a steady income, Michelle decided to rent out the main house and turn the garage into her home.

The new mini house incorporates much of the original garage’s structure, but (1) the framing was raised four feet to accommodate a sleeping loft and (2) square footage was added to the original footprint for a bathroom.

in her own words

“The [new] garage and the elements in it are all defunct, unwanted things that were reclaimed and given new life.” —Michelle de la Vega

The result is a 250-square-foot living space with sleeping loft that has personality, pizzazz, and clever re-purposing of materials throughout.

Michelle’s mini house

The house is just one small room with the look and feel of a bright and airy studio apartment. The metal ladder to the sleeping loft was once used on a ship. Re-purposing items, like the metal ladder, adds depth and personality to a home and is a great way to go green.
(Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

Fabulous sleeping loft, but I seriously doubt I would be able to climb in-and-out of it every day. It’s meant for someone younger and a lot more flexible than I am. If I was flexible and the space was mine, I might try reversing the bed by putting the head on the other side so climbing over the pillows would not be an issue.
(Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

Under the sleeping loft, the lower ceiling visually creates an intimate entry. Tall metal lockers, from a United Airlines maintenance building, were refurbished for use as closets.
(Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

A rustic wood-burning stove is another old fixture Michelle cleaned, polished, and rescued from obscurity.
Sitting next to the stove are two metal art objects, called “Johnson Solids,” that Michelle welded. On the brick mantel, rusted feet from the old soaking tub she used in her bathroom are on display. (Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

Pillows hang in glass shadowboxes on the living room wall. Made of paper, the pillows are decorated with elaborate architectural drawings Michelle’s father made during her childhood. The industrial décor, modern and chic, reflects Michelle’s passion for welding. (Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

The kitchen is well-organized and accessible with open storage. Vintage crates serve as drawers.
There’s a small camping stove; and a re-purposed industrial latch, next to the window, serves as a towel hook. True minimalist . . . there’s only enough space for what you absolutely need and nothing more.
(Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

French doors lead to a full bath. (Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

[left to above] 1. The bathroom’s simplicity is calming, earthy, and zen-like. Large tiles in dark earth tone are used on the floor and walls surrounding the tub area;
2. A modern white sink sits atop a simple table. (Photos: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

A nice surprise in the bathroom is the deep soaking tub. Old and restored, of course. Replacing the rusted feet with wood makes the old tub look ultra modern and new. A series of industrial latches, like the one used in the kitchen, serve as towel holders. The vaulted ceiling with skylight is a major plus in the small room. (Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

French doors open to a garden, filled with raised planting beds, where Michelle nurtures another passion—raw food— and grows lettuce, beans, snap peas, and tomatoes.
(Photo: Ira Lippke, NY Times)

Acting as general contractor, Michelle had plenty of places to scour around for appropriate materials for her redo. She lives in Top Hat, a neighborhood south of Seattle, that gets its whimsical name from the sculpture of a hat perched atop a nearby transmission shop. Top Hat is near the area’s steel mills, shipyards, and Sea-Tax Airport and offers access to a number of salvage yards.

The renovation took nine months and $32,000 to complete. Since then, Michelle married Robin Cady, a rockabilly acoustic bassist and contractor she met while on a trip to Home Depot in 2007. They moved into the main house, and she’s kept the garage as her “personal sanctuary.”

Michelle is currently renovating the main house. You can follow her progress here.

Photos: Ira Lippke, NY Times via Michelle de la Vega: Spaces.
Source: “Converting a Garage Outside Seattle Into a Tiny Home,” Andrea Codrington Lippke, NY Times, April 21, 2010.