1. Gear Clock
Gear clocks boast this unique, masculine, retro-like appearance that works for any space, whether a living room or a garage. This specific gear clock on Instructables spots a neutral gray color that perfectly contrasts with typical garage paint colors like white, beige, or tan.
And there’s more—it uses a microcontroller to track time, has a stepper motor to move gears, and, although it appears metallic, it is hand-made from wood to give it a vintage appearance. Discover the best DIY channels to master woodworking, 3D printing, and maker projects to help you easily complete the woodwork.
2. Arduino Soap/Sanitizer Dispenser
Whether you use your home garage for its common purpose, to park your car and run maintenance on it, or are a DIY enthusiast and use it as your workshop, having a hand sanitizer dispenser will encourage good hygiene habits.
Commercial garage soap dispensers are expensive, so why don’t you save money and DIY this Arduino dispenser? Besides, you’re more likely to sanitize when you remember it’s your creation than if it’s a regular store-bought dispenser. The Hackster guide explains the procedure for actualizing this awesome build.
3. DIY Arduino-Based Car Parking Assistant
There are two types of cars in our tech-advanced world: those that can autonomously parallel- and bay-park without you lifting a finger and the ordinary manual-parking models. If we lived in a perfect world, we’d all own vehicles in the first category. Sadly, cars with park-assist technology feature the kind of price tags you don’t want to look at twice. So, what do you do if you can’t park right to save your life, even after years of driving?
Build and install this Arduino-based car parking assistant in your garage, as explained in the Hackster guide. It features Arduino-controlled LEDs that glow green, yellow, or red to indicate the car’s distance from the wall and make garage parking a cinch.
Does your garage have poor internet reception? Fix the laggy internet with these DIY Wi-Fi extenders.
4. Arduino RFID Garage Door Opener
A quality garage door opener enhances your home’s safety and offers the convenience of pulling up to an open garage door every day. But remote door opening systems can cost a ton, so upgrading your current mechanized garage opener using RFID tags to trigger it is a good way to cut costs. Check out how to do it in this Hackster guide.
5. Electric Wooden Drink Dispenser
Whether you’re usually with company in your garage or work alone, having a drink dispenser in there will make it more fun. You can easily keep hydrated, or you may even pour your favorite tipple in it and drink away gradually—call it convenience! This DIY dispenser made on Instructables is great because it has multiple dispensing containers. It can hold your ice-infused water, soft drink, and liquor. To keep your garage cool, you can also build any of these DIY air conditioners.
6. Arduino Trash Bot
Whether you use your garage solely for auto purposes, specifically for personal projects, or for both, one thing is certain: you’ll generate trash. And if you hate having to touch or step on a trash can every time you need to dump the garbage, the chances of leaving it lying around are pretty high.
Building this DIY trash bot, as explained in the Hackster guide, will not only upgrade your garage but also inspire you to declutter more often. It’s Arduino-controlled to automatically open the lid whenever you bring trash and shut it automatically when you’re done. Are you planning to dispose of electronic waste? Check out what e-waste you can and can’t dispose of to save Mother Nature.
7. Make an Electric Foam Cutter
Foam is an incredibly versatile material and one of the most used in the DIY arena. You will need a good foam cutter if you recently joined the bandwagon and plan to use it in several of your DIY projects. This is because, depending on the type, foam is usually either rigid and slick or too soft and squishy to use regular cutting tools like a knife or a pair of scissors. Build a dedicated foam cutter and save yourself the stress by following this DIY on Instructables.
8. Automatic Lights
Proper garage lighting illuminates the space and helps keep it functional. While you can always invest in regular lighting, it’s better to make more of an effort with your garage lighting. Instead of standard bulbs, build this motion-detecting smart bulb—as detailed in the Hackster guide—which turns on whenever you walk into your garage, and off if you step out.
It will save energy, enabling you to reduce your carbon footprint. Pair it with the DIY garage opener listed earlier and you will always pull up to a readily open, well-lit garage space without breaking the bank. And note that with the relay technology used in this project, you can turn nearly any device into a smart version.
9. Make a Home Security Alarm
Did you know that 9% of burglars prefer the garage as their access point? That’s because, as noted, the garage is the most overlooked part of the home. Whether you use yours regularly or occasionally when you decide to DIY something, having an alarm system can greatly deter anyone with ill intentions. And you don’t have to break your budget on an over-the-top system.
Using a couple of neodymium magnets, double-sided tape, a soldering iron, a stationary knife, and a burner phone, as shown in this Instructables guide, you can build a reliable security alarm for your garage or any other part of your home. Here are some more basic DIY projects to improve your home’s security.
Upgrade Your Garage
Upgrading your garage enhances its aesthetic appeal and transforms it into a functional part of your home. For instance, DIYing the garage door opener means you no longer have to stress out about opening it manually. At the same time, the wooden electric drinks dispenser enhances your time spent in the garage.
And yes, you can still use your garage as storage for the extra stuff, even with the upgrades. You just need a little thought to come up with functional, tech-forward solutions. We’ve compiled the DIY ideas above to get your creative juices going.
