Ted, I love your new shop. It looks very "nostalgic."
Here's mine that is probably quite different than most shops. It's called
"G'Raj Mahal." My 19 year old son and I spent this summer making it.
And for the cost of a mirror we get two antique cars in the garage just like Ted. (Well, maybe not just like his. He has a variety. I've just got two that somehow look just exactly alike.)
Now hold on a minute! Before you judge and condemn this garage as a useless piece of jewelry, let me tell you the rest of the story.
I raised 10 children in this house of 2400 square feet. This son that I built this (and restored "Old Henry") with was my last. I now have 22 going on 25 grandchildren and a total of 42 in my immediate family - just children, grandchildren, and inlaws. We have a great huge back yard that we can get everyone together in any kind of good weather and do that at such times. But for years, we've had to relegate winter gatherings to my kids' houses that are all twice as big as mine. We just didn't have room inside for everyone in the winter. So, we were either to have no family gatherings at our house in the winter or build on for umteen thousand dollars like all our neighbors have just for a large family gathering a few nights a year. Then we realized that the biggest room in the house was being wasted storing chunks of metal - the garage. So, we decided to turn the garage into a convertible banquet hall for the family gatherings a few nights a year and garage the rest of the time. So we did. When it's time for the family gathering we back the cars out, roll the carpet across the floor, put a couple of space heaters on to warm it up (it doesn't take much cause it's fully insulated including an R-13 insulated garage door), set up the tables and chairs, turn on the sound system and welcome the crowd in.
We just finished it in time for Thanksgiving dinner and had 34 eat together there with room to spare. When the function is over we roll the carpet up and pull the cars in where they are all but a few hours a year.
Now you know "the rest of the story" about
G-Raj Mahal.
Converted to banquet hall:
The way it was for 27 years before the conversion: