Mess Makeover

Wanted: Great, cheap and classy ideas needed to do over this space so it can house garage stuff and be an inviting rumpus room for my bedroom-stealing kids.

Or: how do I turn a garage into a tween/teen haven so they don't mess up MY room!

I shouldn't complain - we live in a lovely home, plenty of room to move in the living area but as our last place had a second lounge room where the kids liked to hang out, we are missing that luxury of locking them away to watch their Miley and iCarly or do whatever you do with Skylanders.

The other advantages of kids having their own time-out space are:

• I won't find the equivalent of seven Salada's crumbed through my bed after they've watched the whole DVD box set of Harry Potter
• They won't stop me from going to bed at 7.30pm on a Friday night to watch The Living Room alone with my laptop
• They won't find my secret stash of really nice chocolate as opposed to the cheap shit I buy them
• I won't have to call them out of bed after they've watched a DVD in my bedroom and I can't work out how to turn the digital TV back on
• I won't have to clean up the Slurpee cups and bowls of leftover noodles the next morning from my bedroom
• I can shut the door on the garage and ignore whatever catastrophe has taken place from last night's sleepover

plus many more ....

Factors that I have take into account are I cannot sew, my budget is probably around $50 (unless I can sell that spare fridge - anyone?) and my husband is as handy as ... as .... well he's not.  To be as organised as my beautiful friend Gemma (look at her Lady Shed) would be wonderful.  I know I probably won't end up with anything as awesome as this but I would really like it to be inviting.

from here

I have also been told that the lawnmower HAS to stay (as the last time I insisted it it live outside it got sick and cost a bit to fix) and the bikes need to live in the garage as well.

Now I'm very open to suggestions and tips and would love an excuse to visit the great land of Ikea.  I might also be able to convince Mr Moneymaker to stretch the budget for some sort of floor covering like carpet tiles as it can get pretty cold with that concrete floor.

The fake leather futon couch could do with recovering too but I have no idea how to do this.  There is also a very handy shelf/desk which props up on the far side of the garage which is folded away behind the couch.  It takes up a bit of room so we keep it down until needed.  The built in bookcase next to the under-stair storage is handy but very drab and wearing away in places. And the giant panda had to be kept as it was bought by Mr Moneymaker's Pop just before he died and was meant for Jess, his first great grandchild.  Trouble is it so large it won't fit in the shelves near the garage ceiling or under the stairs.

Of the many rumpus rooms on Pinterest, I picked this one as its the most unattainable:

Dream on! (from here)

So give me any tips, bargains, ideas or your own makeovers and when I do my 'After' shots I'll give you due credit.