Garage Football Stadium Makeover

Football season is going to look a little different this year so I partnered with Lowe’s Home Improvement to makeover my garage workshop and turn it into a space where the family can hang out and enjoy the atmosphere of the stadium at home!

So why did I pick my garage for this fun project? We don’t have a media room type space in the house and with it being an indoor/outdoor space, I thought that I could get a really fun tailgating/stadium type atmosphere! The main elements I added consisted of a football field serving table, a fully stocked concession stand, team colors lighting, and folding bench seating.

Football Field Serving Table

The football field table topper was the biggest DIY project of the makeover. I wanted something to bring the element of the field into the space so in the end I just decided to make a one! I started with a 2×4 sheet of ½” thick plywood. I bought a roll of artificial turf and cut a piece with slightly larger dimensions. I sprayed the plywood with a generous amount of high strength contact spray adhesive and then pressed the turf firmly onto the surface and let it dry.

After letting the glue set up for about 20 minutes, I used a razor knife to trim off the excess turf outside of the board. To make the edges look cleaner I ripped some strips of pine down on the table saw to ⅝” x ⅝” dimensions (slightly thicker than the plywood so it would sit flush with the top of the turf) and glued it and nailed it around the outside perimeter. I then used a white oil-based paint pen to mark the lines for the field! I marked the locations on the perimeter wood and then used a straight edge to draw the lines.

To finish the field off, you have to have field goals. To get the most realistic proportion I decided to use ¼” copper tubing and fittings. I cut the tubing with a jig saw with a metal cutting blade and assembled the tubing into the 90-degree angle fittings and t-fittings with superglue.

I finished off the uprights using spray paint to paint them yellow. Most people would just use this as a table decoration but I used to love paper football when I was a kid and so I am going to teach the girls how to play using this mini field!

Concession Stand

One of the best parts of going to the stadium is the food and drinks! I wanted to replicate this as best I could, so I found a bunch of fun products at Lowe’s to help me do it. I purchased a popcorn maker, a hotdog roller, a beverage fridge and made a candy stand from a tool organizer case!

Jenni had the great idea of covering the workbench with brown paper and she drew play diagrams on it to give it some more football flair!

Team Colors Lighting

It is easy to give a room the feel of your favorite team by adding custom lighting. There are a lot of LED lighting options out there now that you can adjust the color of the lighting through the whole color spectrum. I used smart LED Light strips on the back of my workbench and with the room lights off, they really lit up the room well with my team colors!

Folding Seating

I wanted the convenience of folding chairs (for storage when we are not using them) but the feel of a stadium style bench seat. I found some folding triple camp chairs that were big enough to fit three people each. I bought two so the whole family could easily stretch out during the game or for when we have company over eventually!

I had a lot of fun with this project and I know my family is going to get so much use out of it. The girls are even asking to have their movie nights out there as well! If you want to check out more on this project head to my Instagram page where you can find a video of us using the space!