If you followed along my Instagram stories last week, then you got a sneak peak at our home gym. It’s served us well during the pandemic and we are so glad that we were able to transform the space when workouts at the gym were not possible. Going forward, we plan to continue to use our home gym so we thought we’d put the finishing touches on the space now that we know exactly what we want and how we use our home gym.

You may have noticed that I often do projects in several phases. The first phase is the planning phase (I talk about that here - creating a design board for your project). The second phase is usually a combination of executing the design board AND sometimes it’s an intermediary phase of trialing the space and learning more about how we use it (like we did with our home gym). Now that we are confident in how we are using the space, we are investing in the products to organize and design the space fully, the final phase. Does that make sense? Have you ever tried this approach?

Here is what this space looked like before we moved in:

As you can see, the previous owners used it for a toy storage area. It had an adorable chalkboard wall. The flag was covering the crawl space door and there was (at the time) a whole house water filter also in the space (not shown). We wanted to use this space differently, so when the pandemic hit and we couldn’t go to the gym anymore, we realized this space had great potential as a home gym.

We did a few things for the first phase of the project. We installed these extra large wall mirrors, painted the walls and mounted TV on the wall. After using the gym for a little over a year and FINALLY having weights and racks available to purchase again (there was a huge home gym backlog with everyone doing the same thing as us! It took a long time for us to acquire even the small number of weights we do have.), here is what that phase looks like and what we started with for this final phase of the home gym project:

For this final phase of the project, I wanted to employ some longer term organizing solutions to our home gym space. Specifically, I wanted to:

• find a more permanent spot for the weight rack

• mount the resistance bands on the wall where we could see them

• identify storage for waters, equipment and gym towels

• add a little decorative touch too

So I came up with several ideas on my design notepad and started to plan out the home gym. I talk more about my complete process for planning each project here. Here is the rough sketch:

From there, I tested out the four scenarios above using objects and baskets I already owned. Sometimes I really have to feel out the space before I’m ready to commit to a plan. Are you the same way? I also looked at Pinterest for home gym ideas and for ideas on how to hang resistance bands. I pinned all of those things here. Once I narrowed it down to ideas 3 and 4 (above), I went to Target to look for the items on my list:

1. Wall mount/hook for resistance bands

2. Art/Decor for over cube storage

3. Baskets for yoga mats and taller equipment items

4. Mount for Exercise Ball

We found a lot of great basket options at Target. One thing I shared on my stories as well as on my recent post about shopping at The Container store is to shop the entire store. Some of the best items I find are often ones that don’t serve their original intended purpose. In this home gym set up, you will see that I couldn’t find what I needed in the exercise section. I ended up using items from the baby and kid section of the store to organize our workout equipment.

Colorful Hyacinth Basket || Neutral Hyacinth Basket (Floor, Medium, Small) || Striped Basket (Tall, Short) || Pom Pom Basket (Small, Large) || Chevron Woven Basket (Cube, Large Round)

Once I got home with way more stuff than I could ever actually need (another tip: buy more than you think you need so you have options!), it quickly became obvious what needed to go where and which plan we would finally choose. Here is the final reveal with links to everything below the photos:

After: Home Gym

The 4 cube shelf holds sliders and other workout equipments. The bottom baskets are labeled clean and dirty and house our gym towels. We love the added art to the top of the shelf and hope to use it to write down notes and gym progress.

Cube Storage || Woven Cube Baskets || Bin Clip Labels || Workout Mat || Hook Board for Bands || Striped Basket || Yoga Mat || Faux Plant || Writing Board || Resistance Bands Short || Gym Towels (not pictured)

After: Home Gym (Opposite Wall)

We kept the TV mounted in its previous position. We mounted the fan in the upper right hand corner of the room. The weights are now centered underneath the TV and the mat is now centered on the mirrors (ignore smudges, I live with a toddler!). It actually gave us more room to workout in front of the mirrors which Ty is super happy about.

Mirrors || Fan || Weight Rack || Weights || Colorful Weights || Exercise Ball || Exercise Ball Mount (not pictured, on order)

After: View from the Doorway

Since this area is right off of our playroom, I wanted it to look nice even with the door open. We added a faux plant since there is no natural light in the space , a pretty bin to contain the yoga mat and taller equipmetns and the resistance bands add a nice pop of color.

Cube Storage || Woven Cube Baskets || Bin Clip Labels || Workout Mat || Hook Board for Bands || Striped Basket || Yoga Mat || Faux Plant || Writing Board || Resistance Bands Short

Last but not least, we mounted the resistance bands on this adorable peg board from Pillowfort by Target. I love shopping all areas of the store to find the perfect product. AND when we got home we noticed that the bands matched the pegs, a happy organized accident.

Before + After: Home Gym

From Playroom to Work(out) Room

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