Chris and I have gym memberships, but we still wanted (and used a lot) our home gym. I like going to the gym early in the morning (like 5am) when it’s not too crowded and I can choose the machines. I found that leaving even an hour later was too busy for me! My weekends are busy too, and I love the luxury of using the treadmill at our house when the weather is bad 🙂
That is The luxury of having a small gym in your home — you have to have the space and money for the equipment. We started small, in our old house, with a used treadmill. And in the house after that, we set up a treadmill in our guest room. We feel really lucky to have a nice space in our current home to practice. And this space has gone through several transformations! Here’s a look back at the evolution of our home gym:
Home Gym Resources
This “before” picture kind of makes me sick. I hated those orange floors and brown walls. It needed a white coat of paint, stat!
Ceiling Fan | CLJ x Floorpops | Light Fixture | Yoga Mat | Bench (similar) | Weight Rack | Rower (similar) | Treadmill
I always like to start with a mood board. I put the gear we already had here along with the pieces I wanted to buy. I had (and still have) big eyes for that ceiling fan.
These beautiful, easy-to-install floor tiles are the result of our collaboration with FloorPops! They are so durable and sturdy, and the home gym was the first place we ever installed them. Debut!
This room had mirrors when we moved in, but we added trim to really “finish” the look. This is an easy DIY project, and several other mirrors in our house could use this treatment (*side eye*).
Once we were rolling in our rower, treadmill, and weight bench, we were ready to sweat (and we already did, ha!). Never underestimate a well-lit space with a fresh coat of paint and some new floor tiles. It was so motivating to work here.
We already had a rower and a treadmill, so the biggest draw was the ceiling fan (and worth every penny, in my book). Floor tiles are so affordable, and the whole thing costs less than two years of an average gym membership.
This is where I stopped my home gym routine and it hasn’t changed much in a year and a half. I still like to use this space to relax after work with some cardio, and it’s still my favorite on the weekends.
We’ve never removed a staircase before! The motivation here was to get more space in the gym and the room above it – what is now a playroom and may one day be a “bunk room” for sleeping. We rented this, and it wasn’t as expensive as we thought it would be.