When Sofia Palacios wants to spend time in her backyard, all she has to do is step outside her bedroom door.
Palacios, 22, lives in her family’s detached garage, so the yard is only ever a few steps away.
Although it might not be the most conventional sleeping spot on her parents’ property, Palacios told Business Insider she loves her garage apartment. It keeps her close to her family and frees up space inside the house for her grandparents.
Sofia Palacios loves living with her family.
Palacios is a student, real-estate agent, and content creator based in San Diego. As she told Business Insider, her family is the center of her world. Palacios and her two sisters are close to their parents and make time for them whenever they can.
“Anytime we go out with friends, we just kind of get going on how much we love my parents,” Palacios said. “They’re the best.”
In fact, all three sisters still live with their parents, preferring to stay close to them rather than live independently.
“It’s a safe place to come home to,” Palacios said of her parents’ home. “My parents are never overbearing. They’re never intrusive. They’ve always just allowed us to come and talk to them whenever we’re ready, and they take an interest in our lives without being judgmental of what we’re going to tell them.”
Their parents also don’t charge them rent, as they’re happy to have their daughters living at home.
When her family moved into a new home in January, Palacios was concerned about the bedrooms.
Palacios’ parents had been renting a home in San Diego when the perfect house for their family went up for sale a few blocks away.
The house had four bedrooms, so Palacios, her parents, and her sisters could each theoretically have their own. However, Palacios’ grandparents visit often, and if each daughter had her own room, there wouldn’t be a dedicated space for them to stay.
“We really wanted them to be able to come and visit and stay with us as much as possible,” Palacios said.
Then, Palacios thought of an unconventional solution: she could make the detached garage her bedroom, freeing up a room in the house for her grandparents.
The large garage could be converted into a bedroom.
Palacios thought that if she moved into the garage, the fourth bedroom in the main house could be a dedicated guest space.
The garage already had a fan and electricity installed, so it wasn’t a stretch to turn it into a bedroom. She also often stored her art supplies in her family’s garages, so it seemed like a natural fit.
“With the garage, the deal was if I could fit all of my art stuff in there and all of my bedroom stuff in there, then I could have it,” Palacios said.
She found a way to make the space work, so Palacios moved into the garage when her family made the house their home in January 2026.
The garage isn’t attached to the house, so Palacios has her own space.
The garage door faces an entrance to the house that leads to the laundry room.
The garage has a sink, but no bathroom or kitchen. Palacios has to walk to the main house to use the restroom, shower, or make food, which she said is only “annoying” after the sun sets. She has to unlock her door, step across the dark alley, unlock the door to the main house, go to the bathroom, and then do it all in reverse.
During the day, Palacios leaves the door open, and she comes and goes through the main house as she would if her room weren’t a stand-alone garage.
“We eat dinner together probably every night,” Palacios said. “My sisters barge into my room. I think the only one that knocks is my dad.”
Palacios set up her bedroom in one half of the garage.
The garage was a blank canvas when Palacios moved into the small space, giving her the freedom to arrange it however it worked best for her.
She decided to put her bed next to the doorway (convenient for late-night bathroom runs), and it’s against the garage door that leads to the street.
Her nightstand is tucked in the corner, and a dresser sits across from the bed. White cabinetry stores the rest of her clothes directly across from the doorway.
Rugs warm up the space, while a chair facing the bed helps the bedroom feel separate from the rest of the garage.
Palacios has the other half of the garage open as a studio space.
The garage actually has two large doors, one of which is a glass-paned door leading to the patio. It fills the space with natural light, making the area around it ideal for Palacios’ artwork.
She stores the majority of her art supplies in the built-in cabinetry lining the walls, using the corner opposite to paint or work on her pottery.
And although there isn’t a kitchen space, Palacios did create room for an espresso maker and a mini-fridge, which she said has been helpful.
“My sisters and I love the gym, so we always fight over the proteins that we buy,” she said. Having her own mini-fridge ensured she could keep some of her items private.
She also has a multipurpose desk.
Palacios set up her desk in the garage right under the only window in the room.
She stores her school materials in the bottom cabinet, and her makeup supplies are in the top drawer. A mirror with a cover rests atop it, so the desk doesn’t feel like only a vanity when it’s not in use.
The garage has a fan but no central AC or heat, but Palacios has a small heater she uses for winter. She plans to get an AC unit for the summer.
Although Palacios doesn’t have a bathroom in the garage, she does have a sink.
Palacios told Business Insider that having a sink in the garage apartment comes in handy. She uses it to wash her face and brush her teeth.
She installed open shelving near the sink for her products, and she also has a drawer dedicated to her toiletries. Prints hanging on the wall bring some personality to the corner.
Direct access to the patio is a big benefit of the garage.
A wall surrounds the yard, so Palacios felt like she had plenty of privacy. However, she hung up curtains at her grandfather’s behest, though they had to hang from the outside so they wouldn’t get in the way of the garage door’s opening mechanism.
Palacios loves that the glass door leads to the backyard, as it feels like an extension of the yard when it’s open.
“My sisters tan out there sometimes because that’s where we get the most sun,” she said. “I’ll have the door open and be working, and they’ll be tanning and talking to me.”
“It was so annoying in the winter because crickets would constantly slip through the bottom,” she added. “I actually didn’t fully figure out a fix. I had to get used to sleeping with them through the night.”
The garage works well for Palacios.
“I love it,” Palacios said. “I was just really excited to have an open layout. I’ve obviously had rooms before, but to have almost an open loft studio type of thing is such a cool experience.”
She told Business Insider she couldn’t get that kind of space living in her own home.
“San Diego is very expensive,” she said. “Even studios here can be a bit more pricey, and I would always want to stay with my family for as long as I could.”
Aside from having to trek to the bathroom at night and dust collecting in the space, Palacios said she has no complaints about the garage. Plus, her grandparents are visiting more often, and for longer stints, so she feels like the decision has paid off.
“Having the peace of mind that they can come and stay here and have their little space, it motivates them to actually come,” she said. “I think it’s motivating them more and more to stay longer and longer, which was the goal.”
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