You probably have done the “squeeze play”: after parking the car in the garage with razor-thin precision, you crack open the car door while taking care not to ding it against garbage and recycling bins. Then you maneuver around a gauntlet of bikes, coolers and tools.

Once safely inside, you rarely look back. And why would you? Most garages are cramped and it doesn't help that they're nothing to feast the eyes upon, either.

The good news is that even small changes can yield big differences in a cramped garage. Take it from the team at First Quality Roofing & Insulation. We've been in hundreds of Las Vegas homes and have watched homeowners improve the storage, lighting and ambiance (yes, ambiance) of their garage in just a few hours. Consider these four worthwhile home improvements in Las Vegas:

• Capitalize on ceiling space: There is more than one way to make use of all that open space overhead. If you have rafters, lay boards across the joists to store boxes, seasonal items or gear you don't need regularly. Or build a sliding storage system with plastic totes by securing wood beams against the studs. Even a small sliding system can help make use of the “dead space” above a garage door opener.

• Make use of the side walls: The obvious challenge here is depth; any storage unit will encroach on space. But the side walls also represent the best “real estate” in your garage, so it's time to make a trade-off. If you don't want to go all the way to the floor with 12- or 18-inch-wide shelves, go at least waist-high. If you prefer a more upscale look, install closed cabinets, some of which can be outfitted with slide-out drawers. The main idea is get items off the floor to reduce clutter -- and the squeeze play. A little planning will go a long way in making these valuable home improvements in Las Vegas, so investigate some affordable options to find the one best suited for your needs.

• Apply epoxy to the floor. At this point, your neat-and-tidy garage may start to resemble a basement or rec room, so bring the effect full circle by applying a tough coating of epoxy to the floor. You'll have to sweep, clean, de-grease and scuff the floor first to ensure the epoxy sticks properly. But the eye-catching look is worth it; so is the durability it provides – often as thick as five coats of paint. No one would dream of installing carpet in a garage, but epoxy comes as close as you can get to an upscale, finishing touch in a garage.

• Upgrade the lighting. Some indoor, overhead lights can be garish; outdoor lights can be even worse. You'll want to cast better light on your garage with a soft, 60-watt LED garage door opener bulb – and one withstands high and low temperatures, intense vibrations while lasting 25,000 hours.

Sometimes, poking around a garage to make home improvements in Las Vegas leads to unforeseen discoveries, especially with regard to the roof and insulation. If you find
anything that looks suspicious, call First Quality Roofing & Insulation. We've done a few squeeze plays of our own in our Home Maintenance Checklist to remedy problems small and large for homeowners throughout Las Vegas -- and we can do the same for you.