Home Gym Makeover: How We Transformed Our Home Gym - Paint, Layout, and a Long-Awaited Delivery
By Drew
Iron and Lime | Makeover Series - Part 1
Last Updated: Mar 2026
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Every home gym has a turning point. That moment when you look around the space you train in every day and realize that it could be so much more. For us, that moment finally turned into action, and the result is a gym makeover we've been wanting to tackle for a long time.
This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Today we're covering the full process: taking everything down, patching and painting the walls, and getting the space ready for a new layout. Next week, Jess and I will walk you through the full gym tour. And in Part 3, we'll get into storage, placement, and how we make a single-car-garage-worth of space work really hard.
If you've been thinking about upgrading your own home gym, this one's for you.
Step 1: Strip It Back
With the rack already out of the room, we had a rare window, such as an empty space to work with. That made the decision easy: pull everything off the walls, patch every hole, and get a clean surface before touching a paintbrush.
The existing walls were classic contractor-grade beige. Flat finish, zero character, and years of scuffs and marks from daily gym use. It had to go.
Check out the Youtube video below
Step 2: Fresh Paint - and Why Color Selection Matters
Here's where my wife Jess takes over, and she absolutely crushed it, along with her friend Leslie. The two of them handled the bulk of the painting, and the results speak for themselves.
The color we went with is Dark Gray Ash from Home Depot. The decision came down to the equipment, specifically the lime green dual Indy functional trainer that anchors the room. We needed a wall color that would complement it, not compete with it. The dark grey does exactly that. It makes the green pop, and it works surprisingly well against the rubber stall mats too.
One wall presented a unique challenge (half brick, half drywall). We painted both, and the finished look ties together better than expected.
The most important tip from the painting process: cover your equipment. Every piece of it. Whether you use drop cloths or just take your time being careful, do not let paint anywhere near your barbells, your bearings, or anything expensive. Gym equipment is an investment so I treat it like one.
Step 3: The Indy Arrives
And then the moment we'd been waiting for.
The Rogue Indy functional trainer finally showed up, just over five weeks after ordering, which honestly wasn't bad, but anyone who's ever waited on a Rogue order knows that watching the status page is its own kind of sport. Every stage feels monumental. Processing. Shipped. Out for delivery. You know how it goes.
Assembly went smoothly. It's heavy, no question, but once you've built one of these, you get a feel for it. Fair warning: I still can't tell the difference between the 5-inch and 4¾-inch bolts off the top of my head, but we got there.
The Indy is now the centerpiece of the room, and that's intentional. It's the anchor of how I train, and the new layout is built around it.
What's Coming Next
Next Saturday, Jess and I are doing a full gym tour together. We'll walk through every corner of the new setup, talk through the layout decisions, and answer questions for anyone who might be thinking about pulling the trigger on similar equipment.
Part 3 will cover the practical side, storage, organization, and how to make half a two-car garage function like a complete training space.
- Drew
Iron & Lime Fitness
Let's Talk
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Let's train hard and stay consistent.
Strength for Life. Fitness for All.
Barbells and Balance Things:
Watch the full video review on our YouTube channel
Home Gym Makeover Pt. 1 | Dark Ash Grey Paint, Layout Redesign & the Rogue Indy and CTM-1 Arrive
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Train hard. Live bold. Stay lime.
