Garage Décor

I bought a new home a few months ago and I’m getting ready to get its garage in shape.

I want to incorporate a décor into its initial design and would appreciate your input.

The house is cape code (grey with white trim) and features loads of used brick. I’m finding that black wrought iron is very complementary so that’s something to keep in mind.

In terms of themes, I’m thinking along the lines of “barnstormers of aviation” or “golden years of racing” but I’m open to whatever; the key is for it to be interesting, unique, clever, & congruent with the rest of the home to produce an integral & deliberate look.

Beyond décor, I’d appreciate any practical ideas you may have. For instance, I recall that one GRM’er finished an entire wall in peg board painted white. Brilliant…interesting, unique, & clever; just what I’m looking for.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide, Brett

Epoxy your floor now while theres nothing in it! much harder to get that epoxy down in an even coat when theres 70s Z car guts all over the place.

Also, check out any department stores, Kmarts, Grocery, hardware or other retail places that are going out of business/remodelling and see if you can get their slat/pegboard and hooks. Even a small amount (8'x8') of this is great for organization and can be painted to match. I also like WW2 era art deco style poster art (think guys in overalls swinging sledges and such) as wall art in the garage. Makes me feel like Im getting some work done...even if Im only freezing in the cold reading some pointless car mag from 6 months ago that Ive read until the pages are half torn just to escape the "boss

My .02.

Hi 4cylndrfury,

Thank you for the advice, one plan I have is to borrow a label maker from work to print nice & professional looking tags for all my plastic containers. They are going to read “Pluming E36 M3”, “Electrical E36 M3”, “Dry Wall E36 M3”, etc.

Bhahaha…only amusing to GRM’ers but that’s the point.

OUTLETS!
you can never have enough outlets, one rule of thumb I heard is that you should have 1 outlet every 4 feet around the base of your garage.

reeling hose for your air compressor, and a self reeling extension cord help tremendously.

oh, and a fire extinguisher bottle or four would be good too.

oh, and I would definitely go with the "golden years of racing"

but what do you consider the golden years?

personally, I want a mural of Sir Stirling Moss in the Merc at the Mille Miglia. Everything in black and white, except the big 722 emblazoned in red. sweet!

maroon92 wrote: oh, and I would definitely go with the "golden years of racing" but what do you consider the golden years?

Back when men were men, helmets were leather, and your pit crew consisted of the chap in the right seat.

Something like this…

Old license plates,weathered barn siding, a couple of Texaco/Sinclair signs or pumps complete with rust and or bullet holes, a vintage "coke-cola" machine (working, but not restored).

And some sort of 50's-60's 2 seat roadster/special with spokes, preferably red, but BRG will do.

Put outlets up off the floor for easy access

oh and add a lift

Every piece of wall that isn't an outlet, switch, or shelving should be pegboard.

Lighting, lighting, lighting. Fixed, flexible, and portable.

At least one stout bench.

LIght colors on the pegboard, ceiling, and floor helps with lighting - and finding stuff you drop.

Paint a beer fridge to match your favorite old race car - stripes, sponsors, and numbers.

Mount a radio out of the way so you can have tunes while you tinker.

unless you have a seperate working garage, i would worry more about storage/functionality then a given "theme"

I just put up some free swag posters i got at shows/events.. although, someday in the future i predict a significant other having a problem with the autographed model tire/exhaust posters....

The local Linens and Things just went under, along with a Steve and Barry's. They sold everything, including the modular bits they use for hanging hooks and the hooks and baskets themselves.

My garage walls are now corrgated tin halfway up, and then modular pieces. That gets a lot off the ground and keeps floor space. The corregated metal also really reflects the light, adds an old garage feel, and protects the sheet rock from misguided tools and fits of rage.

Mental wrote: My garage walls are now corrgated tin halfway up, and then modular pieces. That gets a lot off the ground and keeps floor space. The corregated metal also really reflects the light, adds an old garage feel, and protects the sheet rock from misguided tools and fits of rage.

outstanding!

paint the fridge. HUGE difference. mine is black with some red/orageish flames and the top has a number in a white circle with a number in it. Really wakes up the garage...and its cheap

+1 on lighting, but how big is the garage?

Now, this may not be very helpful, but I've always found it cool to get poster sized prints done up of me doing cool stuff in cars. Somebody once told me that it seemed awefully egotistical, and I said, "If you can't be egotistical in your own house (especially when you're as awesome as I am), then where the F*&K can you?!"

*I mean put up poster sized prints of YOURSELF. If you want to put up pictures of me doing cool stuff in cars, I'm fine with that too

maroon92 wrote: oh, and I would definitely go with the "golden years of racing" but what do you consider the golden years? personally, I want a mural of Sir Stirling Moss in the Merc at the Mille Miglia. Everything in black and white, except the big 722 emblazoned in red. sweet!

Late 60's to early 70's endurance racing

Early to mid 70's F1

Late 80's-mid-90's DTM

Mid to late 90's WRC

I dunno...

1. Add outlets- keep them at least three foot up. You might want to consider a couple of retractable cord units, mounted on each wall and possibly one overhead.
2. Cabinets. Mounted high across the front wall. Used dark ones can be painted and brightened up. Unfinished ones are also pretty reasonable. An old solid wood door can be cut down if necessary and makes a decent work table/bench
3. Lights-Need to have plenty, but keep them switched. No need to have them all on,all the time.
4. Floor-Epoxy is nice, but I like cheap carpet better. Not as cold on the back. Even a vinyl place and press tile can be attractive.
5. Some provision for heat.A kerosene heater can warm up the inside of an INSULATED garage in a short time. 6.Most Important-keep everything in it's place!

noob question attackLOOKOUT AAAHHH

Can you burn a Kerosene heater in a closed garage? will it build up fumes? My garage is berkleying freezing right now

Hi neon4891,

It’s 21’ wide and 20’ deep. Fortunately, there’s a mud room connecting the garage to the house that has a washer / dryer along with a big utility sink so the only wasted space is the water heater. The garage at my last home was the exact same width but it was 1’ wider than the door on one side and 3’ wider than the door on the other…now, I’ve got 2’ on each side which reduces accessibility to the shelves without pulling a car out.

BTW, a late model Ford Explorer & a RX-8 will be calling the garage home.

Hi minimac,

I’m in Southern Caul-lee-fornua about 12 miles from the ocean so staying warm is rarely an issue…besides, I’ve got one of these really nice shop heaters:

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Mental wrote: My garage walls are now corrgated tin halfway up, and then modular pieces. That gets a lot off the ground and keeps floor space. The corregated metal also really reflects the light, adds an old garage feel, and protects the sheet rock from misguided tools and fits of rage.

How is your corrugated finished off at the floor level?

I mean does it go all the way to the ground so that you have to worry about it rusting or is it slightly off the ground and do you have any type of edging?

Did you cut sheets in half? or did you turn it on it's side?

4cylndrfury wrote: noob question attack*LOOKOUT AAAHHH* Can you burn a Kerosene heater in a closed garage? will it build up fumes? My garage is berkleying freezing right now

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d001001-d001100/d001100/d001100.html

Hope this helps! Be safe!

4cylndrfury wrote: Can you burn a Kerosene heater in a closed garage? will it build up fumes? My garage is berkleying freezing right now

I fire mine up outside-it stinks when it first starts up-then bring it into the garage. After about a hour, I'll open the side door or the window for a bit and do whatever it is that needs to be done. I'll then take the heater outside to turn it off, because it will stink again. That way the really bad smelling fumes are outside and not stinking up the house or garage.

the way I see it, my garage is not insulated well enough to cause any concern. I use a "salamander" heater in the coldest parts of the year, and since the garage leaks like a sieve, I have not noticed any drowsiness, or light headedness due to fumes.

When you do outlets like the others have said, make sure they're not all on the same circuit. I have 4 different circuits in my garage so when I use my wire feed welder & big lights I'm not tripping fuses.

When you intall the big 8' flourecent lights keep them on separate switches. For instance, when my garage is open in the summer the lights above the garage door can be shut off because they're covered by the door.