Oppopinions Wanted: Garage Edition

"Snuze: Needs another Swede" (markg) 08/04/2020 at 09:04 • Filed to: None

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The TL;DR is I want advice on painting my garage. Read below for the full journey.

I am working on finishing my garage. When we moved into the house it was bare concrete floor, only finished on 2 walls and painted in the shitiest manner possible. They also did something wrong with the mud/tape and all the tape lines in the drywall were visible. It was shit.

But I finally got rid of a bunch of stuff, and my dad and I set a sub-panel (along with a heavy up for the whole house) so we could add more receptacles along with a 240V drop for my compressor and a 240V back feed for a generator. We also hung some new LED light fixtures, and I piped in air lines through the wall and will have air taps on either side in the front corners of the garage. We also built a storage room above the garage so I can keep random car parts and other nonsense up there.

I can’t finish drywall for shit, so I hired someone to do it. They are wrapping up today and that means tomorrow or Thursday I can start painting. The plan is to give the whole thing a coat of Kilz primer.

After that, I’m not sure. I originally wanted to do an elaborate 3-tone scheme - white up high, a red stripe in the middle, gray on the bottom.

The thing is, I have a lot more going on than this. I already this think this looks a bit off with black and grey cabinets, also the white plate covers half on the red and half on the grey look bad. I think I’m going to have the same issue, but worse. My tool chests are Craftsman, so red and dark grey. My air compressor is black. I got some free cabinets from a kitchen remodel job that are Home Depot Hampton Bay, so that really bright glacier white. I also have my floor epoxied in grey, with black, white, and beige flakes.

I’m afraid I’m going to end up with too many colors going on and if I can’t match shades exactly it’s going to look weird and bad.

Also, I’m not much of a painter. I was in the Navy, I can slather battleship grey over bulkheads, and that’s about the extent of my painting experience. I am starting to think sticking with one color would be a better choice. And maaaaaybe doing trim in a different color.

I’m starting to think this person has the right idea (and not just about the Porsche):

A neutral greyish shade with white trim. That way everything kinda works together and it won’t look so busy. That way I’m not trying to match anything; it’s been said that sometimes it’s better to pick a very different color if you can’t get an exact match.

So what do you think, Oppo? Do you have any other suggestions?

facw > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:07

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I’d just paint everything white. And put white epoxy on the floor. And then bask in all that glorious diffuse light.

Wacko > facw 08/04/2020 at 09:10

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K.I.S.S.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:11

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I like white walls (ours was like, mustard coloured when we moved in).

I wanted to maximize light

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:14

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Paint the walls white but keep the red stripe without the tri tone. It’ll add interest.

Or you could do light gray with white trim all around and that would exactly unremarkable. It IS a workshop after all. As long as it doesn’t look bare it’ll be fine.

Another idea is all white with a red, blue, green, or whatever color 1/3  up with no intermediary stripe.

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:16

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I hate seeing dirt, even in a garage, so I’m not a fan of white. I also am very sensitive to glare, so I prefer colors that soak up light more so than bounce it around.

I like the neutral gray look. I’d recommend a semi-gloss exterior paint, to give it that extra layer of hardness and protection from dirt. I’m also not crazy about epoxy floors (slippery!) unless done really, really well. I like the Porsche garage a ton. 

Darkbrador > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:25

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Dark blue, with mismatched cabinets & toolboxes colors is the way to go.

Epoxy is pretty, but bare concrete is worry-free. 

Sovande > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:32

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I would paint everything as light as possible. White walls, light grey or white floor, and keep it simple. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:32

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Not flat black. Especially not Vantab lack.

barnie > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:34

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From an old, shadetree- type of guy, quit acting like a girl . It look s fine; easier to work in than most garage/shops. Just get the cars and tools and parts in there and get to work. Spend too much time on the environment here and you’ll stop when a part flys off and bangs the wall. Unless your object is to make the shop for display and not to actually work in. Egads!

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:37

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UserNotFound > facw 08/04/2020 at 09:51

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I’d do the same but with a beige floor. Most tiny parts aren’t beige, and it won’t glare like white and won’t look dirty so fast like white.

MoCamino > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 09:51

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I would have to go with white walls and some colored trim (the red sounded good, maybe also some gray ). I hate not being able to see in the shop. White walls and good bright LEDs will help avoid that.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 10:00

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Martini livery. Can’t go wrong with that.

Jerry Harding > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 10:11

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I’m not a huge fan of white, so I’d go light gray with white trim. 

kleeBRZ > Snuze: Needs another Swede 08/04/2020 at 10:18

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wall colors affect the light in the room dramatically. think about how much light you have, what temperature that light is and where its coming from and where it’ll be reflecting. A dramatic dark color will make the room feel smaller, but an abundance of light fixtures can help balance that and minimize shadows in your work space.

if you have very cool LED lights in the 5000K or higher range, choose some warm hues to neutralize that, like a warm white or a warm grey. like a light grey with a hint of brown tones in it, rather than a cold concrete grey which will end up looking blue under cool lights.

light colored walls will make the room feel larger, especially if a lot of it is covered up by cabinetry and hanging tools. Think also about what kind of wall art you might gravitate towards.

Trim should probably stick to the typical whites, but you don’t want your garage to resemble your living room, like the photo above. Someone should be able to look at photos of all the rooms of your house and generally be able to distinguish them from each other.

The color accent is a great idea to do that, you can do it with a stripe, use a chair rail trim as a demarcation line, or choose a whole wall for an accent color.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/04/2020 at 10:52

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This is the best answer.

That, or lime green and pink Zebra stripes.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI 08/04/2020 at 10:55

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A little psychedelic wallpaper would brighten things up nicely. 

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 08/04/2020 at 11:02

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Dropping shrooms and cleaning carbs!

Tapas > facw 08/04/2020 at 12:14

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I’d go eggshell with a tinge of grey or blue, so it doesn’t feel surgical.

facw > Tapas 08/04/2020 at 12:15

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See I think a surgical setting is perfect for working on cars (aside from needing a bit more care in cleaning)