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Make no mistake about it, the garage is frequently the most overlooked space in any modern home. Despite giving us all that extra room to utilize, it’s often relegated to little more than a place to park the car and dump all the debris and clutter we never use yet can’t bring ourselves to get rid of.
Yet by neglecting that space, we’re missing out on a wealth of opportunities to turn our garage into a true extension of the home in all kinds of creative, practical, and stylish ways.
If you’re ready to start making the most of your underutilized room, then these 13 garage wall ideas and inspiration generating tips will help you give your previously unloved space the makeover it truly deserves.
Garage Wall Design Ideas
1. Go Retro With Vintage Garage Wall Signs
Adding a touch of old-cool school can be a quick and simple way of creating a whole new look for your garage space.
Advertising posters and signs from bygone times -particularly those with an automotive theme to them- lends the area a classic feel that harkens back to the days when the local garage was the heart of many a small community.
For that authentic touch, scouring antique stores and collectors fairs can be a great way of picking up a few genuine pieces, though be prepared to pay a premium for them. To save money, you can create a similar look by shopping around online for a replica, vintage-style signs create the same kind of retro look at a fraction of the cost.
2. Pay Tribute to Your Favorite Team with Sports-Themed Walls
If classic cars and all things retro don’t really do it for you, maybe sports are more your thing.
If that’s the case, that empty wall is the perfect opportunity to improve your garage while paying tribute to your favorite team or sporting heroes. You could begin by painting the wall in your team’s colors then add the finishing touches with a wall decal of their logo.
That alone will create an impressive talking point that you won’t be able to resist showing off to your buddies whenever they come over, but there’s nor reason why you have to stop there.
Used sparingly, the occasionally framed jersey or even a football helmet or two can enhance your theme even further, especially when highlighted properly with lighting installation.
Prefer solo sports to a team effort? There’s still a lot of room to get creative here, combining classic photographs or a prized piece of sporting memorabilia with a simple, plain-colored background to create a stylish finish.
3. Add a Splash of Color with a Mural
Of course, the quickest and easiest way to breathe new life into your garage is to pick up your painting tools and slap on a fresh coat of paint, but why do that when you could really brighten the place up with some kind of mural?
Sure, this means you’ll need the artistic skill to pull off something of high quality (or at least be able to get a talented friend to help), but this is your chance to really do something unique
Again, sports teams make great subject matter, as do scenes from your favorite books, movies, or TV shows. Think about it – How cool would it be to walk straight into a scene from Game of Thrones every time you park the car in the garage?
Of course, that mural doesn’t necessarily have to be about anything, in particular, it could always just be a cool design, a fun explosion of your favorite colors, or anything else that reflects your tastes, style, or interests.
Don’t quite have the creative chops to paint a mural? Keep it simple with these paint color ideas instead:
Garage Wall Color Ideas
4. Use Blue to Create Your Cool, Calm Zone
As much as we all love our families, most of us at one time or another have wished that there was somewhere in our home we could go to get a breather from them, even if it is only for five minutes.
Maybe you’ve even gone into your garage before now, hoping to get a moment’s respite from the madness of family life, only to find that drab, dull, lifeless space does little to make you feel better.
While you may not have the space to turn your entire garage into a haven of tranquility, you can make it a much more relaxing place to spend time in by painting the walls blue.
Shades like KILZ Mountain Stream can evoke the kind of calming ambiance you’d normally find out in nature or down by the sea, so whatever your reasons for spending time in that garage, you can be sure to feel nicely chilled out while you’re there.
5. Create a Luxury Feel with Ferrari Red
Red. It’s the color of passion and romance, of danger and excitement, so it’s no wonder that it’s the one color which, more than any other, has become synonymous with the automotive world.
Given its long association with brands like Ferrari, it comes as no surprise either to learn that Rosso Corsa is among the most popular color choices for garage renovations, adding a striking, bold finish that really revitalizes the space.
Try combining red walls with white trims and ceiling to create a powerful finish that’s bound to make you feel like you’re stepping straight into a Ferrari showroom.
6. Keep it Classy With an All-Black Finish
Of course, red is far from the only color that denotes luxury, particularly for a space such as a garage. Dark-brick walls can add a certain air of elegance to that space, transforming it from a cold, scruffy, clutter-filled place of neglect to one of stylish sophistication.
Whether you break out the paint rollers and add a dark coat to the brickwork or you add a dark cover to the drywall, combining blacks, charcoals and dark grays with the occasional spotlight can make that garage feel like you’re stepping into a scene from a James Bond movie, or perhaps straight into the Batcave itself.
7. Use White for a Contemporary, Minimalist Look
On the opposite end of the spectrum, going with an all-white look for your garage walls is a great way to make a small space feel that much roomier.
A good quality white satin paint will create a nice, smooth finish that will create a sleek, contemporary finish. Not only that, but satin walls are generally pretty easy to clean, making it a good choice if your garage doubles up as a workshop, studio, or any other practical function.
Garage Wall Storage Ideas
8. Use a PegBoard for Tool Storage
From boxes stored on shelves to the ever-popular rolling tool-chest tucked neatly beneath your workstation, you’ve got countless options at your disposal for storing tools, but few are as quick, cheap, and easy to set up as a good old fashioned pegboard.
Available in a range of materials from galvanized steel to basic plastic, you don’t have to look far to find a quality pegboard at a price within your budget.
That said, it can prove even cheaper to make your own if you have a good-sized plywood board, some pegboard hooks and a decent drill to hand.
That way, you can create a pegboard tailored to your tool set-up so that you have easy access to every piece of kit, a far better option than dealing with the kind of mess that happens when you cram too many tools onto one board.
Going the DIY route with your pegboard tool storage solution also has the added advantage that you can easily paint it or treat it with wood stain to better blend in with the rest of your garage design.
9. Tidy Up Your Workspace with Simple Nails and Hooks
As practical as pegboards can be, they’re not the best option for everyone. This is especially true if you only have a few tools to hang up, or if you find that no matter how you dress it up, that the design of that pegboard clashes with the look you’re trying to create.
The good news is that there is a simpler option:
Using your garage walls themselves as a hanging storage solution. This is generally no more difficult than adding nails, screws, or hooks into the walls and using them to hang your tools.
Often, this can prove even better than using a pegboard as it gives you even more flexibility to arrange your tools in a way that best suits you.
10. Free up Space with a Bike Storage Rack
Of course, tools are far from the only things we store in our garages. At last count, some 47.5 million people in the United States classed themselves as cyclists or bike riders. All those bikes have to go somewhere and, more often than not, they end up in the garage.
While that may be the most secure option, it does take up quite a bit of space. That’s not to mention the ever-awkward task of trying to navigate your way around a garage without knocking that free-standing bike into your precious car.
Thankfully, somebody once had the good sense to invent the wall-mounted bike rack, a smart solution for storing bikes in your garage while freeing up valuable floor space at the same time.
Available in a variety of sizes capable of storing everything from a single mountain bike to a whole family fleet of two-wheelers, the only thing you have to be careful of with your bike storage is that you don’t install it too high up on your garage wall. Otherwise, you’re going to have a pretty difficult time getting that bike down when it’s next time to go for a ride.
Practical Garage Wall Ideas
11.Upgrade Your Workout With a Home Gym
Prefer staying home to get your exercise rather than heading out on your bike but don’t quite have the room for a full home gym? There’s plenty of creative ideas for garage walls you can put to work in utilizing them for a good work out.
A simple wall-mounted pull-up bar, for example, can be easily installed to help you get those all-important upper-body workouts done. Alternatively, you could save money by investing in a simple set of wall anchors specially designed for gym use.
These can be used with resistance bands, training ropes or suspension straps, meaning a limited amount of space no longer has to get in the way of a good full-body workout.
Rather work on your downward dog? If you have the floor space available, your garage wall is a great spot to put a full-length mirror and a storage rack for your yoga mat. It could also be used for a wall-mounted punch bag, or simply to house storage for your free weights.
11. Turn Your Garage into a Workshop
Using a garage space as a workshop may be obvious to some, but if your garage walls have become dominated by storage boxes, then you’re missing out on an opportunity to set aside some valuable space for those renovation projects and various household maintenance tasks.
Even if you’re never going to work on the kind of project that requires large equipment like a bench sander, for example, you’ll still find it helpful to add a workstation to at least one wall. Combine this with one of the tool storage options we looked at earlier, and you’ll find that having that dedicated space makes life much easier when it comes to repairs or other essential DIY chores.
12. Get Creative with a Home Studio
Not really the DIY type? Building a workstation and storage into your garage wall can be a great way to carve out some dedicated space for a hobby or creative project.
Always wanted to try your hand at painting? That workbench can easily become a makeshift home studio. Need a quiet sanctuary to write the next great American novel? Install a wall-mounted light, get yourself a comfortable chair, and you’re good to go.
13. Blow Off Steam with a Basketball Hoop
Last but by no means least, this may not be the most practical suggestion if your garage is full to the brim with all of your family’s treasures, and especially not if it’s the place where you store your car.
However, if your garage is mostly empty, them adding a hoop can turn it into a fun space where you can blow off some steam and enjoy a little top-quality downtime.
Bonus Idea: Minimise Your Garage to Try Out Your Favorite Garage Wall Ideas
Whether it’s installing a basketball hoop or adding a workbench, many of these ideas are all dependent on one thing:
Having the space available.
So, if you’re suddenly feeling inspired to use your garage wall as a home workout station but find that said wall is buried boxes crammed full of who-knows-what, now is the perfect time to have a good clear out.
That’s not to say you have to go completely minimalist, but by asking yourself whether you really need that old canoe you haven’t used in decades or that box of old magazines you’re never going to read again, you can start to free up some space to finally make the most of that part of your home you’d previously neglected.
Looking for more inspiration for your home? You might enjoy our complete guide to renovating your kitchen, or why not try out one of our ideas for improving your attic space.
