Garage Art

Garage door art. Yes, those are portraits.

Over the past several months I've discussed interior design elements for nearly every room in most homes...except one. Perhaps that's because most people hardly consider their garage a "room." Very often, they don't even think of their garage as a place to store their car. Instead, it's a place for storing virtually everything but the car. And alas, it's not often people plan the décor of their storage room. Look below. Which garage "décor" most looks like your own?

 

You know it's time to clean out the garage when
your neighbors take up a collection
to pay your moving expenses.

As a rule of thumb, it's a good idea to clean out the garage before you even consider redecorating it. As a general rule too, men usually consider the garage as the last vestige of their ruling domestic domain. The strange thing is, we spend tens of thousand of dollars decking out the basement as an opulent "man-cave" while risking life and limb just to wedge their automobile into an overstuffed garage. We consider the garage simply as little more than a place to toss the empty boxes from which came the 70-inch HDTV, stereo, recliner, and wet bar used to outfit the man-café.

 

Time for a garage sale.

Only if the alpha male is into auto mechanics, woodworking, or antique car restoration does the garage become the center of his world; and even if that's the case, most such men are far more concerned with their vehicle and tools than the décor amidst which they exists. Their reasoning boils down to: "If I straighten up the garage, I won't be able to find anything when I need it." Or: "Why bother? A week from now it'll just need to be cleaned up again."

 

Hope your neighbors have a sense of humor too.

Once the area is tidy, unleashing ones creative "juices" on a garage begins not in the garage itself, but with the garage door. It's an excellent place to tease the eyes of the neighbors by creating a fool-the-eye painting or applying a graphic similar to those above. As an artist with a modicum of drawing skill and some degree of painting expertise, the possibilities are limited only by good taste. (You wouldn't want the neighbors throwing raw eggs at your version of a nude Mona Lisa perched on the hood of a fake Thunderbird, now would you?)

 

I'm not sure I'd recommend a white floor in any garage, but
beyond that, any of the above would be an improvement
over the junkyard annex look.

There's no rule that says a garage can't be as attractive as any other room in the house. If there is a rule, it's simply, let the décor follow the room's function (never vice-versa). As eye-catching as it might be, there's no point in trying to decorate a garage like a 1950s malt shop. Men, indulge your personality. If you're obsessive compulsive, go for the neat, clean, minimalist look (upper image). If you're into the antique, there's no reason a garage can't become a sort of museum...up to a point, at least. Above all, exercise your freedom of choice. It's YOUR garage. You can do things with it your wife wouldn't even consider anywhere else in the house. Color your world bright red, or steel blue if you like...be daring.

 

Call it the Museum of Modern Autos (MoMA).

And finally, as an artist, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that very often garages have "acres" of bare walls (even it they're concrete blocks). Paint them a dull, solid color, then turn your garage into an art gallery. Choose a theme...transportation perhaps, or only cars, old "filling" stations, even abstract expressionism. Fernand Leger would look good in any garage. Below are a couple automotive paintings I still have (reasonably priced) while below them are offerings of other painters with a vehicular bent. (That's "bent," not dent.)

 

A couple of my more postmodern efforts (acrylics on wood). Both works have about a half-inch of depth.

Garage art, from carscapes, to sexscapes, to landscapes.

This would General Lee be appropriate
for most garages.

Wearable garage art.