Dave's Garage Makeover: Accidental Origin Story

It started out with the idea that I needed to clean out the garage, get rid of some spider webs, and maybe re-curate some of my art choices.

But I ultimately decided to repaint the garage to make it feel a bit more like an old gas station, many of which back in the early days were painted a simple white in an attempt to convey cleanliness (info I gleaned from an old book titled "The American Gas Station" by Michael Karl Witzel. Great book!).

When I first designed my garage and we built the house in 2012, I wanted the garage to feel a bit like a museum, with wall sconces and chandeliers and dark walls. The dark walls have been great, but I was now convinced I could make the space feel much larger with white walls (the ceiling was already white). Through the years, I found that the dark walls made it feel very cave-like unless I had every light cranking. Walking in from the bright outdoors always took a moment to adjust to the lower light. So in addition to the new paint, I am planning a new set of brighter light fixtures that will eventually replace the hanging "drum light" chandeliers.

Over time, I hung up many things of importance to me, many fun items that just looked cool, and some mementos from my car-guy life. There was a bit of method to the madness, but mainly it grew over time without too much thought. The dark walls worked fine with the brightly-colored cars I tended to collect as well.  My "Skittles" collection was at its peak in 2018 when I added an Orange Shelby GT350R to the red, green, blue, and yellow that already existed.

But many of those cars were now sold. Both red cars, the green car, and the orange car were around for years, but eventually got sold. The blue car got un-vinyl-wrapped back to original black, and the yellow car remains (it is actually Tungsten Silver underneath the yellow vinyl wrap). Now with multiple silver, black, and grey cars, the garage wasn't quite as bright. 

So, first thing to do was to remove everything, start patching holes and get ready to paint.  Which I did.  For a couple of weeks. Mad respect to guys who paint for a living, because the prep work alone is enough to cause me to need an extra 30 minutes in the hot tub at the end of the day.

But in the end, all went as I hoped.  I love the new, clean, open and bright garage look. But here's the strange thing that happened along the way. Without really trying to, I ended up with various "sections" of the garage with a theme, with parts of my life reflected in each theme. It just started to make sense as I put things together.  Here's the wider angle view, and then let me show you how each section evolved.

 The Racing Wall

I've always loved auto racing, and I have a couple of pieces of art that signify the early impact on me from LeMans Racing, Can AM Racing, and IMSA Racing I had seen on TV as a kid. So on the far wall as you walk in, I made sure I featured those pieces near a couple of my favorite cars to drive.

My Porsche Beginnings

Looking directly to the right of that wall, toward the bathroom, we come to a small section that ends up reflecting my first job. I worked at a gas station when I was 16, and in addition to enjoying the ability to raid the old soda machine, I had a boss who would "let" me wash his 1978 Porsche 911. I fell in love with the curves of the 911 fenders and forever after would consider myself a Porsche guy. So this corner honors that beginning with a great tile mosaic my wife bought for me, and my vintage 1958 Vendo 81 soda machine.  

The Workbench

Not much of a story here, just the hope to keep the area clean while allowing the globe lights give off the vintage gas station feel. Cabinets are key to hiding lots of tools, parts, nuts n bolts and massive messes. Just don't open the doors to see the chaos! The workbench area also acts as the focal point of the exercise room, the part of the garage my wife actually prefers.

The Origin Story

My first car was an orange Datsun 510 2-door. I built it up and imagined my self a race car driver. Now I'm lucky enough to drive my vintage Datsun 510 race car in some great races around Northern California, and the love for the Datsun 510 and its place in motorsports has never left me.  Knowing this, for my 60th Birthday, my friend and his wife gave me a fantastic original art piece that featured my Datsun 510 race car reflected back as my original 510 street car. A very cool piece of art that really captures my car history. So it gets a spot of honor on the wall where I park both my Datsuns at different times. 

The Pub

I grew up in a town with a really great pub called "The Prince of Wales". Many a night was spent there after working at the gas station: playing darts, foosball, and Asteroids, while eating the world's best Fish n Chips. I didn't really try to recreate the Pub atmosphere, but a dart board and a poker table are necessary parts of any car-guy garage space, IMHO.

The vintage gas station

Here is where I decided to dedicated one wall to the old brands and signs I collect and like. Centered in there is a Route 66 sign that commemorates a road trip I took with one of my daughters. Road tripping with both my daughters across multiple States while they were each in college remains a highlight of my car background. Whenever we came across an old town or vintage gas station, I tried to stop and have a look.

Ironically, and maybe slightly purposefully, the wall also hosts my EV charger and where I park my EV.

The Bathroom

Last but not least, my bathroom remains done in "checkered flag motif", but now it also hosts the hand drawn art of my Fisker Karma. The art got moved from the garage to the toilet to reflect exactly what the CEO did to the brand. Multiple times. Straight into the sh*tter. How's that for symbolism?

So, that's it! The garage is a bit brighter and now I need to find the perfect overhead lighting!