Wood Paneling in a Garage: Loss of a man card??

Functional and cute.  That had been one of my priorities listed in an earlier post for the garage project.  Well, the paneled wall project, I must admit, has no function.  It's just there for the cute factor.  Right at the beginning when planning the project, I asked Aaron how he felt about an accent wall in the garage.  He told me he would officially "lose a man card" if I painted the back wall a different color or something.

And I can't be responsible for something so serious as him losing a man card.  But, that wall would just look so good if we could distinguish it in some way.

So, paneling the wall was the compromise.  An admittedly "useless" feature in a garage, but the end product was something we both really like.

Here's the process:

We considered a few different options and decided on wood paneling that already had a tongue and groove so that they would easily fit into place. Aaron's dad came to help. 

Measuring first was key.  Especially to fit around the light switch. 

A nail gun and a nine year old.  What could go wrong right?

This is our nephew Michael.  While video games did beckon every once in a while, he had a great time helping.

Michael was thrilled to be trying out the miter saw

Fits like a glove!

And here it is complete! 

So, a couple of things to note:

1. See that tiny garage door opener with the wire above it? --- That's something that you should think about before you panel your garage.  That little wire annoyed Aaron like crazy and he later had to painstakingly get it down behind the paneling.  Not fun to do afterwards.
2. I had no idea that the paneling would look this good unvarnished.  Which was a problem.  Because I had intended to paint it.  "Light and bright" was the goal and cream paint was in the plans.  

And that's when the biggest design dilemma moment of our garage project came for me.  Paint or don't paint?  You see, I knew a barn door was in our future.  To hide that rear alcove (aka tool corral).  And I wanted to showcase it.  Without, of course, making it an accent wall. :-)

Ultimately, after looking again at some of the original "inspiration pictures" below, we decided to paint the wall.  And yes, I realize that all these examples are of interiors.  But, why can't a garage have style too?

Now, when I came in to see a first coat of that paint, let's just say it didn't quite match the beautiful ones above.  I did wonder if I'd made a serious mistake.

I'd intentionally turned this:

Into that:

But, as a sneak peek of a little later down the road, here is the nearly final product complete with barn door.  What do you think?  Good decision to paint?

Aaron's dad, George after the barn door hanging project

Complete with lights, door and cabinets!

Barn door, butcher block counter, epoxy floor and painted wood paneling.  Pegboard project underway!

So, what do you think?  Can Aaron still maintain his full collection of "man cards" with a garage like this?