Fuller Hot Rods...a cool garage visit!

I doubt that most people want their home garage to look like the local auto repair shop. But I feel certain if you paid a visit to Fuller Hot Rods in Atlanta you'd want your garage to resemble this garage. Murals on walls, antique bikes hanging from the rafters, and pinstriping on the equipment tell you right away this is a place where the creative juices flow. Bryan Fuller, who you may recognize from the SPEEDTV program 'Two Guys Garage," actually earns his living as a fabricator in Atlanta. Fuller Hot Rods is staffed by a group of young, talented craftsmen. Bryan is the 'old man' in this group and he isn't 40 years old. His love of speed is evident in the murals, pictures, and posters on the walls.

So think about your memorabilia and be creative in how to use it in your garage. Don't be discouraged wondering if your stuff is worthy to hang your walls. Have you been to an art gallery lately? Your stuff IS worthy.

Dream garage...this one's off to a great start!

I met Dick less than two years ago when he was researching cabinets for his new garage. The garage was well planned and well executed. The lighting was brilliant and the electricity was installed to handle any load needed in a working garage. A 220 volt circuit was installed for the Mohawk lift. The temperature is maintained at a comfortable level by a small, built in unit mounted on the rear wall. The walls are painted white and the floor was finished with U-Coat-It epoxy. Dick did the floor himself and said it was a little more time consuming than he initially anticipated. But it sure looks good. The garage is now home to a Porsche Cayman. Dick enjoys maintaining his car, participating in the occasional car cruise, and listening to the sounds coming out of the exhaust as he goes through the gears.

UltiMATE Garage Cabinets

This state of the art system transforms your garage into a functional workspace and provides plenty of storage options for tools, sports gear, and home maintenance equipment. The UltiMATE Garage cabinets are assembled using a thermofused melamine laminate over MDF for maximum strength and stability. Polyurethane coated doors and drawer facings have radius edges and give a clean, finished, and refined look. Cabinets come ready to assemble and are designed to hold up to 400 lbs. Oversized 20mm diameter brushed zinc pulls and handles provide comfort and double as shop towel and tool holders. Base and tall cabinets have 4" stainless steel adjustable feet making it easy to clean under your cabinets and adjust each cabinet on uneven ground. Assembly is simple thanks to pre-installed drawer guides and runners, step-by-step instructions, and friendly and knowledgeable customer support.

Check out LegendaryGarage.com for pricing information.

Garage Envy!

My friend Bill discovered a few years ago he REALLY likes Porsche. First it was a Boxter S, then a Carrera S, then a Turbo Cabriolet. As you can see, he still has the Turbo, but has added a 911 GT3! He tells me he will soon add a 911 GT3RS. I REALLY like Bill. I won't list everything in Bill's collection, but it does include a '65 Corvette convertible, a '69 Camaro Pace Car, a '69 Mustang Mach I, a '79 Ferrari 308, a Nissan GT-R, and more. I installed RaceDeck flooring and Black cabinets in his garage. The cabinets have a melamine finish and black edge banding. The upper cabinets have a simulated carbon fiber look. There is also a wall where slatwall was installed

to get some of the kids' sports gear off the floor. The counter top is clearcoated MDF. Great looking, very durable, and inexpensive to replace. My current project involves a cabinet system on wheels with a powder coated finish. This one will not be ready for pictures for a while, but I may tease you with a few cabinet pictures.

Check out Bill's garage!

WOW! Check out this dream garage.

Bill D. sent me a few pictures of his 60'x40' garage where he keeps his toys and entertains friends. Bill's place has a Full Swing Golf Simulator, card table, and a bar with a 40" TV, stove, fridge, and dishwasher. As you see he has a lift with Racedeck flooring. Outside is a covered 20'x30' area where Bill keeps his truck and trailer.

Bill has vintage Coke machines and signs around the garage. This is also where he keeps his Diasy BB gun collection. Bill's place looks like a cool place to hang out. Great job Bill. I'd like to hear about other garages out there. Maybe you have a question or comment for Bill. I know I could talk to Bill for hours about every aspect of his garage.

Personalize it!

If you're a car guy or girl you have a need to collect mementos from your car adventures. Literature from a car dealer, ticket stubs from the races, posters from a show...things that

remind you of your passion for all things automotive. The garage is your space where this collection resides. There are no rules. It doesn't require a designer to match colors and styles. If you like it, then it stays. Once you get started you might be surprised how your collection grows. Besides the stuff you accumulated over the years, you may find yourself now looking at things while out and about and wondering where they will fit in your garage. Ebay might become a good place to find items from the past such as signs, banners, clocks, thermometers, and even car parts that would look great hung on a wall. I recently saw a picture of a garage where the owner had a collection of Ford flathead parts on his wall. So be adventurous and personalize your garage. If it reflects your interests, then it works. If it documents your life, it has meaning. And if it makes you smile, life has been good.

Floor decisions...you gotta' do something here first!

OK, so you have a plan for the garage clean-out. You've given some thought to how you will store what you are keeping. It's now time to think about materials and products. First decision is what to do about the floor. You have several options for your concrete floor and your decision will be influenced first by it's condition. With a new, clean slab of concrete you can do anything you like. Epoxy paint products work great if you follow the directions. With epoxy the prep is everything! There are a variety of products that are classified as polyaspartics, a chemical hardening process versus a curing process. And if the floor is older with oil and other chemical stains you choose a product such as a vinyl mat or interlocking floor tiles. A product such as G-Floor vinyl mats comes in different sizes and can be installed in an hour or two. Interlocking tiles, from RaceDeck or Swisstrax, allow you to create patterns of different colored tiles to personalize your floor and they're easy to install. Research all options and decide what works best with your situation. You'll be amazed at the way just finishing the floor will change your garage.

The first step to creating your dream garage is creating an organization plan. We all have stuff we don't use, don't need, or don't know we have. After you inventory the contents of your garage you have to decide what you don't need. Letting go of the things you REALLY don't need can be difficult. I know I can justify keeping everything in my garage the first time I look at it. So I suggest having three piles for your stuff. The stuff you will keep, the stuff you might keep, and the stuff you are sure you'll eliminate. You might actually make some money during this phase. Craigslist, eBay, yard sales, and any other way to sell your stuff could help pay for your new floor or cabinets. Once you know what you'll keep you can start woking on where you will keep it. Cabinets, shelving, open storage, and even hanging from the ceiling are a few options for storage. Every garage is different. Your garage will suit your lifestyle and your interests. Tell me how you would handle this phase.

Dream garages...you know you want one!

So let's get started...this blog is my desire to share cool garages and garage ideas with you. My business is The Legendary Garage Company. We make garage dreams come true. I'm a car enthusiast and that's where it started. When I'm working on my car or some other project in my garage I like to have music in the background, good lighting, and some form of organization for my stuff. Not unlike any of you. So I might hang a car part on the wall to get it off the floor and eventually think of it as 'art' for the garage. I might bring a poster home from the races or a car show and hang it on the wall. Then I might come across a Budweiser clock at a yard sale that would look great in the garage. See where I'm going with this? Garage art can be anything you like looking at in the garage.

Along with this blog, you check out my website at http://www.legendarygarage.com/ or Legendary Garage on FACEBOOK or Legendary Garage on Hub Garage.