Pamper Your Ride
Make your old car new again
From the Editors of Men's Health Living Photo by Dan Forbes
CREATE A GUY'S GARAGE
Transform the most overlooked room of the house into a personal sanctuary
Pull in. Exit car. Kick aside sports equipment. Enter house. That’s the extent of interaction most guys have with their garage. Instead, turn it into a space to behold.
LIGHT IT LIKE A SHOWROOM
Fluorescent lighting with a high CRI (color-rendition index) will make your ride look new, says Bill West, author of Your Garagenous Zone. It’ll also make working on your car inside the garage easier. Look for CRI numbers above 75. Add high-quality task lighting near your work space to reduce glare. At showroomgarage.com, you can buy the same lighting used by BMW, Ferrari, and Rolls-Royce dealers.
GO BASIC ON FLOORS
Spend your money on simple and protective flooring, not a flashy pattern, says Dan Woods, host of Chop Cut Rebuild on Speed TV. We like the industrial PVC floor mats from BLT ($160 and up, jnkproducts.com). The material can take a beating, and you can hose it clean.
ADD A VISUAL FOCUS
Stick to one simple but powerful centerpiece in the garage, like, say, a Lamborghini. But if you have a smaller budget, consider a neon nostalgia sign from Vault ($3,000 and up, showroomgarage.com).
STEEL THIS ROOM
Imperativ stainless-steel wall panels ($18, ikea.com) could enliven a dungeon. They will also help protect walls against dings.
