Black Painted Interior Walls? Someone stop me!

[MCXL]

I have a 25 by 21 two car garage that badly needs interior paint. I've looked around quite a bit, and I can't seem to find anybody who has a black (Painted) garage interior.

Usage wise the garage is mostly for automotive storage, but I do most of the work on my own vehicles, and detail them. on that note I know that black walls will mean that I need more light in the garage to compensate, but aside from that is there really going to be any downside?

The only arguments I can think of, are the space might feel smaller, and that people might think I'm a crazy person. However if you look at these,









The second argument rarely works on me. (The three bedrooms are in a row, so it follows a red purple blue scheme.)

I will be building shelves on both walls of the garage in addition to peg board and a workbench at the back. those will probably be painted either white, or a medium light grey. The walls will either be semi-gloss / gloss black or semi gloss / gloss dark grey.

Heck of an introduction right?

Is there something I haven't thought of?

-Evan

 

[The Cobbler]

black walls? serious? I'm not even going to reply with what I think!

 

[kawtoy]

The ******** sticking out from under the pillow is a nice touch.

OMG you are killing. Someone is desperately trying to figure out how to delete a post right about now.

 

[gregtwojeeps]

My opinion on black walls anywhere will be a dud.... but I really like your dog.

 

[jhelrey]

Have you ever tried to buy black paint?!? I wanted black to paint a snowmobile trailer deck with. The idea was to hide dirt, and heat up in the sun.

Home Depot could not get the color to work. Lowes was able to get it finally after numerous attempts.

 

[Pstychologist]

If you decide to go that route, consider some chalkboard paint. Then you can outline your tools like dead bodies.

 

[BuildFixModify]

I love black and vote that you go for it. Although, you will have all of the problems that you are concerned about. What about a dark grey? It may not be as intense.

 

[SilverSS1969]

Have you ever tried to buy black paint?!? I wanted black to paint a snowmobile trailer deck with. The idea was to hide dirt, and heat up in the sun.

Home Depot could not get the color to work. Lowes was able to get it finally after numerous attempts.

I think the employees at your Home Depot must have been new. I got black paint with out issues for my basement ceiling. What I didn't know, until they told me, they have 3 different types or grades for differnt colors. They have to use the correct one for black.

 

[cattoon]

OMG you are killing. Someone is desperately trying to figure out how to delete a post right about now.

Looks like a Hitachi Magic Wand, high quality,, isn't that what GJ is about, high quality tools?

 

[MCXL]

Whoops, don't tell my girlfriend I forgot to move that, (though it sits out in our or her room, like all the time.) I gave it to her for Christmas, and dudes, the thing has a beefy *** motor in it, though Hitachi distanced themselves from the product a few years ago. I swear, if all my corded tools had a motor like in that thing, there would be no need for air tools anymore.

Chalkboard paint was an Idea that crossed my mind, and I may use that on the pegboard.

Jhelrey, I did buy some flat black a few years ago for some trim work, I do wonder though, a full bucket of the stuff might be tough.

Perhaps a 90% dark grey is the way to go. I'll poke around a bit and ask some questions about the darks when I am at the Home Depot tomorrow.

Since I got so many replies, how about some bonus dog pictures! (in the next post)

 

[MCXL]

Another shot of the dog on the bed from the OP (Lacey, 6yo Border Collie frmale):

And some of my other dog, Ares, (3yo Border Collie male)

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

The ******** sticking out from under the pillow is a nice touch.

Lotion......Check, Tissues.......Check, ********..........Check!

 

[DocsMachine]

I briefly had a workroom with black walls- gloss latex or some other typical indoor paint.

Don't do it. Not no but hell no.

You cannot get it bright enough. You will need literally twice as many overhead lights, and a fistful of drop lights, and it'll still be too dark.

It looked cool- just a few select lights and it looked like a cool Batman cave, or a mood-lit bar or something. It would have been great for a media room, to watch Alien on a big screen or something.

But to do actual work? No. No way. It's always too dark, and without any reflected light, shadows are even darker. A part rolls off the table and lands under a cabinet? You will NOT find it without a flashlight or drop light. It's actually surprising how black shadows can get when there's no light being reflected off of the walls.

Even those bedroom colors, in my opinion, are too dark- again, fine for a display area, or a storage room, or a party room. But for working on things? No. No way.

You don't have to go bright Kelvinator white, but if it were me, I wouldn't go anything darker than a light grey.

Doc.

 

[Scimmia]

I've done it, in a home theater room, and DocsMachine is right. You'll never get it bright enough for real work.

 

[chruler]

In my teens I painted a room black and then put "glow in the dark" stars on the ceiling in many of the constellations you see in the night sky. It was pretty cool.

The biggest problem you're going to have is not so much the amount of light needed in the room. The fact that there will be nothing bright in the room to reflect onto your work and shiny surfaces is what's going to make it feel really dark. Black walls are not good when you need to see shapes and contours on shiny things.

 

[MCXL]

The light absorption rates are something I have considered, though I would think that white or other light equipment on both sides of the garage on top of the black would help with that (and the higher gloss value)

I wonder if high gloss black or a more regular satin finish medium/dark grey would have more light ambient occlusion.

On the subject of dropped stuff under cabinets, etc. I was thinking also about putting something like rope light around the bottom corner of the garage near the work areas just for that purpose. (under the bench on the back wall)

I guess my biggest worry about all of this is that with black, if I do decide that I dont like it, it will take a lot of paint to correct it.

 

[MCXL]

Weird, two replies saying they wont reply already.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

"Paint it black"... That was a song right..not a room color? Paint it black and when you get tired of it you're going ask yourself when it takes 4-5 coats of primer/paint or more to recover it "what the hell was I thinking".

 

[Outlander]

I just Googled 'Hitachi Magic Wand'.

 

[Olyar15]

Go for it. You can always repaint.

Post pics when you are done.

 

[351cmach]

The ******** sticking out from under the pillow is a nice touch.

I bet everyone that read that went back and locked at the pics again. I know I did. LOL

 

[bloomingtonmike]

I bet everyone that read that went back and locked at the pics again. I know I did. LOL

Yes I did. LOL!!!! AWESOME!!!!

 

[over40pirate]

"Paint it black"... That was a song right..not a room color? Paint it black and when you get tired of it you're going ask yourself when it takes 4-5 coats of primer/paint or more to recover it "what the hell was I thinking".

+1 Been there done that. A tenant painted a room a blue color, and another one pink. Many coats of primer needed to cover.

If buying a house with dark walls, I would figure at least double the cost of repainting.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Have you ever tried to buy black paint?!? I wanted black to paint a snowmobile trailer deck with. The idea was to hide dirt, and heat up in the sun.

Home Depot could not get the color to work. Lowes was able to get it finally after numerous attempts.

That's because you tried to buy Homey Depot Behr paint. Stuff is ****. Like trying to paint with milk. I had to use it at work once to paint some doors. It took a full gallon to cover 2 doors. IDK anyhting about Lowe's paint. I buy black paint every now and then to paint electrical panel mounting boards. Most black paint is pre tinted, so unless you were looking for a custom mixed color IDK what the problem was with getting it. When I built my bar I walked into the local Benjamin Moore dealer and asked for black paint for the inside. They asked me if I wanted gloss, semi gloss, eggshell or flat and how much I wanted. No drama there.

Tommy

 

[Platonic Solid]

... 25 by 21 two car garage...black (Painted) garage interior.

... automotive storage, ... work on my own vehicles and detail them.
... I know that black walls will mean that I need more light ... aside from that is there really going to be any downside?

the space might feel smaller...
I will be building shelves on both walls of the garage in addition to peg board and a workbench at the back. those will probably be painted either white, or a medium light grey. The walls will either be semi-gloss / gloss black or semi gloss / gloss dark grey.

Is there something I haven't thought of?

DocsMachine's post is spot-on. Plus, you won't just need twice as many light fixtures on the ceiling, but you'll need fixtures on the walls to make up for the lack of reflected light (and No, rope light won't solve that problem).

There are 2 types of reflected light:
Diffused = Light hits surface and scatters in all directions
Specular = Light hits surface and is mirrored

White satin wall paint provides mostly diffused reflectance, which is preferable in a garage.
The higher the gloss, the more specular reflectance you get which is not preferable in a garage as it increases shadows making objects in space not uniformly lit.

No matter what the gloss level of black, you lose.

Keep in mind that your eyes visual acuity degrades with age.

 

[ratdoggy]

I just Googled 'Hitachi Magic Wand'.

One of the selling points on Amazon is that it "has a non phallic appearance"

 

[Outlander]

One of the selling points on Amazon is that it "has a non phallic appearance"

I Googled it, I didn't go shopping for one!

 

[Strouty]

You guys must be doing it wrong!

 

[Amitygravel]

We need pictures of the girlfriend.

 

[Strouty]

To the OP, are you trying to make an *** dungeon or a working garage? If you will be making a dungeon, I vote black walls. Also on this forum we like tools, sometimes we also like to see how these tools work, maybe your GF could demo this tool?

Seriously, black walls are really trouble. If you don't like white, maybe a gray as others have suggested.

 

[ratdoggy]

I just Googled 'Hitachi Magic Wand'.

One of the selling points on Amazon is that it "has a non phallic appearance"

I Googled it, I didn't go shopping for one!

Amazon was the first hit I had on it........

 

[Cobra5150]

The ******** sticking out from under the pillow is a nice touch.

It's not a ********, it's a massager........
That's what my wife told me.

 

[Outlander]

It's not a ********, it's a massager........
That's what my wife told me.

Only reply I could think of would be : "It's not a *** toy! It is a freeway carpool lane dummy"

 

[MCXL]

What can I say, I know how to make an entrance on forums I guess. At home depot looking at colors now.

 

[KPSquared]

The last time it will ever look clean will be 30 seconds after you're done putting it on. You'll have NO light. It's your garage but I promise you'll hate it.

I wish people would stop buying awful **** cheap paint. I have painted with every brand under the sun and I'll never use anything but Benjamin Moore again. I just had to do touch ups in a house we painted 7 years ago. Full sun exposed walls. Darker tan/beige paint. NO fade in 7 years. I pulled the can from the basement, patched some holes, and painted in 6 or 7 spots. You can't see it. I also just repainted the kitchen light grey over a very dark red. Two coats and done. Can't beat the paint, just **** it up on price. Use half the paint at twice the price all you've saved is time and you have a quality product. No brainer.

Next question (the more important one): Why does your girlfriend have her own bedroom with a single bed that she keeps her ******** in? That's not speaking well for your performance...

 

[UncleJoe]

Go ahead and paint it black and when you buy the plack paint go ahead and buy some white paint, a lot of white paint. Covering up the black will take several coats.

Now if this is the last home you will ever own, meaning you plan on dieing here then Black is great because that is your preference. Now if this is not your last home then you really need to keep resale in mind when making any decorating choices. Trust me the average home buyer finds it impossible to visualize that all it needs is paint. It is like they think when they buy the home they will be forbidden to paint it. I have a client in the real estate business and she tells me she see people walk away from perfectly acceptable homes every day because of paint color.

You can certainly paint it a lighter color when you put it on the market but why paint something more than you need to.

Just one more thing to consider.

 

[KPSquared]

I just assumed with the rest of his paint scheme, he planned to live there forever or paint before he sells...

 

[Kevin54]

Lotion......Check, Tissues.......Check, ********..........Check!

Bwahahahaha!!!! Hide the toys before snapping any pics.

I don't have black walls, but I have dark maroon walls, corrugated tin wainscoting, and black ceilings. I like it. The periodontal dentist I go to has dark beige walls in his office with black doors and trim, and it looks great.

A lot of people don't like black because it is darker and doesn't reflect light as much. Before I retired, I worked 30+ years in a factory that had nothing but green and gray machinery, and always had the walls painted a drab color. Now that I'm retired, I want some color in my garage, but I'm a fan of the darker tones. Paint it black. If you don't like it, repaint it. It may take a little more paint or primer to cover the black, but go with it for a while and see how you like it. And there are a few garages that have black walls, but they have corrugated tin to offset the dark colors. The one I'm thinking of made it into one of the garage magazines. He is the member who has a Deep Cherry '57 Chevy, and has a bar in the garage, along with a bathroom and shower. I'll see if I can find who it is and post the link to his thread.

Mine is in my signature if you want to look at it. I don't know whether others were bullshitting me or not (most likely were ) but I never had too many negative comments about it.

I guess I didn't have it in my signature, so here it is........ http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=175058&highlight=black+ceiling

 

[DocsMachine]

The light absorption rates are something I have considered[...]

-This is one of those cases where you simply won't know how well- or how badly- it works until you see it, in person, for yourself.

If you must try it- and I repeat, speaking from direct experience, that you won't like it- then check the Google Image search results for "black painted room".

Some important features to note: Almost all of those examples left the ceiling white- the ones that didn't, look like a cave. Or a police photo of a Manson family crack house.

Also note a large number- again, most of them- only have one or two black walls, with the rest white. And virtually ALL of the rooms contain large and significant white features- a big white bed, large white paintings, a big white mantelpiece, white carpets, white floors, white furniture, etc.

And finally, note how virtually all of them- the better looking ones, anyway- include significant natural lighting. Large picture windows, glass french doors, skylights, thin gauzy curtains, etc.

[...]though I would think that white or other light equipment on both sides of the garage on top of the black would help with that (and the higher gloss value)

-Gloss vs. satin makes very little difference. White equipment, as noted above, will help a bit, as would keeping the floor light (light grey epoxy) and the ceiling white.

On the subject of dropped stuff under cabinets, etc. I was thinking also about putting something like rope light around the bottom corner of the garage near the work areas just for that purpose. (under the bench on the back wall)

-Again, been there, done that. Like I said, when the lights were set right, the effect was actually pretty cool. That's why you see it in bars and clubs so often.

But in a workshop, the forced extra lighting is a band-aid. Any cool effect is lost by having to over-light everything. Think of one of those same bars after they turn the main lights on- it goes from being a cool club to a dingy room with a bad paint job.

Check Google, as above, for terms like "black painted shop", or "black painted workshop", or "black painted garage". There basically aren't any. The shops that have a fair amount of black are basically just garages with black epoxy floors (usually more for show than actual "I do work in here" shops) or black accents like wainscotting level trim, or just black cabinets.

People aren't not doing it because nobody's thought of it before, they don't do it because it makes for terrible lighting.

I guess my biggest worry about all of this is that with black, if I do decide that I dont like it, it will take a lot of paint to correct it.

-Yup. You'll have to start with several layers of a thick, heavy primer, like Kilz or similar. It can be done, of course, but again, I strongly recommend you don't bother. There's a reason you don't see it used very often- at least, not outside the Batcave.

Doc.

 

[NUTTSGT]

When I went from dark gray walls to white in my garage, it was so much brighter, I couldn't believe it. After the switch, I realized how deary the dark gray walls looked. I still have the darker gray at the bottom but white above it.

There's no way I would paint the walls to my garage black. If you want to, go ahead, you can always repaint later.