When someone says garage lighting, you probably think of something along the lines of this:
Flickering fluorescents buzzing overhead, or perhaps just a lonely solitary bulb.
Now, things are a bit different. Modern garages aren’t just for cars and dusty forgotten storage boxes anymore, but have become an extension of the home. And they’re way beyond cheap, ineffective and dated light fixtures.
Here are 11 examples of garages that broke away from the mold to show how contemporary lighting can take a garage from spiritless to spectacular.
#1 Vintage Style Races towards Modern Industrial
I’m a huge fan of mixing modern and vintage design elements and this garage does it wonderfully. The overhead barn lights intermingle with low-profile recessed lights while wall washers and spotlights display the custom-made mural of vintage formula race cars.
#2 Extreme Eclectic Garage
Want to make an already extreme garage fly off the charts? Install about 200 recessed lights (and that’s just the part of the garage in this photo) and add in some color changing cove lighting while you’re at it. Boom.
#3 Custom Garage for a Car Enthusiast
This themed garage, designed by Carolina Custom Garages in Raleigh, NC is a great example of using traditionally interior residential lighting in a non-traditional way. Over cabinet lights direct the eye towards the homeowner’s artwork and less-intrusive recessed lighting replaces strip lights overhead.
#4 Posh Pet Palace
Ahh, the life of a dog. I hope Fido appreciates the glitz of this glamorous garage featuring a chandelier and furniture that’s never off-limits.
#5 Total Tool Storage
I’m one of those rare women that likes to work on cars and build stuff, and this tool cabinet with bright, integrated, find-every-tool lighting gives me goosebumps.
#6 The Vault
Energy-efficient strip lighting adds crisp clean light to this custom garage. Oh, and there is a helicopter, which is also very, very cool.
#7 Retro Canyon Garage
This contemporary garage nestled in the canyons of Arizona exudes a retro style while incorporating modern-day luxuries like flexible track lights and recessed light fixtures.
#8 Man Cave – Collectors Edition
Curved track lights are dropped from this high ceiling to add dramatic spotlighting to the car while traditional ceiling lights provide general garage lighting. Barn lights and neon signs accent the style of the area, which also includes an indoor basketball court.
#9 Cozy Converted 2-Car Bungalow
When is a garage not a garage? When it’s a home! This couple converted their 2 Car garage into a chic new home. Vintage-styled light bulbs follow their theme of turning old into new.
#10 Shine Up and Outshine
Leave it to Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak to come up with a stellar design. Instead of traditional wall lights on either side of the garage exterior, well lights installed in the driveway shine the light up instead of down.
#11 Luxury Garage with Rail Lights
Every track light in this luxury garage is shining on one spectacular item, and with due reason.