When you think of parties, the garage may not be the first place that comes to mind since most garages don’t look as attractive as the inside of your house.
Besides storing cars and bicycles, garages are notorious for storing junk and other infrequently-used supplies.
But what if you don’t have enough space in your living room to host a party?
The garage may provide a better alternative, especially if you transform it into a more welcoming place that your guests will love. So how do you do that?
Setting Up for a Garage Party
Hosting a party in a spacious garage ensures you don’t leave any of your friends uninvited. Best of all, no worries about weather changes for outdoor parties or people messing up your house.
However, your garage needs to feel less of a garage and more of a party venue.
So, start by removing large items to give you more space. The more items you clear from the garage, the more space you’ll have. You can take some of them to your main house.
You can also pile others in one corner. But ensure there’s no risk of anything falling and causing injury.
Sweep and mop the floor to remove dust. Like many people, you probably don’t clean your garage that often. So it’s likely to have a lot of dust.
Wipe the walls if necessary and clean dirt from the floor.
If you keep the garage door open, wind and bugs may create some disturbance inside. So consider getting a garage door screen to keep out wind and bugs.
Preparation Steps for Covering Your Garage Wall
Once you have cleared everything and cleaned the floor, you need to decide what to do with the walls. You can decide to paint them or use a cover. If you prefer to paint, here’s the procedure:
Clean the walls: The cleaner the wall, the easier it is for the paint to stick. If there’s old paint coming off, scrub it until the walls are smooth.
Wear PPE: Once the walls are clean, ensure you wear protective garments before you start painting. Also, ensure the garage has enough ventilation to minimize the effect of paint fumes. Then apply a primer or undercoat on the walls and let them dry.
Paint: Apply exterior paint on the undercoat using a brush or a roller. Use a smaller brush to reach sharp edges at the corners. The color choice will depend on your preferences. But the quality of the paint will determine washability and longevity.
Wait: Give the paint a few days to dry before you start decorating and setting up chairs.
Deciding On a Garage Wall Covering
Instead of painting, you can use other materials to cover your walls. If you intend to host regular parties in your garage, you may consider having permanent garage covering.
But if you don’t intend to host parties regularly in your garage, the temporary coverings will do.
Permanent Garage Coverings
Permanent wall covering involves much work since it requires intensive renovation work. They also cost more, depending on the material you use.
Plus, you may have to hire a professional to install them. But once complete, you’ll have a permanent solution to your wall problem.
Installing permanent walls may take time. Therefore, start a week or so before the party. Doing this will leave you extra time to decorate and set the chairs.
Some of the permanent garage coverings you can try include:
Drywall: Hanging drywall on your garage can help improve the looks by hiding non-attractive construction features. Drywalls are cost-effective and give you flexibility when decorating the garage.
Plastic/fiberglass: These are lightweight wall coverings that are moisture resistant. If you live in a wet place, these would be a perfect choice. They’re easy to clean and maintain.
Plywood/OSB: These are better choices for walls, not just for the garage but also for other places in the house. You can give them different finishing or paint them as you wish. Unfortunately, they can absorb moisture if not well sealed.
Temporary Garage Coverings
Temporary wall coverings are cheaper and take less time to install. They’re a good choice if you have a limited budget or don’t intend to use your garage frequently for parties.
But you’ll have to be setting up the coverings every time you need to host a party in the garage. Some of the temporary covers you can use include:
Drapes: These are fabric panels that hang from the top, close to the ceiling, to the bottom. They come in different materials, colors, and sizes. The best thing about using drapes is that you can choose from a wide variety of colors. Plus, they take less time to hang once you set up the holding rods.
Wallpaper covering: A wallpaper can make your garage look better than painting. So you can use it as an alternative to painting or in addition to it. Confetti wallpaper can help make the walls lively by giving them patterns with a mix of colors.
How to Hang or Drape Your Garage Walls
First, measure the height of your walls and that of your drapes. You don’t want to end up with shorter drapes or long ones that rest on the floor.
Your drapes should barely touch the ground. So mark out the place on the wall where you’ll fix the rods. You can also attach them to the ceiling.
You can use steel pipes or PVC pipes to hold the drapes. Ensure you have enough rods to go around your garage. Then, test the wall to see if it’s strong enough to support them.
It’s better to fix the pipes permanently, so you can reuse them whenever you want. Alternatively, you can use photography backdrop stands. But these would be temporary.
The process of how to hang a garage curtain depends on the kinds of pipes you have. One approach is to fix them on the ceiling to form one continuous rail. Or you can fix them on the wall, the same way you’d fix your windows and door curtain rods.
When fitting the pipes, ensure you throw some rings or clips on them for holding the drapes. Once complete, use the clips to hang the drapes.
Finishing Touches to Make Your Garage Wall Coverings Look Professional
Once you have set up the walls, you can add decorations to make them more attractive. Most people use balloons for decorations. So you can use them among other items you find attractive.
Remove Wrinkles with an Iron or Clothes Steamer
If your drape came packaged in a box, most likely they have creases. These creases will show when you hang them in a place with accent light.
So before attaching them, take a few minutes to remove the wrinkles using an iron box or clothes steamer.
Utilize Accent Lighting
If you hold your party at night, lights will help make the room lively. You can fix accent lighting on the floor or the ceiling. These lights focus on specific areas.
So you can use them to bring your guests’ attention to the decorations on the walls.
In addition, you can add party lights and string lights on the walls. You can use these lights as part of your party decoration. They can help improve the room’s atmosphere and bring up the party mood.
Make Sure the Tablecloths Match
Look for table cloths that match your drapes for the whole place to have a uniform look. When you use matching table clothes, you’ll make them appear to be part of the overall design.
Remember the Floors
If the floor has epoxy or paint, vacuuming may be all you need to do to clean it up. But if you use your garage to store chemicals, the floor may have stains. So setting up a covering such as a carpet can help conceal the dirt.
FAQs
How do I start getting my garage ready for a party?
Here’re a few things you need to do when setting up your garage for a party.
Ensure that your garage can handle a party
Check whether your garage can hold the expected number of guests. If it’s not big enough, you may have to look for another alternative. Ensure you have power sockets where you’ll connect your music system. Otherwise, you can use extension cords to make the power accessible.
Ensure your garage door is clean and well-functioning. You can use a garage door screen to keep bugs out and avoid using the heavy door. Also, you may have to cover the garage door opener with wrapping papers.
Declutter the non-essentials and junk
When preparing your garage for a party, remove stored items to get more space. If you have junk you won’t need anymore, get rid of it. If you might need it later, store it temporarily in your house. Otherwise, you can pile some items on one side and conceal them with a temporary wall.
Why use a garage as a party space?
Hosting a party in the garage comes with many benefits. First, it’s possible to regulate temperature. During a hot summer, you can leave the door open to allow fresh air. And in winter, you can close the door and even use a heating system.
Depending on which type of party you’re throwing, you can gain more from using the garage instead of your main house. Consider these examples:
Birthday Parties
Birthday parties are full of drinks and sugary food. If you were to host a kids’ birthday party in your house, you’d have a lot of cleaning work after the party.
Kids are likely to be careless and spill drinks on the carpet and sofa. They like playing a lot, especially when they’re with their friends.
You don’t want to spoil their fun by limiting the invited friends or setting too many rules. Hosting the party in the garage will give them more freedom and peace of mind for you.
Graduation Parties
A graduation party is likely to have many people in attendance. Most people do it outdoors or in a rented hall. Unfortunately, doing it outdoors exposes you to adverse weather conditions. Also, it may be expensive to rent a venue for the party.
So the garage presents a perfect alternative. If you expect many guests, you can minimize tables and add more seats, arranging them in a conference style. Also, you can extend the garage by adding a small tent outside the entry.
Sporting Event Watching Parties
Watching your favorite sporting events is usually more fun when you do it with friends. That way, you can discuss the game and cheer together.
The garage is a perfect place to watch sporting events because it can accommodate more people.
It also minimizes disturbance to your kids and family members who aren’t interested in the event. They can sit in the house and watch something different.
Garage Sales
A garage sale is better than a yard sale, especially during wet seasons. You can set up a wall in the garage to separate what you want to sell and what’s not for sale.
If you’re unable to clear the stock by night, you don’t have the additional work of bringing everything back inside. You’ll close the door and continue the sale the next day.
Cardi “likes to party” Clark has 15+ years of designing, planning, and executing successful parties and events. Highly skilled in event strategy, management, planning, and execution with a track record of exceeding expectations. I make it happen. I get it done and people have fun!
