I posted a thread in the Garage Forum of three beautiful wood carriage doors ("Coolest Carriage-Style Garage Doors Ever? You Decide!") and there was interest in having me show more pictures of this unique and beautiful garage. This may be a long thread filled with all of the pictures that were taken, and I will try to fill in some of the blanks. The entire project took about a year to furnish all of the cabinets, five custom neon’s, restoration of an antique gas pump, three hand painted reverse-glass mirrors, one neon clock, a crankshaft lamp, and an antique oil display. Everything was engineered, drafted, developed, constructed and shipped through our extensive network of suppliers from around the globe. With the exception of the lamp, which was made to our specifications by a strategic partner, VAULT® was directly involved in touching everything directly.

Helping this particular customer furnish their garage was one of the most rewarding projects I personally had the good fortune of working on in recent years. We were honored to receive a very nice testimonial from this particular client, who said:


Here is more about the project in sequential order, starting out with the floor installed and the cabinets in place:

 

It was at this stage in the project where most clients would have been satisfied with how the space was furnished, but this particular client was really looking for something unique.

I'm often asked by the media "what makes the difference between a 'great' garage and an average one" and always answer that a great garage is:

(1) A reflection of the personality of its owner. If you know nothing about the person, yet walk in the garage and immediately get a sense of the owners personality, then the garage has been well designed.
and
(2) Has unique furnishings. Most garages are cookie-cutters of others, but its the unique garages that really stand out, catch your attention and which you remember the most. Think about going to a car show for a minute. Its not often the 1965 Mustang you saw at the show that you remember later, its the unique car that was tricked out in either a unique color, wheels or detail that made it stand out from everything else that you usually remember. Garages are no different.

This particular client wanted exactly that. He dreamed of a garage that was furnished in such a way to express his personality and was unique in such a way that it was a fun and memorable experience for everyone who visited it.

This is where the project starting getting fun.

 

One of the first furnishings to arrive was this 42"-wide Oilzum neon sign.

 

Originally I had proposed that the owner place a large Texaco "banjo sign" outside his garage so that it could be lit up at night. These were originally used by Texaco outside their dealerships in the 1950's and consist of a large double-sided 72"-wide lighted.

He loved the idea, but wanted it to go inside the garage but the low ceilings could not accomodate the tall height of the sign. So we worked with him on the design of a backlit double-sided sign that could be used as a reading light next to his chairs.

There is nothing like it in the world. It truly is a one-of-a-kind item.

 

The next item was the restoration of an antique gas pump in the Gilmore gasoline brand. This rare Wayne Model 866 gas pump was been restored to its original factory appearance and condition while preserving its historical distinguishing characteristics, content, and vintage “factory correct” appearance. This was a concourse, museum quality restoration and every detail of the pump was accurately and faithfully reproduced to the highest level of quality. In my opinion, this is one of the finest gas pumps in existence from the manner of quality in which it was restored. It even included a hand-painted reverse glass globe, which I will show with my next post.

I will post a few pictures here of the gas pump before and after, but to see more detailed photos of the restoration you may view them on our FlickR site at:

1937 Wayne Model 866 Clockface Gas Pump (Gilmore Gasoline) - a set on Flickr

 

Here are pictures of the gas pump in its final destination. Also included are closeups of the gas pump globe, which was painted by hand using domed/curved glass, glue-chipped lettering, 23 carat gold leafing and processes (reverse painting done by hand) to exactly match the original design but done to a higher artform (the originals were hand pulled stencils).

 

Amazing looking garage. Great work! Top notch for sure.

 

Next up was a BMW Neon Clock circa 1930's from the Glo-Dial Clock Company, which was based in Los Angeles. The top photograph shows the reverse glass artwork that we reproduced. This clock took three months to manufacture. It is a one-of-a-kind item that you will never see anywere else. Beautiful.

 

Thanks Kevin! I appreciate your comment a lot.

 

My garage is envious.

Beautifully done.