The 5 Best Ways to Cover Garage Walls

Unfinished garage walls serve their purpose, but they leave your garage looking drab. Covering the garage walls with your choice of materials gives the garage a more finished look, and it can improve the functionality of the space, such as adding insulation or organization. Comparing the benefits and work that go into each option helps you decide which is best for your garage makeover.

If you're on a tight budget, painting the existing garage walls is a simple way to give it a makeover. It won't cover the current texture or material, but it can clean up the look of your garage for a minimal investment. It's also easy enough for anyone to do on their own. Choose a light color to brighten the garage and make it feel larger.

Drywall gives your garage a truly finished look for a relatively cost-effective investment. You get the look of interior walls with drywall, which you can paint any color, and you can attach organizers and other items to the drywall. Before installing the drywall, consider adding garage insulation to help control the temperature of the space.

Installing drywall takes a little muscle and patience to lift the pieces of drywall and then tape and mud the joints. You'll also need to paint the drywall once you install it. If your garage already has studs, you can add your insulation and install the drywall to the studs as you would inside your home. For a block garage wall, you can use construction adhesive to glue the drywall in place or install furring strips.

If you prefer a wood look, installing wood paneling in your garage is an option. It gives it a rustic, finished look. However, wood paneling can be an expensive option depending on the type of wood and the quality of the paneling. If your garage has moisture issues, wood can mold or rot if it's not properly protected. Metal panels offer an alternative that holds up better to moisture and gives your garage a more modern look.

A cheaper wood option is installing plywood or oriented strandboard (OSB) on your garage walls. OSB gives you a more uniform look on the walls, and it holds up well when you nail things into it. You can also nail into plywood, but while it's stronger than OSB, it tends to splinter more. Both options tend to look less finished than drywall or wood paneling, but they can be painted to make them look better.

You can cover your garage walls while tidying up your space with garage organizers. Slatwalls feature horizontal grooves that look like slats. They come in panels that you can attach to your garage to cover all the walls. You can insert various hooks and holders into the slats to hold tools, bikes, toys, and other items to keep them off the floor.

You can also install large sheets of pegboard to cover your garage walls. While pegboard is traditionally made of wood, you can also get them made of metal. The holes all over the panel let you insert different hooks and organizers.