Garage Wall Decor Ideas: Layouts, Porcelain Signs and How to Hang Them

The best garage wall decor ideas start with the room you already have. A garage is a workshop, a parking spot and often a hangout, so the walls have to look good and still leave space for tools. Porcelain signs fit that job well, because they are steel and glass and they shrug off heat, cold and the odd bump from a ladder.

The photo above shows the service bays of a fully reassembled Texaco station on the property of Vernon Walker, a sign collector near Proctor, Arkansas, across the river from Memphis. Carol M. Highsmith took it for her archive at the Library of Congress. Look closely and you can see what made old service bays work: clean white walls, a few bold signs up high, and shelves of oil cans, belts and tires within reach.

Below, we walk through layout ideas first. After that, we cover how to hang metal signs on drywall, studs, brick and block, plus a few ways to display them with no new holes at all.

Garage wall decor ideas that start with a theme

First, pick a story. A wall feels planned when the signs share something, even if they come from different brands. Gas and oil is the classic choice, since filling stations were where most people saw porcelain advertising signs in the first place. Enamel signs were common for advertising and street signs from about 1880 to 1950, and collecting them took off in the late 1970s.

Other themes work just as well. For example, a motorcycle wall can mix bike, tire and oil signs. A truck guy might want a run of pickup and tractor signs. Meanwhile, a road trip fan can build a wall around highway shields and travel signs, with a state or a route as the anchor.

Garage wall decor ideas for layout and spacing

Next, plan the layout on the floor before you drill anything. Lay the signs out on cardboard or on the garage floor, then move them until the group looks balanced. Take a phone photo of the layout you like, so you can copy it on the wall.

A few layout rules help. Keep one large sign as the anchor and build smaller ones around it. Leave about the same gap between each sign, usually two to four inches. Also, line up either the tops or the centers of a row, not both.

Height matters in a garage. Most people hang art with its center near eye level, about five feet off the floor. However, a garage has workbenches, cabinets and car doors, so signs often look better higher up, like the green lettering above the bays in the photo. In fact, the space above a garage door or above upper cabinets is often wasted, and a row of round signs fills it nicely.

Finally, think about light. Porcelain is glossy, so a sign right across from a bright window or a bare bulb can glare. A light bar aimed down from above usually shows the color best.

Garage wall decor ideas that mix signs and tools

Some of the best garage wall decor ideas let decor and storage share the space. Instead of hanging signs on one wall and tools on another, blend them.

Pegboard is the simplest option. Perforated hardboard has evenly spaced holes for pegs and hooks, which is why it shows up in so many workshops. A small sign hangs on two pegboard hooks through its mounting holes, and you can move it any time. Still, hardboard can sag under weight, so screw the board to the wall at several points.

A French cleat wall is the upgrade. A French cleat is a strip of wood cut at a 45 degree angle, with one half screwed to the wall and a matching half fixed to whatever you hang. As a result, you can mount a long cleat across several studs, then hang tool holders, shelves and a sign panel on the same rail and slide them around later.

A tool brand sign belongs on a tool wall. Snap-on began in Milwaukee in 1920 as the Snap-on Wrench Company, selling ten sockets that would “snap on” to five interchangeable handles. Our Snap-on Tools porcelain sign shows a chrome wrench and two sockets in red, black and white, and at 10 by 10 inches it fits between pegboard hooks.

Why porcelain signs hold up in a garage

Durability matters for any of these garage wall decor ideas, since most garages are not climate controlled. They bake in summer, get cold in winter and pick up some damp. That is hard on printed tin and on wood.

Porcelain enamel, also called vitreous enamel, is powdered glass fused to metal in a kiln, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. On our signs, the glass is fired onto heavy gauge steel, and many have porcelain on both the front and back. Because the color is glass, it resists fading and wipes clean with mild soap and water.

That said, steel can still rust where the enamel is chipped or around bare mounting holes. So keep signs away from spots where water drips or pools, such as right beside a garage door seal.

How to hang metal signs on drywall

Most garage walls are drywall over wood studs. Drywall is gypsum board, and on its own it does not hold screws well. For that reason, the first step is a stud finder.

In the United States, wall studs are usually set 16 inches apart, center to center, though some walls use 24 inches. If a sign’s holes line up with a stud, drive a wood screw straight through the hole into the stud. Use a washer or a rubber grommet under the screw head so the metal does not grind against the enamel.

If there is no stud where you want the sign, use a wall anchor rated for more than the sign’s weight. A 12 inch round sign is light enough for drywall anchors, but use at least two holes so it cannot spin. For larger signs, our guide on hanging suggests anchors for anything about 15 inches or bigger.

How to hang metal signs on studs, brick and block

Many older garages have open studs with no drywall at all. That makes hanging simple, since you can screw straight into the framing. Alternatively, run a horizontal board across several studs, then hang signs anywhere along it.

Brick and concrete block take more care. Drill into the mortar joint, not the brick face, using a masonry bit and a hammer drill. Then set plastic masonry anchors or concrete screws. Mortar is easier to patch later if you move the sign.

Metal building walls are another case. Self-drilling sheet metal screws work on the girts, and some people use strong magnets on smaller signs. Even so, a magnet can slide over time, so test it before you trust it over a car.

A round gas sign is the classic centerpiece. Sinclair adopted its dinosaur in 1930 and sponsored a dinosaur exhibit at the Chicago World’s Fair of 1933 and 1934. Our Sinclair Dino porcelain sign is 11 3/4 inches across, with a green dinosaur inside a thick green ring. Our gas station logo history explains why Sinclair picked a dinosaur.

Garage wall decor ideas with no new holes

Not every sign needs a screw, and some garage wall decor ideas need no drill at all. Renters and people who like to rearrange have good options.

Chains and hooks work well from a ceiling joist or a high shelf. They give an industrial look and keep signs above the car doors. A small easel on a workbench or shelf holds a sign at an angle and lets you swap it out with the seasons.

Shelves are underrated, too. In the photo, the back wall of the bays is mostly shelving, stocked with cans and boxes. Lean two or three signs at the back of a deep shelf, then layer an old oil can or a toolbox in front. As a result, the wall looks collected rather than hung.

We would skip adhesive strips for porcelain. They can tear the back finish when you remove them, and a heavy steel sign is more than most strips can safely hold.

More porcelain signs for your garage wall

If you want more garage wall decor ideas, browse by room or by theme. Our garage signs cover gas, oil, tires, tools and service brands. For bigger collections, the gas and motor oil signs are the deepest part of the shop, and our man cave signs mix in soda, beer and sports.

A crew scene adds life to a row of logos. Our Mobil Gargoyle porcelain sign shows three attendants filling a green car at the pumps. For a large anchor piece, the die-cut Mobilgas Pegasus porcelain sign is 17 by 12 1/2 inches. For more detail on each method, our guide on how to hang porcelain signs covers drywall, brick and garage studs.

We ship from Houston, Texas. US orders ship for a flat $10, and international shipping is available at checkout. If a sign is not right, you have 30 days to return it. We pay the return shipping, and you get a full refund.

Texaco, Snap-on, Sinclair and Mobil are trademarks of their respective owners. This article is history and commentary only. We sell porcelain advertising signs that celebrate these names, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by any company named here.

FAQ: garage wall decor ideas

How many signs should go on one garage wall?

Start with one anchor sign and two to four smaller ones. You can always add more, but a crowded wall is harder to fix than a sparse one.

Can I hang a metal sign on drywall without a stud?

Yes. Use wall anchors rated for more than the sign’s weight and at least two mounting holes. For signs about 15 inches or larger, anchors or a stud are the safer choice.

Will screws chip a porcelain sign?

They can if you tighten them too far. Add a washer or rubber grommet under each screw head and stop once the sign is snug.

Do porcelain signs fade in a hot garage?

Very little. The color is glass fused to steel, so it holds up to heat and sun far better than paint or printed tin.

The featured photo is “A completely reassembled vintage Texaco Station on the property of Vernon Walker who is a collector of old signs in Arkansas, near Memphis, Tennessee,” by Carol M. Highsmith, from Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. It is in the public domain. You can see the full photo on Wikimedia Commons.