LOL. We also live in a 1920's home, with a detached unfinished garage. It looks so drab though, so I was planning on painting mine this spring. We purchased a Wagner sprayer at Home Depot so we could do it ourselves.

We keep a lot of our belongings in the garage, and use the alcoves between the beams for storage of our garden tools among other things, so I opted not to drywall. I too love the industrial look.

Are you planning on going with a high gloss finish for ease of maintenance? I was debating myself, but I'm definitely using an exterior paint.

When you finish your project, please post pics. I'd love to see it before I tackle my own this spring.

This is a 3 car detached that took 2 professional painters 6 days to complete, including properly preparing the floor for expoxy painting.

The prime coat was rolled on for the walls. They needed to spray the inside roof boards since the nails were tearing up their rollers. They also masked the windows and hardware and painted the back of the on the 3 rollup garage doors.

I don't recall the type of prime and paints that were used.

There were two bare bulbs lighting the garage to start. I've since added three of the cheapy 4 ft shop lights from Depot. They happen to have electronic ballast and light quickly even with the econ bulbs that fit those units.

That looks great. I'm wondering why they rolled the walls with primer rather than spray. My paint store told me that I'd be using waaaaayyy too much primer to prime exposed beams in basement or garage by brushing or rolling it on, they recommended that we spray. I suppose they needed proper ventilation perhaps.

What type of finish is it? Flat, semi gloss, ? it's hard to tell from pics.

Primer used was Benjamin Moore Fresh Start Alkyd Exterior Quick Dry Primer. The label indicates that it resists tannin bleed through of redwood and cedar. I assume it was rolled on for coverage. I can see some bleed through on the ceiling that was sprayed.

i had forgotten it was common to build garages with no sheathing. wood siding lets you do that. new construction has brown board and vinyl siding. don't see much interior painting on those houses. of course the house side is sheetrocked for fireproofing.