Monday, January 07, 2008

Bike Room Wall Bling

At last, our first completed project of the new year!
I guess it was a little post-holiday DIY urge that led Boy to take the initiative and paint the bike room pretty much solo. And I'm left celebrating the disappearance of some more of the nasty white and wondering how it happened that he's had me thinking he was an unqualified, incompetent painter all these years...

The color is BM's Timberwolf (aka, the color I started with and aborted on for what is now the Naples Blue big wall) and it's is a nice change from the glaring white, easier on the eyes and a nice clean yet still bright enough background for motorcycle maintenance. But it just didn't seem like plain old gray walls would be enough to do this room justice, so when I was out buying paint, I picked up a quart in each of the next two shades on the color card and charged Boy with the task of coming up with "something" he'd like to add to perk things up. That's right. Modern in MN has jumped on the design bandwagon of the moment, otherwise known as the stenciled wall:



Whoohoo! Painted wall art!
OK, so yes, I guess "art" is rather generous given the fact that all I did was use the free overhead projector Boy scavenged for me from his work trash to project clip-art images into the wall for copying which basically ranks a zero on the artistic talent scale. But hey, I've done plenty of freehand, original art mural painting to get me off the hook for a little brainlessness now and then.
Anyway.
It's a little Ducati-centric at the moment, and I'm thinking I'll add something Aprilia just for the sake of equal love for all our Italian babies, but I needed to take a little break from the tediousness that is getting all those letters right, or at least getting them not wonky looking. Here's to my newfound respect for those old skool sign and window painters.

This one's my favorite. For you non-Eurobike gearheads, that's the desmo valve, aka what makes a Duc a Duc:


The good old flying D:


And in case we forget what one spends most of their time doing with a Ducati:


So now we're on to figuring out what kind of cabinetry we want for in here. I'm looking for something durable and unique with which to construct a workbench and storage along the back wall, among other things.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

any possibility of seeing the wall in context with the rest of the room??

6:53 PM  
Blogger Dostoy320 said...

I love the massive valves on the wall!

When I was a kid, one of my dad's friends gave me a 60's era Ducati 350 that had been (roughly) converted into a hillclimber.
My dad had to machine and fit a spacer plate under the cylinder sleeve to lower the compression so I could kick the engine over with my tiny legs. The front fork was rusted tight and the gas tank was some replacement that only sort of fit on the frame. It was a pretty rough ride, but I loved that bike. I was always so proud of the engine, which was pretty advanced stuff at the time it was made.

anyway... nice work!

11:01 AM  
Blogger art and chel said...

That looks bad ass!

Have you look at the slatwall system for garages? garagescapes.com has a slatwall made out of pvc. It's pretty cool.

12:34 PM  
Blogger Rachel said...

Wow! I think you are destined to have the most stylish bike shop this side of the Miss. I'm partial to the desmo, but then Ducs do something special for me. Nice work.

12:47 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I thought that was cut vinyl lettering, not painting- very precise and well done (like everything you do!)

4:35 AM  

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