For now, I'm calling it finished. I'll live with it through the winter and then see if improvements are needed. This is the minor garage renovation I started towards the end of... May. I looked back through my photos for the start date and I'm a little embarrassed. I had thought this job would be done in a week or two, but you know how things go with life and people's schedules. Overall, it looks minimalistic and I like the slightly nicer than industrial grey color. I'm still calling it my man cave.
My main goal was to be able to walk around my car in winter, and to park without using the bump method! I also wanted a coat of primer on the wall, especially where there was a little water damage around the hose. Beyond that, a bench and more accessible storage was all I wanted. Anything more would be a bonus.
Here is how it looked after I cleared stuff out and after the drywall had been taped and skimmed.
On the right is a six foot (1.83 m) storage rack that was just deep enough for me to lose things on it and high enough that its top shelf was useless for anything other than an extra boot tray and carpet I kept for visiting dogs. I replaced the unit with the two 9" x 48" (22.86 cm x 1.22 m) shelves and was surprised that everything fit. Gardening stuff is on the right and automotive and other is on the left.
The shelves were ones my Mom stained for me years ago when I went off to school so it was nice that I could reuse them. If I need more shelves, I still have two others. (Before the days of IKEA and cheap bookshelves, we went off to college with boards and bricks.) I also had almost a full sheet of plywood which became the top of the bench and I used my deck stain on the bench. The next photo was taken on a hot day while I was painting under it.
The shelving unit has been moved into the basement for storing my tool boxes. Nice to see an improvement in one spot trickle through the house.
So... What you can't see is how things will change in October. I have four cast iron patio chairs that will sit on the bench facing the wall under the shelf. There is room for the bottle recycling beside them. The hose will come off and be replaced by my two recycling boxes and the garbage will sit beside the door. The larger gap at the left end of the table accommodates the patio table umbrella. My lawn mower and a few other things will be pushed up against the bench.
Voilà! At this point, the only other thing I can foresee is a strip of LED lights under the shelves. Well... I could move the gardening tools to that empty wall on the left, and do something about the floor and... it never ends, does it?
References
Some garage renovations - the BEFORE photo
Renovating, maintenance, and labour pains
Images
Photos from the iPad and garage of 
