How to Improve the Look of Your Home With Your Garage Door
To many of us, a garage door is a utilitarian fixture we’d never think to replace unless it was damaged. However, updating your garage door, which can comprise up to 30% of your exterior facade, is an outstanding way to boost your home’s curb appeal. This investment, in turn, will enhance the resale value of your home, as it’s one of the first things potential buyers notice.
Whether you’re trying to bring a cohesive quality to the exterior of your home, accent an existing feature or totally transform your facade, changing your garage door is an excellent place to start. In this article, we’ll provide tips on how to improve the curb appeal of your house, which includes choosing the right color, style and surrounding decor for your garage door.
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How Changing Your Garage Door Can Make Your House More Attractive
Updating your garage door — whether you’re giving it a fresh coat of paint or replacing it completely — can boost the curb appeal of your home in the following ways.
- Completing the design of your home: If you’re trying to finish or revamp the entire exterior design of your home, a new garage door could be the perfect finishing touch you’re looking for. Whether it’s a new color, design or material, it can tie the whole look of your home together or give the front of your home that extra something it needs.
- Upgrading the style of your home: If you purchased your home a long time ago, and you want to make it look a bit more modern, a new door can provide that refreshing touch you’re looking for with its material, color, texture, style and design. You can pick something that reflects your current tastes.
- Restore the original look of your home: Perhaps your home has experienced a lot of wear over the years, and you’d like to restore it to its former glory. Updating your old, worn-out garage door along with your front door can make your older home look as good as new.
As a garage door relates intrinsically to a home’s curb appeal and functionality, it has a high return on investment.
Choosing the Right Garage Door Color
Below are the five most common colors for garage doors.
- White: This is a popular, go-to shade for many homeowners and makes a door look crisp and bright. Keep in mind, however, that white will show marks much more noticeably than a darker color.
- Soft gray: In the decorating world, gray is the new neutral color. This pale, soft shade is the perfect color for various reasons — it blends with the background with many colors of bricks and keeps the focal point on your home and front door.
- Dark gray or black: Black has always been a popular option for garage doors. While dark gray and deep black-blue have recently become trendier alternatives to jet black, the best choice for your home will depend on various factors, including the style of your home and the color of your brick. To achieve a contemporary look, paint your garage door and window trim the same color. Black window trim is particularly fashionable at the moment, and it hides dirt better than lighter doors. If not done correctly, though, it can make your home look stark.
- Taupe or beige: The color of your bricks will often determine the right color for your garage door. If the color of your brick is in the taupe/beige family, picking the same color for your garage door will help it blend in well.
- Walnut brown: If you like warmer tones in general, but are considering a darker color for your garage door, deep walnut brown is an excellent choice. When done right, walnut brown can make your door look like it’s expensive wood.
If choosing a dark brown color, be careful, as many shades of brown can make a house look dated. It is crucial to pick the right “walnut brown” color. Here are some other useful tips for choosing the right color.
- You don’t need to match the color of your garage door and front door. In most cases, it’s best to keep the front door the focal point. This statement is especially true if your front door is a bold color like yellow, blue or red. In this situation, matching white or gray is the best option.
- Choosing a garage door color that’s the same as your house can be a good idea. It can make your home look bigger and doesn’t make the garage door the focal point.
- Avoid multiple colors. This look is dated and will detract from its curb appeal.
- Get inspiration. Browse sites like Pinterest and Houzz to get ideas for how to dress up garage doors. You can also take a drive around some neighborhoods.
Choosing the Best Garage Door Style For Your Home
If you’re planning to buy a brand-new garage door, you’ll have lots of choices in terms of designs and material, and the one that’s best comes down to your preferences and tastes. If you’d like a rustic appearance, for instance, wood panels can give your home a classier, warmer look. If you’d like something more modern, on the other hand, geometric cuts and clean lines can give your home a minimalist, sleek appearance. The style you choose may also depend on how you’d like to use your garage or how you plan to decorate your new garage door.
To help you out with your decision, we’ll cover the most common garage door styles and the impressions each type tends to make.
- Glass and aluminum: This sturdy, high-quality choice features a sleek surface and is a great option for those looking for a simple and modern look. Your door can be all aluminum or incorporate glass as well — certain modern doors feature an aluminum frame and a center of glass crossed by beams of aluminum. This choice is excellent for modern, simple tastes and, if you intend to use your garage as a workspace, keep in mind these doors allow in natural light. But even if you’re going to use your garage to park your car and keep out the elements, this garage door style will give your home a geometric and sleek appearance.
- Steel: Like aluminum, steel garage doors are sleek and modern-looking, but they’re also remarkably durable. Insulated steel is among the strongest, sturdiest materials you can pick to keep your garage safe. What’s more, it has the added benefit of efficiency. Unlike most other types of garage doors, steel garage doors help insulate your home and keep temperatures inside comfortable.
- Wood: This classy, traditional choice offers the unique benefit of authenticity and provides a rustic, rich feel other materials can’t duplicate. If your home is in a rural area and you’re looking to give it a rustic, traditional feel, a wood garage door could be a great choice. Choose a wood material and stain you like and that suits your home — just be sure to protect the doors with a waterproof adhesive sealant.
- Carriage house: This style of garage door provides your home with a look that is both sophisticated and rustic and will help it stand out in the neighborhood. You can make these doors especially attractive with side detailing, windows, handles and other accessories.
- With windows: If you’ve never had a garage door with windows, this may seem like a strange feature. However, windows can transform your home’s appearance and significantly improve your curb appeal. While windows may not be the best choice for every home, if your garage door takes up a large portion of your home’s front facade, windows can help break up the surface and add some variety. Base the location and design of your windows on those of your front windows or the windows in your front door — this will help draw the design together.
Decorate Your New Garage Door With The Right Decor & Accessories
Once you’ve decided on the color and style of your garage door, you can continue your garage entry makeover with some other customization options.
- Greenery: You can add topiaries or potted plants on either side of your garage door. Shrubs, tall plants and other types of greenery are great ways to add an additional flourish, and you can customize the plants for each season or change them whenever you feel like it.
- Architectural features: Trim, trellises, pillars and porticos above and around your garage door will enhance its design, making it stand out. Stonework in the driveway or walls can also go a long way.
- Lighting: Lights are one of the final touches to enhance your door’s curb appeal. Not only do lights illuminate the design of your garage, but they also make the space safer and more functional — they’ll provide light for when you return home after dark and will also deter intruders. You can install lights over the garage, build them into the garage door, put them on either side or even along your driveway. A wide variety of colors, designs and materials are available as well. Just like all the other features and accessories of your garage door, the lighting you choose should complement the style and colors of the rest of your home.
Why Choose Blankenship Garage Door as Your Garage Door Installer?
If you’re a homeowner in Central Oregon, and need a new garage door, you’ve come to the right place. For over 20 years, Blankenship Garage Doors has been helping customers throughout Central Oregon pick out high-quality residential garage doors that combine durability, performance and stunning modern curb appeal ideas.
We’re a proud Master Authorized Dealer of Clopay garage doors, a brand that has been leading the industry for the past 50 years. We offer a wide range of these high-quality, award-winning doors at competitive prices, and they’re available in many designs and material options.
If you’re searching for something with a contemporary look, for instance, you can check out our selection of modern doors manufactured from hot-dipped, galvanized steels that combine subtle, distinct beauty with rugged efficiency. If you’d like a wood-look garage door, we also sell beautiful Clopay faux wood doors that emulate the warmth and beauty of authentic wood, eliminating worries about rotting or warping. These doors can also be insulated, which will keep your garage a more comfortable temperature throughout the year. We also sell garage doors made from authentic wood, doors made of glass and aluminum and many others.
If you would like a customized garage door that suits your unique style and functional needs, Clopay offers the opportunity to create a made-to-order residential garage door products. We recommend you first take a little time to browse Clopay’s Imagine FlipBooks to get some inspiration, then use the online Door Imagination System to play around with some customization options and features.
Here are some other reasons to come to Blankenship Garage Doors.
- We’ll take care of your installation. Once you’ve picked out your new garage door, we can perform a quick, flawless installation for you. Since we are a Clopay Master Authorized Dealer, we are able to install any Clopay residential garage door — and guarantee that we’ll complete the job to your satisfaction.
- You can see our garage doors in person. In addition to browsing our online galleries, you can also get a closer look at our products by visiting our showroom. Our showroom is completely stocked and allows you to browse the complete collection of Clopay products. There will also be knowledgeable staff on hand to answer any questions you might have and provide expert guidance. With the help of our experts, you can spend less time deciding on a door and more time picking out your surrounding decor! You can contact us to schedule an appointment.
- We sell LiftMaster garage door openers to suit your budget and needs. Blankenship Garage Doors boasts a comprehensive selection of LiftMaster belt-drive and chain door openers that feature the cutting-edge MyQ technology, which allows users to monitor and control the openers using a smartphone, tablet or computer, regardless of their location. They also come with useful features like efficient, powerful P3 motors, battery backup for power outages and several other security and safety innovations. Our LiftMaster garage door openers are compatible with all Clopay products.
- We install garage door openers. For your garage door opener to function properly and not pose a safety hazard, proper installation is a must. Our team consists of experienced, knowledgeable garage door technicians who can install every garage door opener product from LiftMaster. We also guarantee all the projects we install, so you can use your opener with complete confidence.
- We offer timely maintenance and repair services. Even products as high-quality as LiftMaster’s garage door openers require an occasional tune-up to keep them working at maximum efficiency. As your Central Oregon LiftMaster dealer, we can perform routine maintenance on your opener and also handle any repair tasks. If it’s an emergency, we can even come to your location before or after hours.
Visit our site to browse our vast selection of residential doors.