Selecting a Garage Door

Garage doors are an untapped market of curb appeal design, and understandable so. When do we think about these large squares on our home? Open door, park car, close door, end of story (assuming you have enough space to park your car in your garage - which if not this is a totally different issue in and of itself - and *cough* did you know I also offer organization services?). In my experience, the garage door only becomes a topic of discussion when 1. The door doesn’t open or close, or 2. someone hits it - no shame people, we all make mistakes.

OR maybe you are like me and 3 - your door is so old that it has started to literally fall apart (apparently wood doors from last century were not made to last forever.)

Our very awful door.

Our garage door had this lovely warping quality to it that made you question your sobriety. The bottom right of the door was rotting away creating a welcoming entrance for mice, and the maybe-once-turquoise was sad and faded (not to mention covered in random caulk drawings from my kids). I had wanted a new garage door from close to day 1 - but alas - we had other priorities before this door became a central focus of improvement.

Garage Door Vendors in Central PA

We received quotes for multiple doors from two different installers in the area - Central PA Dock and Door and Overhead Door of Nittany Valley. We ended up going with Overhead Door because of the specific design we could get there - but both were great to work with and I’d recommend them both. We were very close to selecting an all black door from Central PA Dock and Door. All of the photos I’ve used in this article (besides my own house) are from their websites.

Garage Door Style

Which brings me to style and color - how to you know what to select for your home? Let’s start with style: the style of your door should reflect the style of your home. We have a midcentury modern home, so I really wanted to select a modern door to enhance that style. The door we had - even if it was in good shape - was so plain that it didn’t add to the modern style. For my home I normally go for the simplest design option (think slab front doors for my kitchen) however - I knew some modern windows would go a long way to improve the design of this door.

Is your home modern? Is your home craftsman? Contemporary? Farmhouse? Traditional? Search for similar homes on Google or Pinterest and see what doors they use. What do you like? What not only compliments - but enhances - the style of your home? More modeling is used in craftsmen, farmhouse, and traditional homes - with craftsmen having larger pieces of modeling. Simple, single paned windows, especially ones that are rectangular and off center give a modern look. Windows with several panes give a more traditional look - and can be an excellent choice to mirror the windows already on your home.

Of course, as Gretchen Rubin says, the opposite of a truth is often also true - sometimes having a contrasting style door from your home can make its own statement. Although not the easiest thing to pull off, mixing styles can give your home freshness - such as a traditional farmhouse with modern accents.

This farmhouse gets a fresh update with these modern doors.

What Color Should My Garage Door Be?

Okay, so you’ve selected a style for your door and you are ready to pick a color - what should you select? Match the trim of your house? Match the siding? Match your front door? Pick another color all together? All of these could be good options. Many garage door companies will “mock up” different color options for you - or at the least, bring samples to your home so you can see what those look like with your home’s exterior.

Our original door was a faded-almost-turqouise color, which was the color of the trim around the windows when we moved in.

Original Real Estate Photo - Yikes!

For many homes, using the trim color for the doors is an excellent option. A white farmhouse with a black door could give a very sophisticated vibe - or the example below with the pale blue on white really amps up this home’s beachy feel.

I love how the blue doors match the trim in this home, and the vertical panels contrast well with the horizontal siding. Also - can we just mentioned how cute the stylist is that did this photo? That bike with the hydrangeas omg heart eyes.

However, sometimes a color-on-color option creates a clean look and allows the architecture of the home to be the focus. This white-on-white image below is lovely and gives this home a sweet, simple, modern cottage vibe:

The door is a huge percentage of the front of this home (taking up almost half of the space). The black roof is also very visible from the front of the home - if the door were to be a contrasting color, the house could start to feel like a lego set - with 3 different blocks of color.

A third option is to pull another color in - usually a wood tone - to give a contrast to the home. Think about a neutral colored home with a bright and friendly front door. I love seeing homes with an unexpected front door color - highlighting the door can feel very welcoming and fun.

I mentioned “usually wood tone” above though, and the reason for that is the garage doors are big. Like, really big. Much, much bigger than a front door, so what would be a small pop of color on a front door could be more like an explosion of color on a garage door (when’s the last time you saw red garage doors on a residential property?).

This cream colored house with white trim gets warmth and pop of color by using these wood-toned craftsmen doors. The black hardware adds interest on a relatively simple door.

When we originally moved into our house, the vertical wood was stained a dark brown, the trim and garage door were that unbelievable not quite fun turquoise, the front door was a seen better days wood door, and the brick was the same beautiful warm taupe/tan/pale brown color we have inside - however - for some reason it looked like puke yellow outside. She was a stunner. In the first year or so, we replaced our windows (I really wanted black windows but that wasn’t a thing 13+ years ago the way it is now) and added white trim, stained the house black (yes, its a stain - not paint! fascinating!) and stained the brick white (again - stain!! the things you learn at Sherwin Williams!). When we completed our great room renovation in 2016, the first thing we bought was a new front door that we stained a gorgeous teak color - and I really wanted the garage door to match that color.

We considered a wood garage door that we would stain ourself to match the front door, but wood doors are $$$Yikes$$$ and while I admit to paying more for things that are beautiful, I also have three kids so let’s be reasonable here. Luckily, a friend completed a beautiful outside home update and selected the perfect color garage door for me to envy copy. She shared with us the vendor, they brought over a sample, and it was perfect! (thanks Stephanie!). Our new door is an aluminum door with windows along one side.

Cue the angel choir - awwww!

We did consider a very modern door with all windows - however - our garage is under our main living space so we really needed something with a decent R-Value.

Isn’t she a beaut?

The only problem with a major curb appeal upgrade like this is that it makes you realize how crappy the rest of your yard is gives you a bunch of other ideas to improve your curb appeal. The next smallish project I’d like to make happen is replacing the door next to our garage door - I’m thinking a modern black door and removing that ugly storm door. I just need to make sure my kids know not to draw on it.

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