And your garage door is made out of what material? They do make people doors incorporated into garage doors, but I've only seen them in a commercial setting. Auto mechanics, warehouse entrances, etc.. Why not put an entrance door on the side of the garage? Guests are coming through the garage to visit? The in-laws? Ron

I think I am in love with you folks! Ok, see, I did not think about the arches not working together. That terrifies me...I am sooooo lost with decorating, both inside and out. I know what I *LIKE* but I can't seem to get there by myself. I guess *I* am the reason interior decorators were invented! LOL. I can't afford a deocorator, but thank goodness I have you folks! :) amysrq-I look forward to talking with you more! Trust me, those hedges are GONE...as soon as we finish the inside, we will tackle the landscaping. The hedges are awful, most of the landscaping is messed up. I was hesitant to post an exterior shot of my house, because I want it known that this is NOT the finished product by any means!!! We are going to put a circular driveway in, so that will go right in front of the front of the house. We have discussed the lights on the house, but we just can't think about exterior stuff right now, I still have no floor in the family room/kitchen (it's concrete, we chipped up the tile when we first moved in, cuz we are doing wood) and my kitchen is in shambles. We were going to wait to deal with the garage door, but it fell apart on Saturday and it just can't wait anymore. Do you think we should lose the arched entry way? Or is that silly? I love a spanish/med look, but to me, the house kind of looks like a 70's ranch TRYING to look span/med. LOL. We plan on painting the house a similar color, but stronger, with a little more brown to it (not brown, but more mustardy.) We want to switch out the awnings to a different color...maybe brown? No need to get into that now...I will post a thread about it when the time comes.! :) Anyway, I was also thinking about getting the same color awning and putting that in front of the garage. I like my car to be cool when I get into it, and to be protected from rain etc, but I like having our garage open and available. (sidebar: my garage is where my w/d is, plus it has an A/C unit in it, so it will be more like a huge laundry room/utility area.) While a pergola would not offer as much protection, it sure would look prettier, and definitely provide shade. I may talk to DHG about that, thanks for the idea. We also discussed planting vines on either side of the garage and letting them cover that area (around the garage) and the arched entryway only. Any opinons on that idea? Again, I would love to chat with you further. I feel I have blogged on enough. I just kind of wanted you to know I am on board with your suggestions and you seem to understand what we are trying to achieve. thanks! ok, off to look at the links that momto5-home posted! :) Be right back...

I'm no expert but I think you're right, you probably want to keep the garage door matched closely to the brick around it so you don't highlight the garage. I think the bright white on the front door looks nice but maybe to make to stand out more a different color would be fun, but yeah, not red, lol! Ok, I'm no help but hopefully my comment will bump it up.

When buying a garage door there are usually several choices in pre-finished colors. See what your options are. Personally I would work with what is available. I think white would be OK. When we sold our house the next owners had the garage door painted and the paint was flaking off within a year or two. They were not DIYers, so they paid for it. So if you put a color coat on over the factory finish be sure the surface is prepared properly (or maybe they sell it in paint grade unfinished?).