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justcallmepool

What color for my garage door?

justcallmepool
6 years ago
I need help deciding what color to paint our garage doors, please! Initially we wanted wood doors but with an $8,000 quote that went the way of the dodo bird real quick.
The garage doors have a faux wood grain so our painter did a sample of a glaze on a couple panels, as seen in this picture.

I’m worried it just looks brown and will be too dark. I’m wondering about painting both white like the house.
Any thoughts? Suggestions please!

Exterior paint is SW Alabaster. The metal roof accent is Venetian Bronze.

Comments (38)

  • karenmil86
    6 years ago

    I would paint the house siding to match the brick and the garage doors and all the trim should be white.

  • PRO
    Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
    6 years ago

    If you want to paint only the garage door, consider a color that matches your brick. Or you could try a complementary color such as a dark green, perhaps Sherwin-Williams SW0047 Studio Blue Green. If your front door needs a fresh look, try the same color there.

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  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    I do only want to paint the garage doors at this point. This a remodel we’ve been working on for 5 months and it’s almost move in time.

    The front door is a custom wood door so it’s not getting painted.
    I’ll check out that green color, thanks. I was worried green may look Christmas-y.
  • eld6161
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I would keep it white, or match it to the siding color so it blends in.

    I have never seen garage doors matched to brick.

    I also would not introduce yet another color.

    They are garage doors. You are lucky to have what looks like two double garages!


  • shari13
    6 years ago

    Match the siding. You want it to blend in.

  • PRO
    Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
    6 years ago

    The green I mentioned will not look like Christmas.

  • chloebud
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I would paint the garage doors Alabaster like the siding...no question for me in this case. Front-facing garage doors can often pull too much focus. However, in your case the light siding on the left helps with balance. Also, the brick helps pull focus to the center...IMO. Not a pro here but would go with Alabaster.

  • Sammy
    6 years ago

    I would paint the brick Alabaster because right now it looks like three completely different buildings all smooshed together. Honestly, at first glance, I thought the middle was a school.

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Okay I believe we are going to paint the garage doors alabaster like the siding and trim. I was mostly debating that or the brown, and was worried that would be too dark and too much focus. I think the white will be better too and once we have some decorative lighting hanging it will look better and not so much white.
    Painting the brick isn’t an option, now or ever. That’s not for me. Plus we wanted to keep the house looking similar to its original look to fit in with the neighborhood, just update and make bigger. Which we’ve done and pretty proud of. The red brick is original and staying, school look or not. We are fairly educated in our house, so maybe it works.
  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Carol, I’m still going to check out that green color. Thank you!
  • PRO
    Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
    6 years ago

    Wonderful! Sounds great.

  • Denita
    6 years ago

    I like your home and don't get the idea that it is a school at all. Agree with keeping the garage doors blending in with the siding. Landscaping will tie everything together. Congrats on finishing your remodel!

    justcallmepool thanked Denita
  • ltherese
    6 years ago

    Since the garage doors are already a prominent feature of the house, I think you would want to draw attention away from them by painting them the same color as the white siding. It would draw the eye more toward your entry and brick.

    justcallmepool thanked ltherese
  • K Laurence
    6 years ago

    My only comment is that I think the brick is the nicest feature on the facade , once landscaping is in it’s going to be beautiful.

    justcallmepool thanked K Laurence
  • Bette P
    6 years ago

    That's a lot of garage there. I'd consider gel staining them brown to look like wood.

  • sumac
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    What Itherese said above: by painting them the same color as the white siding. It would draw the eye more toward your entry and brick.
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  • ingrid_vc so. CA zone 9
    6 years ago

    I would paint the whole thing in an off-white color. It looks rather disjointed now. If that's not an option then paint it the same white color as the wing on the left. No third color, please.

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Bette, I have considered doing that and my husband’s preference. Thanks for the mock up! Actually it looks pretty good like that and may tie into the wood stained front door and the metal roof on the left.
    Hmmm, just when I had decided to paint it white like the rest, now I’m reconsidering again!
  • amykath
    6 years ago

    I am liking the look of the mockup with the brown doors. It does sort of tie some things together!

  • PRO
    Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
    6 years ago

    I love the stain, but had thought that brick colored paint would give you a similar effect for much less money.

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    So I did a side by side. I’m still undecided. Now I’m leaning towards trying the gel stain and if it doesn’t look then just paint over it.

    I’m going to try some mockups with that green Carolyn mentioned previously and maybe a couple others. I was trying to stay pretty neutral though and dress it up with landscaping and whatnot.

    If we paint it to match the white, what’s the thought on adding some decorative hardware? Maybe that plus an overhead light will break all the white up enough. I can’t believe I’m stuck on the garage of all things haha.
    Thanks everyone for the ideas!
  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Oops forgot my pic
  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Also, maybe it’s not clear in the pic, but the brick isn’t painted. It’s red brick. So I don’t want to try and match that.
    Okay thanks again :)
  • PRO
    Carolyn Albert-Kincl, ASID
    6 years ago

    If you try the green, I'd want you to consider also painting the boards that are just below the rooftop. Most houses have two paint colors, the main color and the trim color.

  • gracie01 zone5 SW of Chicago
    6 years ago

    If this were my house I would paint out all the white siding in a dark color to match the brick.


  • chloebud
    6 years ago

    For me, the dark color on the garage doors makes them even more prominent.

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Carolyn, I do agree most houses have two colors. When we had to select the exterior paint color I was not really prepared for that decision and didn’t have any specific ideas in mind. The house was originally all white with red brick and we knew what that would look like. So I just said do it all the same and I’ll think on it. The brick adds a very distinct color on its own imo.
    But now we are ready to just be done and live with it for a while and see how the house evolves. It’s been a pretty organic process for us.
    That’s why I’m leaning towards just matching the rest of the siding. Although we have been talking tonight though about maybe adding a third color to the mix. I’ll make some mock-ups tomorrow with that green color you suggested. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate all the ideas.
  • Denita
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    In my area, 3 colors are standard for the exterior of our/your home: siding color, trim color and front door color. Are there variations? Yes. Would love to see it when you are finished. You do have a lovely home.

  • 2pups4me
    6 years ago

    I would paint the doors to match the siding. Maybe amp up that lovely front entry with landscaping. Beautiful home!

  • eastautumn
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    I can understand wanting to keep it simple after putting in a lot of work. When you're less fatigued, maybe you'll have a great idea for the next color to paint the body of your house when it comes time to repaint. I could definitely see a nice sage green with your brick, but admit to being very biased ;)

    Given that you're keeping the white on the body, I still think matching the garage doors to the body color would look best, so would go with your Alabaster. Your house has a nice balance to it with the garage doors matching the house body. The mock up with the stain looks busy to my eye, with the doors not relating to any other major features (the front door is recessed so doesn't stand out as a major feature). I also don't think gel stain looks like wood, but am picky that way. Good luck!

    justcallmepool thanked eastautumn
  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    I made a bunch of mock ups with different colors and while several of them do look nice, I just can't seem to pull the trigger on anything other than matching the alabaster right now. Even though that is technically "painting" them, for DH that is just white and we can paint again later. If I pick a color he thinks that is painting and I end up stuck with it for 10 years haha. I added some lighting and green grass to my original pics and it looks better already.

    The front door does look sort of sad back there and that's a shame bc it was custom and stained and cost too much to change at this point. Maybe I'll paint the door frame so it stands out more.

  • PRO
    BeverlyFLADeziner
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Paint the trim WHITE to connect the three separate sections.

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Darn it Beverly! That does look great!

    What color is that? It won't happen now, but maybe in a couple years. I just cannot imagine DH approving that expense at this point.

  • Denita
    6 years ago

    Rather than painting the front door frame a contrasting color, consider putting in a colorful planting pot flanking the door if you have room. Something like this but in a color you want to use to accent. I think one pot on each side of the door would work if you have room.


    A Public Library goes for Color! · More Info

    justcallmepool thanked Denita
  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    and omg my house DOES look like a school! :( It's that stupid front door area. How can I fix that? I feel like it's more noticeable in pictures than real life, but it's all I will notice now.

  • PRO
    BeverlyFLADeziner
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Plain white trim to link the sections together.

    Your house doesn't look like a school, but why don't the windows on the left coordinate with the windows in the center and the design of the garage door?

    I'm sure you can add grids if you like

  • justcallmepool
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    You mean how they are 4/1 and the rest are 1/1? That's why regular people like me shouldn't be allowed to make decisions like that haha. That's a two-part answer.

    Here's a picture of the original house,

    You can see that big window on the left, which is a bedroom. I wanted to keep some resemblance to the original look, but also didn't want any dividers on the windows of the living room (center section). So I chose the 4/1 windows for the left part and the front door also has a 4 pane window on the top half, although you can't see that in the new picture. The garage doors were also originally planned on coordinating that look, but when we got the quote for those we opted to keep the existing garage door. We did consider adding some dividers to the garage doors to make them look like 4 squares. (I can't remember what those muntin things are called). Should we do that? Would it help tie it in?