Favorite project ever! Okay, not really at all. (I just couldn’t help trying to match Sherry’s enthusiasm from yesterday’s post), but this is a nice simple way to update basic garage doors so they look a little more stately. Back when we had our house’s exterior patched & painted right after moving in, we opted not to get the garage doors painted since we knew it was a task that we could easily tackle ourselves. Well, 12 months later and it’s finally done.
These two doors were sporting the same cream color that the old trim was before it went white, which wasn’t a very good look since it was nixed everywhere else. So we debated going bright white, medium gray/brown like the siding, or with a nice dark gray/brown color that’s a few shades deeper than the siding (like the tone of our metal window frames with the white sills).
Talking about those options pretty much got us nowhere, so we hopped in the car and drove around the neighborhood. We saw lots of white doors and black or deep gray/brown ones, and even some medium gray ones. And after staring at them all like neighborhood creepers, we decided that rich dark ones on a brick house was our favorite combination.
I kicked off the paint-fest with a cleaning party, courtesy of a hose-down (note: not nearly as fun as a hoedown) and a wipe / dry session with a rag.
This painting task quickly promised to be more involved than our previous rendezvous with a garage door, mainly because there were some added maintenance tasks involved – like redoing the patchy caulk around the weather stripping trim.
Since I know I’d be re-caulking anyways, I figured I’d go ahead and remove the weather stripping entirely since it would make my paint job easier and more thorough (I’d be able to paint all the way to the edge of the door, rather than stopping at the weather strip, which could shrink back in colder months and show an obvious unpainted line). I used my crowbar to pry off each strip, and then used a spackle knife to scrape off as much of the old caulk as I could.
These weren’t tough tasks, but they ate up about an hour before I could get to actually painting anything.
The paint color we chose was Urbane Bronze by Sherwin Williams, which was the darkest color on the same swatch as our siding color (Anonymous) which pretty much guaranteed that they’d go well together.
We bought a gallon of it in their Duration line since that’s what the house painters used and loved (it’s supposed to be extra durable and even has exterior primer built in). The Urbane Bronze color was nearly identical to the color of the dark metal window frames and oil-rubbed bronze light fixtures around our house, and it even tied into the charcoal roof pretty nicely, so it was an easy choice.
Painting was a combination of brushing (around the recessed panels and edges) and rolling (everywhere else). I worked in small sections so that the brushed portion didn’t dry and become tacky before rolling.
The first coat was fairly spotty looking, but that’s to be expected. I was just happy the second coat was enough – although it’s hard to tell in this photo since the sun spots are making it more uneven looking than it really was.
After the main part of each door was painted, I also raised them up bit-by-bit so I could paint the cracks in between each section of the door. That way it didn’t flash stripes of cream color every time the doors went up and down. This took a fair amount of patience because I had to let each part dry before raising the door a little more to do the next one.
The next day, once everything had dried, I reattached the weather stripping and recaulked the edges. I hate caulking against brick because it’s basically impossible to get a clean line against the craggy surface (I’ve tried painter’s tape in the past, but the result wasn’t much better), but since I was already working against the previously uneven caulk/paint job, I wasn’t going to beat myself up over it.
We actually contemplated painting the weather stripping Urbane Bronze to blend with the door, but after staring at it (and a few of our neighbors’ garage doors again) we decided going white like the rest of the trim on the house (Snowbound by Sherwin Williams) was the better bet. I opened the garage doors when painting these so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting any paint on them, which made this step go pretty quickly.
After a bit more drying, and a second coat, we were officially back in business. And by business, I mean Clara could reclaim her favorite chalking spot. Just don’t look too closely – that needs a nice power wash.
Oh and we also contemplated adding some decorative hardware, like some handles or what-not, but none of the options that we found felt like a good fit for our doors. We might try hunting a little more online, so we’re open to suggestions if anyone’s got some.
In addition to just being glad the cream is gone, we also like how the darker doors seem to tie in with other dark accents – like the light fixture and those dark metal window frames.
Overall, it’s not the world’s most exciting update, but it feels good to have it checked off the to-do list (finally). They feel like they ground the house a little better and don’t get lost in the beige-iness of the surrounding driveway and walkways.
Have you guys painted your garage doors? Did you slowly drive around the neighborhood to check out other door ideas like a creep? All of the homes around us have their garage doors on the side of the house (like ours) so that made it especially neck-craning for us, but thankfully nobody called neighborhood watch on us. That we know of.
Lovely!!! I love darker garage doors that provide contrast. I love that you creeped on the neighbors too ;)
That black looks so much better! Great choice!
mooody colored. Love it!
Ooo! I like that! I wasn’t sure if it would turn out well, but now that it’s on I think it’s a good choice!
Sarah
http://www.sarahsdaybook.com
I’m so happy you guys did this, I so want to do mine (I actually have the opposite problem, mine are too dark). Great to have an option for the paint type.
Painting doors darker is a HUGE difference maker! We painted our front door black and it as inspired us to paint the trim black now too! http://houseofbennetts.com/2014/04/10/grape-street-painting-a-metal-front-door/
I like your combo of dark door with light trim though, so who freaking knows!
I creep on my neighbors all the time. :-) I check to see what color their front doors are, or what kinds of flowers they are planting. :-) No shame! I need ideas, and what better place to look than your own neighborhood!
Looks great! I love when little projects like this make such a big visual difference. Brings the garage doors into 2014.
LOVE the darker doors! We are just getting ready to start the same project! Quick question – what are your garage doors made of? Ours are some sort of fiberglass/plastic (they are light to lift) and I’ve been doing some googling about if I need to use a special primer to get the paint to stick better. It seems you didn’t primer yours at all though? Thanks!
Ours are some sort of faux-wood/fiberglass too, but thankfully the Duration paint is self-priming (more on it here), and is made to hold up super well in outdoor situations, so we have high hopes!
xo
s
Please let us know if anything happens to them … I’ve been thinking about painting my white fake-wood ones, but I’ve been hesitant — most everything I’ve read said not to paint them anything darker than the color they were because otherwise the paint will bubble and peel with the temperature changes.
Anyway, I move a lot slower than you guys do in getting house stuff done, so by the time I’m down to that on the list yours will have probably been painted for years! ;)
I wasn’t sure about it when you guys had talked about painting the doors before but I LOVE how it turned out! It gives the house a more updated and almost modern feel. Great job! And our trim/doors are different colors too! :)
http://www.thewonderfullymade.blogspot.com
AAHH! Now I am even more confused!! I just painted our front door black and will be doing our shutters black as well. I want to do the garage door, but am dreading it…you know, letting the paint dry between the cracks UGH. Plus, the front of our house where the garage is gets a lot of sun and we are afraid it will fade quickly. I decided we might try some faux carriage style windows (http://addingcurbappeal.com/product-reader/items/104.html) and hardware. Now, I see this post and I just love the look of the black garage!!! They look great!! I guess I’m back on the fence…
We totally creeped on our neighbors too!!
HOLY COW THOSE WINDOWS LOOK REAL! Has anyone used these? They even have the reflection of the trees in them and everything! I am intrigued…
xo
s
I haven’t used them, but have seen them on friends’ houses. It’s just a rectangle of shiny black acrylic (which is why it reflects the trees) with trim around it. During the day, it does look like windows into a dark garage, but at night with a light over it, it can look a little more “faux”.
These garage door windows look like real windows but tinted so you can’t see in the garage(some people paint their garage windows, but you can tell if you know what to look for) OVHD like yours are awesome because you can take the top panel out to replace with a decorative or window panel.
I would recommend only doing it on a home that the garage faces the street, other wise it’s an additional cost that doesn’t have much return on curb appeal.
Sorry, I work for a General Contractor, half my week is spent working with garage door companies LOL.
Thanks Mallory!
xo
s
Those faux windows are amazing! I am so glad I saw your comment!!!
The windows have really good reviews and are really reasonably priced. They have all different sizes and can do custom sizing as well. If we decide to go that route rather than painting, I will try to remember to post a picture and review!
Would love to see them!
xo
s
So HD sells faux windows that you just screw on over your existing door. They’re $99 for 2 sets (that would cover a 1-car garage door–so you’d need two). I checked them out this morning but didn’t pull the trigger. I also saw a blog where people just painted faux glass with glossy black paint. Our garage is in the back of our lot so I might try that route. Must convince the husband. :) But I did buy the carriage door hardware today. Much easier to commit to $18.
So interesting! Never knew HD carried those!
xo
s
LOVE it! It really does tie everything in nicely and it might not be as sassy as a fabric wall in a closet but still a stellar upgrade! ;-)
We totally did the drive by when we were in the process of picking exterior house colors for our new house. But it has come full circle as now we have people driving slowly past our house taking photos!
Love the doors. Looks great!
What a great idea.. I would love to paint our door, but wouldn’t know where to begin with color, considering the side of the house the garage is on, is siding. and even though it’s on the side of the road our neighbors across the street face our garage door. We have only one window on that side of the house and its a bonus room window above the garage, there is so much open space on that side of the house. I am always contemplating what can i hang up or change.
Isn’t it amazing what a difference a little paint can make!?! I love the darker doors. It brings out the dark tones in the brick, along with looking so much better with the dark window trim and light fixtures! Great choice! As usual!
Looks great! We are buying a new house and the whitish garage door is stained – so this would be great to do. Thanks for the idea!
That looks really nice!
Just one question: I always thought, you can´t (or shouldn´t) paint over old layers of paint without sanding it off first. Did you use some special paint so you could skip sanding?
Good question! This Duration exterior paint is self-priming and meant to adhere well and be nice and durable for outside applications (it’s what the house-painters used over the siding without sanding that first). Although you’d need to sand your doors down if they’re peeling or flaking off :)
xo
s
Wow that really makes a difference. When we moved into our house our detached garage had an old school garage door, meaning you and to get out and lift the heavy door up and down. We finally upgraded to a new garage door that works with a push of a button. Then we just added the garage hardware and it made a big difference just like the paint for yours. Looks great.
Looks good. It really does pull it all together with the window and light fixture. And anything that just looks fresh is always nice. We are actually installing some of those decorative carriage door hinges on our garage this coming weekend. Thankfully our door already has real windows, so we can forgo the faux ones that come in those carriage door kits.
I don’t have a garage, so no creeping in that way. However, we have done that to figure out deck railing. We had some unique situations that YouTube & DIY sites weren’t addressing, and sure enough… the creeper method helped us arrive at a solution that worked.
The paint choice was spot on! I don’t envy having to do 2 coats in the crevices. Inch up. Dry. Inch up. Dry. Inch up. Dry. Rinse & repeat.
That is GORGEOUS!
I’m really glad to know I’m not the only neighborhood creeper out there ;-) … I even have a tendency to creep on OTHER neighborhoods
Love all of the contrast happening on that side of the house! Me-ow!
Our front door is Black Magic by Olympic (it was plain white when we moved in–gaaah!) and I actually painted the interior side the same color. I love a dark door.
Looks great. I would definitely recommend adding some hardware. If you lose power and/or have to operate the doors manually for some reason, having a handle to raise/lower the door is invaluable…been there, done that.
Thanks Theresa! I think a long thick handle along the bottom might be cool, maybe in oil-rubbed bronze. Keeping an eye out…
xo
s
I love the dark doors! I also think that it was a great move leaving the weather strips white. The doors really pull the look of your home together. Great job!
We are currently building a house and garage door paint colors really stumped us. We totally creeped all over town checking out other peoples combinations till we found what we liked best. Just make sure to wave at people or they think you are REALLY creepy. :)
Haha!
xo
s
An interesting update to be sure. I’ve always considering other updates to our garage door (like an overhanging trellis) but Ihaven’t thought of painting the door itself to give it a bit of a facelift. Thanks for the inspiration. This project might get added to our list.
-Kate
http://www.theflorkens.com
I love this color. It makes such a difference. It goes perfectly. I just love how this house it turning out. It looks amazing already but yet its so big we can look forward to enjoying your updates for quite a while. Perfect color on this garage!
Painting the garage doors is definitely on my very long home improvement list. My project will also include replacing all the worn-out weather stripping and the gasket at the bottom of each door, as well as figuring out how to strip the cracked and peeling old paint before I can begin painting. I am less than enthused. :(
The dark color looks much better then before! I’m always impressed by your painting patience. Waiting for things to dry before moving on is the hardest part for me!
They look great! I love a good dark door – http://lifewiththebs.wordpress.com/2013/08/22/i-want-it-painted-black/
I love the way it makes the darker bricks pop out! I admit I spent the post with my fingers crosses that you’d done white weather stripping :)
Your garage doors look FANTASTIC! I did this with interior doors over the weekend, and it’s always astounding how such a small change (albeit a labor-intensive one) changes the entire feel of a space. Gotta love big changes with a gallon of paint. Kudos to you!
Those doors look good! The deep colour make them look high-end. Good choice.
This looks awesome-what a difference! The paint choice was absolutely perfect. I bet it feels so good to have it off the list.
That looks great, love the color choice. I think you should paint the front door the same color! It would look amazing and make your exterior look so cohesive and sleek!
LOVE the doors, if I painted mine with this paint, could I also use the paint on our plastic shutters? What paint do you suggest for those??? Especially in order to match our new garage after we paint with the Duration Paint??
Hmm, I think something self priming like this paint would hopefully work on the shutters (since the door is fiberglass and not wood). Maybe ask at the paint desk to be sure?
xo
s
We have a light gray cape cod with white trim, a white garage door, black shutters and a red front door. I really want to paint the garage door red as well, but my husband is concerned it might be too much. Thoughts?
I would google around for a red garage door to help yourself picture it! That way you can see what you think without all the work, and then decide.
xo
s
Love it! Everything looks so cohesive and fresh. Your chosen colours are a beautiful blend on the whole house. Might have to steal this look if we end up with red brick in the future! ;O)
Ah, that looks so good! We’ve TOTALLY been doing the “slow neighborhood drive” many times over the past few weeks. Our house was pretty monotone when we got it: tan house, pinkish-tan trim/shutters. We’re now trying to figure out what color to paint the garage door and trim, because obviously the fleshy-tan HAS to GO.
Here are some pics and initial thoughts if anyone wants to weigh in–opinions welcome!
http://plantingsequoiasblog.com/2014/06/09/our-summer-project-in-which-i-continue-debating-in-an-effort-to-procrastinate-further/
Ooh I love that mock up at the very bottom with the charcoal gray door! Those white columns look amazing too!
xo
s
When repainting our trim we couldn’t decide between three colors. We put samples up on the house and our neighbors voted ;)
Love the doors — they look fabulous! Very sophisticated. Ours are a hot mess right now, and I’ve been debating trying to convince the husband we should paint them in a contrasting color (our shutters are hunter green, so maybe green?) . . . we’ll see how that goes!
Come to think of it…I don’t even know what color my garage doors are off the top of my head and I look at them every day…
Love love love! Did you notice if the heat/cold affected how fast you needed to paint?
Now you have me thinking about this for our house. We have been pondering the color choices for our home. As my mom put it, it looks like TX drab right now. The sun does take the vibrancy out of color in a few years.
Any apps or websites that you particularly love for comparing house color? We don’t have photoshop (too expensive), and I just don’t know what the final outcome will look like. I can pair colors like a champ, but not know how much of an impact it will have, you know?
Thank you for showing us this tutorial!
We painted the doors in around 75-80 degree weather, which was nice because it wasn’t sweltering or too cold. It seemed to dry pretty normally (not super fast or painfully slow) but working in sections as John mentioned seemed to help (and waiting for those door creases to dry before rolling the door more to do the next one). As for a website for house color changes, does anyone know one? Gimp is a free software like Photoshop, so maybe that helps?
xo
s
The garage door is on our to-do list too! Our house is yellow with light muted green shutters. We couldn’t decide on what color–and I didn’t want to do boring old white! I finally convinced my husband to let me paint the doors the same color as our shutters (the green, but now I am scared! I keep looking at this picture for inspiration and telling myself it will be okay!
http://www.zubujk.com/contemporary-house-design-use-interesting-swing-out-garage-door/interesting-swing-out-garage-door-with-green-door-stone-gate-gray-ceramic-tiles-floor-using-swing-out-garage-door-plans/
SUCH AN AWESOME INSPIRATION PICTURE!
xo
s
I eventually want to add an overhang to our garage doors. Not exactly like this, but this will give you the idea:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/263671753159129611/
So swanky! Send pics when you do!
xo
s
Simply put – it looks GREAT!
We just painted our entire house in the SW Urbane Bronze, including our garage doors, and it looks amazing! The front door is Hep Green, also SW, and the contrast pops.
What a surprise to see your blog today and validate our color choice!
Love that!
xo
s
Is there a reason you guys always seemed to color match BM paint in the past (FOR YEARS!) and more recently have moved to actually buying their product? Do you think it is better than other brands you used to color-match to?
Yes, we have become addicted to good paint! Once you try it, it’s hard to go back I think. In this case we used Sherwin Williams since the house painters loved/recommended it, but we have sprung for BM stuff since House #2 (we did the office cabinets with it and got addicted back in 2010 I think). We used to curate a color collection with BM (in 2012 and 2013) but we don’t even do that anymore, so we just like the coverage and quality :)
xo
s
The new colour looks great.
When I first saw the post I thought dark doors really look great. That is what we did and I loved it. Then when I saw the color you chose I almost fell out of my chair. It was the same color we painted ours. The doors look great! Great minds think alike!