What Color Should Your Garage Door Be?

If you’re shopping for a new garage door, you might get lost in technicalities such as springs and openers and forget completely about one very important aspect. More than anything else, the color of the garage door can have an impact on the look of your house. The right color can blend and enhance, while the wrong color can make the entire house look off balance and strange. 

Most garage door manufacturers offer steel doors in basic colors of white, grey and beige. Wood doors are even more diverse, offered in natural wood stains and a wide variety of colors. Both steel and wood doors can also be painted, if desired.

 Color choice is easy if you keep a few basic points in mind: 

  • The garage door typically takes up a third of the front of your house and therefore becomes a focal point. If the garage door is bold or bright it will divert attention away from other aspects of the house, such as the front door, and will strongly emphasize the garage door. If the color blends it can make the house seem bigger, or help emphasize other aspects of the house, such as interesting architecture or a beautiful front entry.
     
  • Most homes have three colors: one for the siding, one for the trim and one for the door. In general, it is best to match the garage door with the siding.
     
  • For a little interest, choose a garage door that is in the same color cast as the siding, but a shade or two lighter.  If the house is brown, for example, use a cocoa color on the garage doors. If the house is brick, choose a color that brings out the cast of the brick, usually beige, blue or grey. 

Just like you would test a swatch of color for inside paint, try to test the color of your garage door before you make a permanent change.  Place a plyboard sample near the garage to see how it will look, or, better yet, experiment with an online program like Color-a-Home on the Better Homes and Gardens website.