How Different Styles of Garage Door Affect the Perception of Your Home

The garage door is not a sexy topic. Nor is it one that gets a lot of print space over at H&G magazine or creates the kind of excitement that a remodeled kitchen or new furniture will. But maybe it should. You see, the garage door is the largest single component of your home’s exterior. In some cases it can account for a quarter of what people see from the street when they look at a house. As such it plays a significant role in how your home is perceived. And any changes to it will fundamentally impact that perception for better or worse. In this article we’re going to look at ways different replacement garage doors can affect the way people perceive your home.

How Garage Door Replacement Can Change the Perception of Your Home

Way back in the days of yore (say, the 1970s and 80s) if you wanted or needed to replace your garage door you had a choice between white wooden panels and off-white wooden panels. That was about it. If you wanted something different you’d have to modify the doors yourself by painting them.

Thankfully, those days are behind us. Here in the 21st century the homeowner has choices galore when it comes to replacement garage doors. This enables them to create subtle (or not so subtle) changes in the way their home is perceived. Here’s how different garage door styles can impact the perception of your house:

• Aluminum garage doors - We’re talking about aluminum doors that embrace their metal DNA. Not ones that are made to cleverly mimic wood. Or ones where the aluminum is used to frame glass panels (we’ll get to those glass panels shortly). Installing aluminum panel garage doors can provide your home with a sleek, modern profile that brings it squarely into the new century. Of course you’ll need to make sure the metal panels don’t clash with other elements of the exterior.
• Glass garage doors - In those sepia toned days of the 20th century glass was rare on garage doors and mostly confined to small decorative shapes on a few panels. Today, however, the all-glass garage door is here and it’s a thing of beauty. Choosing to replace your garage door with an all glass door - either framed or unframed - opens up all kinds of design possibilities and will fundamentally change the way your home is perceived from the street. Instead of just another house it will take on a cool, modern aspect. It will seem more open and airy. And when it’s lit from behind your house will glow at night.
• Carriage house doors - We get a lot of things from the old days that most people aren’t even aware of. The word “car” for instance is short for “carriage” and is a holdover from the horse and buggy days. And the modern garage door is a direct descendant of ye olde carriage house doors from Colonial times. Carriage house-style garage doors are still very popular. So if you are contemplating garage door replacement you might want to consider them. They add an air of refinement and timeless, Old World sophistication to a home. Complete the throwback look by adding shutters to your windows.
• Invisible garage doors - One of the hottest trends in garage doors in recent years has been the concealed or invisible garage door. This is a door faced with material that is identical to its surroundings. Some are also perfectly flush with the exterior wall with only a tiny gap indicating the outline of the door. A concealed door like this can make your home seem larger than it is. It also prevents the garage door from competing visually with other elements of the exterior of the house. And there’s no substitute for the look of delight on people’s faces when they door reveals itself, much to their surprise.
• Steel garage doors - Steel doors have been used on warehouses, factories and other types of commercial buildings for years. Recently though, they’ve begun to migrate to the residential sector. But these new residential steel doors look nothing like their commercial counterparts. Some have a polished finished. Others are combined with wood to create a very luxurious look. And still others embrace their steel-ness and provide your home with an air of security that no would-be burglar is going to mess with.
• Traditional wood doors - Of course when it comes time to consider replacement garage doors you could always choose a traditional wood panel door. The good news is that “wood panel” today doesn’t mean more of the same old thing your parents and grandparents had. Today’s wood panel doors are available in an array of textures, colors and designs. They’ll help you establish whatever type of architectural mood you’re trying to evoke from contemporary, to Victorian, to mid-century modern and even Usonian.

The Bottom Line

When the time comes to replace your garage door, don’t do it yourself or just default to the same old thing. Talk to the pros at A Better Garage Door about garage door design options. They’ll help you decide which type of door can improve the way your home is perceived. Remember, no matter which direction you take with your garage door replacement it’s going to make a visual impact. So seize the opportunity to make a statement with peerless replacement garage doors from A Better Garage Door.