Like any other parts of the house, garage doors complete the overall aesthetic appearance and add value to your home. Aside from your interior and exterior designs, garage door styles also improve your residence’s curb appeal and flaunt your personal taste. However, not all homeowners are familiar with these styles, and they don’t value the importance of styling their garage doors.
Are you one of them? Fret no more! In this article, we’ll share with you the different garage door designs that will surely suit your style, along with the tips in choosing the best garage door design for your home. Read on.
Different Garage Door Styles: Your Options to Complement Your Home
Just like how sweet breads match your hot brewed coffee, your home’s architectural design and personal taste should complement each other in choosing your garage door style. Hence, to help you achieve your ‘house goals’, we’ve compiled a list of different garage door styles to choose from. Let’s dig right in.
Traditional Raised-Panel Garage Doors
If you’re looking for a clean and classic appearance for your home’s exterior, raised-panel garage doors perfectly suit you. Branded as one of the most common garage door styles, raised-panel garage doors have become the standard garage door among homeowners. You can customise your garage door by choosing from a variety of panel styles available in long or short designs, a unique assortment of decorative window designs and up to eight factory-finished paint colors.
Raised-panel garage doors are characterised by symmetrical, raised rectangular panels. The original raised-panel doors featured floating panels that fit inside a rail-and-style frame. But in the modern version, the door panels are often solid and simply molded to resemble the classic raised-panel door.
Contemporary Garage Doors
Does your home follow the modern architectural trends? Then go for a contemporary garage door as it provides a clean and functional curb appeal for mid-century modern or modern home styles. Having a contemporary look means displaying a bold, streamlined and updated appearance with sleek lines and smooth surfaces. This style has a wide array of options that exhibits the most exciting and eye-catching design features of modern architecture.
Contemporary garage doors are available in wood, steel and aluminum. However, there may also be panes of glass or layers of insulation, depending on the door. Wood doors deliver a superb look and the natural appearance of handcrafted elegance. As for steel doors, they’re made to withstand heavier use and require less maintenance. Meanwhile, aluminum contemporary garage doors are lightweight and stand up to the elements to maintain a lasting appearance.
Carriage House Garage Doors
Also known as barn style garage doors, carriage house garage doors have a distinctive, rustic appearance that can stand out, and are often the perfect match with craftsman style or mission style homes. This garage door style replicates the look of doors found in old carriage houses, but they also look good on contemporary homes.
As mentioned above, carriage house garage doors combine two of the most commonly desired elements of residential garage doors: the carriage house’s rustic charm and the modern convenience of an overhead-opening garage door. Carriage house garage doors are available in different materials, configurations and finishes, each with a wide array of hardware and window options to help blend with your home’s architecture.
Craftsman Home Garage Doors
Craftsman style garage doors complement your home if it emphasises natural materials like wood, stone and brick for a layered and inviting aesthetic. With details such as covered porches, gables, overhanging eaves and eye-catching columns, craftsman style homes are known for their unique and charming exterior.
Although there are no recommended garage door formula toward a perfect curb appeal for craftsman homes, there are certain elements that are consistently popular across garage doors for these homes. These include the following:
- Windows allow natural light into the home and complement the home’s other windows;
- If the doors are painted, the base color often blends with the home color to incorporate the garage into the rest of the home; and
- If a natural wood appearance is chosen, it often matches the look of the entry door or other natural wood elements used at home.
Farmhouse-Style Homes Garage Doors
Farmhouse-style homes have become popular in the recent years. Originally characterised by a vintage, carriage-house look, today’s farmhouse-style garage ranges from classic painted-white doors to sleek, modern glass doors. Furthermore, both the interior and exterior have warm and rustic elements, making the overall feel of the home very inviting. Farmhouse-style homes can also have narrow windows, wood siding, metal roof and simple roof lines with a steep pitch.
Modern Style Homes Garage Doors
If your home has a strong indoor-outdoor connection using windows, modern garage door is for you. With this construction, you’ll not only see excellent views of the landscape but also get access to that landscape.
Your home may lend itself to a unique contemporary garage door configuration, but most modern garage doors integrate windows to establish an indoor-outdoor connection and allow natural light. In addition, they combine materials to tie together several architectural elements at home; and feature clean, sleek lines or a rectangular theme to create symmetry.
Ranch-Style Home Garage Doors
Since ranch style homes embrace modern simplicity, they only have neutral colors and no heavy patterns; asymmetrical construction and design; picture windows with large glass surfaces; and low-sloping roofs with overhangs.
Additionally, ranch-style homes have a single-storey with an open interior floor plan that emphasises large social spaces and natural lighting. The exterior may be made of stucco, brick or wood, and the home will sit low to the ground with a strong emphasis on horizontal length. Choose a door with a classic and elegant look since the door may have large glass windows and vertical elements that match the horizontal home structure.
Colonial-Style Home Garage Doors
Colonial-style homes are usually built from stone, brick, wood or a combination of all three. Most have a compact, two-storey footprint due to the fact that it was easier to build and heat back in the day. Colonial-style homes generally flaunt steep, sloped roofs; symmetrical, balanced window displays; decorative entrances; and handcrafted, wood elements. That being said, select a garage door that has a traditional and formal look, and that appearance can be achieved with a swing style door. The door may also feature a two-tone coloring.
Mid-century Style Home Garage Doors
Mid-century homes display simple framework and incorporate large, glass windows and geometric lines as they are typically one-storey and apply both traditional and modern elements in their design. This home style embraces the connection between home and nature, while outdoor areas such as patios and decks are often used as frequented living spaces. Some of the characteristics of mid-century style homes are vaulted ceilings, medium wood accents, flat exterior paneling and warm, earthy tones due to the use of natural materials. Garage doors with simple designs and minimal glass elements will do.
Tips in Choosing a Garage Door for Your Home
Now that you have an idea about the different garage door designs, are you ready to purchase your own garage door? If you’re still hesitant, here are some tips you must heed in choosing the best garage door for your home. Read on.
Look for a garage door that will complement your home style.
Before purchasing a garage door, always consider your home’s exterior design as your number one factor. Aside from blending it with your home’s architectural design, make sure that your garage door style must also blend with your personal taste.
Choose your preferred garage door materials
Whatever your garage door style is, go for a material that will catch your attention every time you pass by. To help you decide, here’s a quick rundown of garage door materials and what they can offer.
Steel
Steel has the distinction as the most popular material for garage doors, due to its reasonable price and durability. Also, steel is low maintenance and available in any of your preferred style you like. Moreover, steels can be painted, and are also available in textures that mimic wood.
Aluminum
With its optional faux wood texturing and long-lasting finishes, aluminum doors share many of the characteristics of steel. However, it’s lighter and less expensive than steel, but it’s more likely to dent.
Wood
The first garage doors were made of wood, and as time went on, wood has continued to appeal to homeowners who prefer traditional styles and materials. Offered in a variety of styles, wood doors can include windows. Moreover, it is a better insulator than steel, although insulated steel doors provide better energy conservation.
Consider painted wood with flat hardboard panels as your lowest-cost option. On the other hand, stain-grade wood doors cost more, but provide the warmth of natural wood that can make a big difference in the curb appeal of a house.
Wood Composite
Made with recycled wood fibers, composite doors offer the strength of steel with the looks and texture of wood, and they can be painted or stained. Additionally, composite doors are superior to solid wood in resisting rot and splitting.
Fiberglass
Fiberglass is very light, a poor insulator and can fade from weather exposure. However, it’s more resistant to saltwater corrosion than other garage door materials, which makes it a good choice for coastal locations.
Consider your budget
When identifying and selecting the best garage door for your home, always consider your budget. The cost of a garage door varies depending on your desired level of customisation.
Go for a garage door that can endure extreme weather conditions
Wherever you live, your garage door must withstand more any weather conditions. If your home is built in an area prone to a lot of rain or snow, wood doors can be more challenging to maintain because they become warped or bowed when they get exposed to a lot of moisture. Meanwhile, if you live in a coastal region, wood doors can also be a higher maintenance choice because the salt in the air can corrode the material.
Seek professional help
If you still find yourself having a hard time deciding what garage door styles would perfectly blend your home, ask for help from garage door professionals. Contact us and get your durable, aesthetically appealing garage doors installed today!
