Photo: David Papazian (Shutterstock)
What color should you paint your garage door? The short answer is: Whatever color you want. But whether you’re looking to freshen up your garage doors for your own visual enjoyment, or you’re about to put your house on the market, there are a few rules of thumb to help you maximize the appeal of this often overlooked feature of your home.
While you could simply choose the color you like best, this is not always the best choice to elevate the look of your home. There are several factors to consider: your house color, shutters, and trim; the materials used, and the number of decorative features already present on your home’s exterior.
You should paint your garage door white if...
The general rule is to paint your garage the same color as the dominant color of your home, or use white. White is the most popular garage door color for its clean finish and ability to match and balance almost any home design and existing color scheme. As Sarah Fisher, vice president of marketing and design at H.A. Fisher Homes, told Fagan Door, “Regardless of the elevation style, exterior finishes or details, white complements best and creates an overall crisp and uniform appearance that is pleasing to the eye.”
Choose white if you want to match the trim on your windows, doors, and gutters, rendering your garage door a more eye-catching feature. If you want to make the garage door pop against a largely beige or gray exterior, white will make your home look brighter and cleaner on the whole.
You should paint your garage door the same color as your house if...
If you want your garage door to blend in with the rest of our house, and purposely not stand out, then you should paint it the same color as your house. This could be because you like a more minimalist, simple look, or because your home’s exterior is already “busy” with shutters, windows of varying shapes and sizes, or decorative eaves. Matching your garage door to your house color will effectively hide it in plain sight, and make your home look bigger.
You should paint your garage door red if...
Red is a bold and daring color choice, regardless of where it’s used. When you use red to paint your garage door, you’re calling attention to it as a main feature of your home—so make sure it’s in good shape! While it can be great as a front door color, use red with caution on a surface wide enough to house two (or three) cars. G & S Garage Doors suggests red to complement lighter, tan-colored homes. (It also works for light grey homes.) You can make it a safer choice by using a darker, burgundy hue, as opposed to cherry apple red.
You should paint your garage door grey or blue if...
Smoky grays look great against white and beige “field colors”—that is, the primary color of your home. The contrast of dark and light neutrals does a nice job of breaking up the monotony of a beige exterior, which can look drab on its own. For homes consisting of primarily lighter grey stones, a blue or darker grey garage door adds a smooth, complimentary finish.
You should paint your garage door brown or beige if...
A medium-dark brown can work well against a largely tan-colored home. Brown and beige hues also tend to serve as a complement to brick. American Overhead Door notes, “For the most part, a rich chocolate brown or deep bronze will pair well with brick.” Brown garage doors also work with homes that have wood paneling or other exposed, unpainted wood elements. G & S Garage Doors notes that beige homes “often look better with a warmer color palate on their garage door (browns, reds, etc.).”
Consider a beige garage door if your home has red-painted siding, or red trim.
You should paint your garage door black if...
Black gives a sophisticated look against a white field color, and works especially well on more modern homes. It can also complement a grey exterior. If you’re not ready to go full noir, consider a dark gray.
If you’re overwhelmed by the choices, you can use online tools like the Sherwin Williams color visualizer to upload a picture of your house and preview various paint colors for your garage door so you can get a sense of what looks best before committing.
