A new garage door is one of the best investments you can make in terms of boosting the value of your home and enhancing its curb appeal. Garage door styles have really expanded in recent years. Gone are the days when there were only a few basic options available and every house in the neighborhood had the same boring, bland-looking garage. Nowadays, you can choose from a wide variety of styles, materials, colors and finishes, ensuring you’ll find something you love no matter your preference or taste.
Dark and Bold Colors
The garage door is often the first thing that draws a person’s eye when looking at a house. The color you choose for your new garage door can make a major difference in how much it enhances your home’s curb appeal. For many years, a large number of homeowners chose a very basic color for their garage door, such as white, cream or something that matched their home’s siding or trim.
An increasing number of people are opting for a much bolder color choice to create contrast with the rest of the house and make the garage door stand out. Black, charcoal and other dark colors can really pop when paired with a lighter-colored house. If your home has a brick façade, choosing a deep, dark blue color also provides great contrast and a unique blend of modern and classical style.
Modern Minimalist Designs
Another major trend in recent years is the use of sleek, modern styles modeled after Scandinavian minimalist design. Think straight lines with plain, rectangular windows, basic flat metal finishes and neutral colors like black, white or gray. This type of style is a perfect match for many modern architectural styles, and it can also bring a beautiful, eye-catching modern feel to more traditional looking homes.
Glass Garage Doors
Opting for a full glass garage door can give your house a truly unique, clean and contemporary look and feel. That look will set it apart from the rest of the homes in the neighborhood. A glass garage door can be an especially great choice if you have a workshop in your garage or you use the garage as a home office or home gym. This is due to all of the extra natural light it will let in.
If you’re worried about people being able to see into your garage, you can always opt for frosted glass to gain more privacy. And you can still get the benefit of the natural light shining in through the door.
While some people may think that a glass garage door is basically an invitation for thieves to break into a house, this really isn’t the case. Although the glass panels can get damaged a bit more easily than other garage door materials, requiring garage door repair from a pro, the doors themselves are just as secure as any other option you could choose.
That said, there are a few potential downsides to glass garage doors. One is that they don’t offer the same level of insulation as other options and aren’t as energy efficient. Another concern, if your garage door faces south or west, is that the sunlight shining in through the glass will make your garage much hotter in the summer. Lastly, glass garage doors are typically among the most expensive of all the options.
Wood Doors and Composite Wood Finishes
Solid wood garage doors have long been popular, as they offer a traditional, timeless look that can perfectly complement a wide range of architectural designs and styles. Not only will a wood garage door greatly enhance your home’s curb appeal, but it will also add more value to your house than virtually any other type of garage door.
There are also some drawbacks to choosing a wood garage door that you should be aware of. One is that they are fairly heavy and require more robust hardware and larger, more powerful garage door openers. Another is that they require much more maintenance than other garage door materials. That is because the wood needs to be regularly sanded and refinished to prevent it from cracking, splitting or rotting. As with glass doors, wood doors are quite costly compared to other material choices.
These concerns are why many people are now opting for composite or faux-wood garage doors instead. These doors are made using wood fibers mixed with various types of plastic and binding agents to create a strong, durable and long-lasting material that’s on par with traditional steel garage doors. The composite material is colored and finished with authentic-looking wood grains, giving the door the exact look and feel of real wood.
Composite wood doors come in a wide range of styles as well. Whether you prefer a modern minimalist style or something more traditional, you can find numerous options that will perfectly match your taste and fit in seamlessly with the rest of your home’s exterior.
These doors usually have a steel frame and then a layer of insulation that’s sandwiched between the two pieces of composite material. The fact that most of them are insulated makes them superior to real wood doors in terms of energy efficiency. The composite material is also easy to clean, more resistant to damage and requires almost no maintenance.
Carriage House Doors
If you’re looking for something more traditional, a carriage house garage door is another option. A carriage house garage door is an excellent choice for Victorian homes and other traditional styles. This type of door can also add a unique touch and enhance the aesthetics of more modern designs.
These doors are modeled after the old style of carriage house doors where there are two separate doors that each open outward. You can still find doors like these that automatically open outward and lock in the middle. However, the majority of carriage house doors are just meant to mimic this style and actually open by rolling upward like most other garage doors.
Many carriage house garage doors are made of wood or composite wood. You can also find steel and vinyl carriage house doors with a wood-grain finish in almost any color or color combination imaginable.
Energy-Efficient, Insulated Doors
This isn’t necessarily a trend in terms of garage door style, but there has still been a major drive toward installing more energy-efficient, better-insulated garage doors. You can choose a garage door that’s well insulated and has insulated, double-pane windows. If you do, it can make a fairly significant difference in how much you have to pay to run your air conditioning in the summer and heat your home during the winter.
Higher-efficiency garage doors are designed to block out heat and cold as effectively as possible. Not only does the insulation create a barrier to block thermal transfer, but the frame and opening around the door are designed and built to be fully airtight. That way, the garage stays much cooler during summer and warmer during winter.
When you need professional garage door services in Elizabethtown, Louisville or any of the surrounding areas in Kentuckiana, Lewis Door Service is the company to trust. We’ve been providing expert commercial and residential garage door installation services for over 50 years, and we offer a wide selection of new doors to meet any need and match any taste.
We build all of the garage doors we sell ourselves in our warehouse and can help you custom-design the door of your dreams. For more information or to schedule a repair or maintenance call, contact us today.
