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How to Choose Garage Door Paint Colors

How to pick garage door paint colorsWe get lots of questions about the best garage door paint colors.  This color selection is so easy that we don’t feature it as a color consulting product.  We always include garage door colors as part of our Exterior Color Package Consultation.

It’s simple – you can use one of these for placements, which we call cultural conventions.  It’s what people expect to see.  Basically, we repeat the other colors in the exterior palette.

Please note that we only include Color Concierge Projects.

Paint Garage Door the Siding Color

This is the most common placement and is required by many Homeowner Associations (HOA).  It gives the house a unified look and feel.

Consider the siding paint color for your garage doors if they are a dominant element for the front of your house.

Red brick house with gray roof, SW Iron Ore for siding and garage door and SW Oyster White for trim.
Photo by M. Marceny –SW Iron Ore & SW Oyster White
White house with brown roof and Iron Ore Accents
Photo by M. Marceny –SW Pure White with SW Iron Ore roofline and accents
Red brick house with BM Cheating Heart for siding, garage door and trim.
Photo by Color Concierge Client –BM Cheating Heart siding, trim, roofline and garage doors

Paint Garage Door the Accent Color

We love to specify an accent color for the front door.  It adds dimension and layers to the design.

Some people like to match their front door, garage door and shutters which is also a great look.

House with gray roof, SW Cyberspace siding, garage door and shutters with SW Westchester Gray shingles.
Photo by Color Concierge Client –SW Cyberspace garage door, shutters and siding SW Westchester Gray Shingles and SW Gambol Gold front door.
Mid-Century modern house with BM Hale Navy garage door and siding with BM Stormy Sky accents and BM Pale Oak trim.
Photo by M. Marceny –BM Hale Navy garage door and siding with BM Stormy Sky accents and BM Pale Oak Trim.

Paint Garage Door the Trim or Roofline Color

Many of our clients think that they need to paint their garage door white, when that really isn’t the way to consider the placement. Instead, you can duplicate the trim color and/or the roofline color (fascia and soffits), whether its black, white or any other color.

Don’t leave your garage door color white just because it came that way.  It can stay white if the white matches the trim, but otherwise it will look out of place.

House with brown roof, BM Hepplewhite Ivory siding, SW garage door and trim
Photo by M. Marceny –BM Simply White garage door and trim with BM Hepplewhite Ivory siding
House with gray roof, SW Natural Choice siding, SW Urbane Bronze garage door and accents
Photo by Color Concierge Client –SW Urbane Bronze garage door and accents, SW Natural Choice siding

Transform your home with the power of color.

Install a Wood (or wood-look) Garage Door

 This is a really high-end look, and we love it.  It works well if you also match the front door to the garage door.

Try to pick a wood color that isn’t too yellow or too red.  Just pick a mid-toned wood color, the color of bark.

House with gray roof, SW Outerspace siding, wood garage door and white trim.
Photo by Color Concierge Client –Wood garage doors, SW Outerspace siding

The Verdict

It’s easy to pick the best garage door color.  Repeat the siding, trim, roofline or accent color, or choose a wooden (or wood-look) garage door.

No matter what, don’t forget to test your paint colors.  It’s a standard best practice.  Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors here.

NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one you will use.  Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens.  Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here.

Online Color Consulting

If you still need help with paint colors, check out our Online Color Consulting packages or an In-Person Color Consultation in the Denver Metro area.

Online Color Consultation Exterior Paint Colors

Don’t Forget To PIN!

How to choose paint colors for your garage doors

We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give out specific answers to your paint questions.  If you want more specific advice, please consider purchasing a color consultation. Thank you for your understanding.


About the Author

Michelle Marceny, principal designer and founder of The Color Concierge, a paint color consulting company in Denver, Colorado.

Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room. 

Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person.  I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.


3 Responses

  1. You made an interesting point when you explained that it is easy to pick the best color for your garage door. Would it be a good idea to use a bright color, such as white, when you are painting your garage door? I would think that a bright color would reflect sunlight which would make your garage space cooler.

    1. You are right, and I’ll be sure to add that to the blog post. If you pick a white, make sure its the same white as your trim. A lighter color is also really nice and has the same effect.
      Thanks,
      Michelle

  2. I have a prominent garage projecting further out than the rest of the house. I have windowpanes with a raised arearea around set that is like trim plus some other touches. I plan to paint the garage the body color but I’m thinking about using the shingle color( on the peak above the garage —different and darker than trim) to set off the windows and that nice small detailing and then the trim around garage the color of the house trim. Is using shingle color on the detailing in a half circle shape around the small garage windows (using no body color in that area) a bad idea given prominent garage? Too busy with a rock face and porch with posts around the front porch and door? I was thinking it avoids the vast blank space of body paint without over emphasizing the door. I want the eye on the porch and front door. But I could be wrong. Thanks!

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Meet Michelle

Driven to help clients fall back in love with their homes with intentional paint color schemes. She started the company based on her passion for color and its ability to make a house a home.

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