Do you want to level up the look of your garage? Adding decorative garage door hardware is an easy way to improve its appearance. Besides, this small investment will not only amplify the curbside appeal of your home, but it will also increase its property value.
Take note; your chosen garage door design can impact your whole architectural design. It is not something you can take lightly. After all, it is one of the most visible areas people see when they pass by your home. It is also the biggest moving fixture in your home.
Your chosen hardware can make a bold statement and stand out if you want or minimized depending on your wishes. How you want to accessorize your garage is up to you as this depends on your personality. If you plan to spruce up your garage door hardware and need further insight, keep on reading this article by the experts at Coastal Garage Doors in San Diego to know more.
The Reasons You May Want to Add Decorative Garage Door Hardware
Every homeowner wants to improve their home’s curbside appeal, and there is no doubt about that! After all, you spend a lot of money buying this dream house, so it is natural to wish that it would look appealing in the eyes of everyone. When it comes to visual appeal, the devil is in the details.
Here are some good reasons why investing in garage door hardware is an excellent decision:
1. Makes Everything Look Special
A home is always a big financial investment, so you want it to look presentable. One easy way to give it a touch of elegance is to spruce up your existing garage door design with hardware. These tiny ornaments can make even the most ordinary doors look special.
2. Creates a Good Impression
When your house looks amazing from the street, you immediately make a good impression. Thankfully, decorative garage door hardware comes in a broad range of designs, styles, materials, sizes, components, and colors. Remember, in choosing your hardware, it must never detract from your front door but complement its design.
3. Allows You to Make a Statement
Remember, most garage doors blend in the background and look unnoticeable. It is ironic, though, because garage doors are the largest surfaces outside any home. You can choose to ignore them, or you can regard this as a blank canvas that can help you amplify the look of your house.
4. Gives a Unique Look Without Breaking the Bank
Adding little design touches to your garage door can make a world of difference. In a community full of similar home models, tweaking this small aspect can create a big impact. Besides, these hardware pieces do not cost a lot, so using them is one of the best things you can do to refresh your home without breaking the bank.
The Questions You Must Ask Yourself When Picking Hardware
It is easy to add hardware and accents to jazz up your garage door. However, this also makes it easy to overdo your decorations. Keep in mind, looking like a busy Christmas tree is not ideal as this will not add any aesthetic appeal.
To increase visual value, you must always consider your primary purpose for choosing a piece of garage door hardware or accessory. Curb appeal means presenting a clean, polished, and unified facade to the street. Being clear on your motivation will help you decide which decorative touches to include.
Consider the following elements when picking out your hardware:
- Assess if you live in a “snout” home where the garage is more visible from the street than the main entry door.
- Evaluate if the garage is part of the house, is stand-alone, or hidden in the back of the house (if it is hidden, then accenting it is for your own desire and for the times you have guests).
- Check out if you want your garage door to get more attention than the front door.
- Pinpoint if you want to refresh your old garage doors or make them the eye-catching focal point.
Top Helpful Tips on Adding Decorative Hardware
Remember, your existing garage door already has a design, along with other construction elements like diagonal boards, cross rails, archtops, multi panels, etc. Your door also has a current color, or maybe it is even two-tone. All these elements can either be accented or minimized based on your chosen hardware.
In general, most decorative hardware will imitate the look of your working door hardware for unity. However, some homeowners prefer a unique look that will contrast and not complement. The choice is a matter of personal taste.
A few guidelines may help you decide on which hardware pieces to invest in. Some who have no experience find it a bit confusing. The following tips will help:
1. Take Time to Decide
It is easy to buy beautiful decorative garage door hardware. They come in many styles that can make any architectural design look beautiful. However, having a vast choice can be overwhelming, so you must take your time to decide.
You must carefully select the hardware you want to install in your garage. Remember, once you install the pieces, it is hard to remove them. You will risk damaging your door in the process.
These hardware items are typically screwed on or nailed. Thus, if you feel as if you have made a mistake, holes will be visible through the garage material. Hence, most suppliers will tell you to think carefully for the best outcomes.
2. Keep Details Simple
Resist the urge to over-decorate with trinkets and details. Yes, your garage door must stand out, but it should do so in a way that makes your home look elegant. It is an eyesore to stare at an overly cluttered garage door.
When it comes to choosing garage door accessories, it would be best to stick with the timeless adage, less is more. Use only the right amount of appropriate decor. In decorating your garage door, less works better than abundance.
3. Make Sure It Works with Existing Design
Your garage door has panels, cross rails, crossbucks, and other touches. All these other details will help you define how much hardware to add. Assess them all together as a whole to determine the number of eye-catching details you want to include.
Do you want to complement or contrast your existing door details? Apart from the door design, your chosen hardware must also suit the garage door material, style, and color. Look at the big picture.
To illustrate, you can add pulls to double doors with two top arches to emphasize the design. Similarly, if you have got cross rails on a customize barn-style door, you can add strap hinges for accent. The key is to work with what you already have.
4. Make the Accents Look Realistic and Believable
Today’s decorative garage door accessories look like latches, hinges, and pulls. We used all these in the olden days to open garage doors manually. Hence, you must make them look as if you can use them to open your door correctly.
The key to doing it right is assessing the position and size of the chosen hardware. These details will make the hardware look like it belongs to the garage door and part of the whole mechanism.
You must consider where to place the hinges if you were to really swing the door open with your hands. Every garage door has design elements that affect the realism component of the hardware you add. To help you make things believable, avoid these common garage door hardware faux pas:
- Putting on strap hinges to a design that is now a swing door but a rail overhead or traditional stile.
- Choosing strap hinges that are too small for the door size (for example, too thin, too short, and too flimsy).
- Placing the strap hinges on the wrong location, like the top and bottom, that does not follow logic or make sense.
- Installing single handles when doors call for a pair.
- Being stingy with hardware on big double doors, making them look cheap instead.
- Forgetting to remove old door handles, locks, or other details.
5. Play Around with Different Hardware Styles
When accessorizing garage doors, most people stick to strap hinges. However, sticking to one style only and forgetting there are pulls, decorative nails, latches, etc., is a disservice to your garage door.
Sometimes, adding a simple latch or a pair of classy pulls are all the extra “oomph” that is missing.
It does not need to be about a strap hinge. For example, you have a plain door that swings open with sectional breaks; your door may not have room for right-sized strap hinges. Instead of pushing for them, you can use clavos or decorative nail and ring pulls to dress up your doors elegantly.
Remember, you see the door with your front door. Ensure the hardware adds interest but never detracts from your main entrance. It is best to aim for simple and classy touches that will not go out of style.
Guidelines to Consider When Planning the Hardware
Choosing decorative garage door hardware is a personal choice that offers an easy upgrade for your home. There are some simple guidelines you must consider when purchasing your hardware. Look at them below:
1. Always Evaluate the Door Style
You must assess your garage door style first. From there, you can plan your coordinating hardware pieces. Ask yourself these questions:
- What style is the door: swing, barn, or another style?
- What design details do you feel like emphasizing?
- What color is the current door?
- What material is the material of the door?
Asking these details will allow you to choose the right hardware. For example, choosing white accents for a white-colored garage door will be useless as they will fade into the background.
In the same token, if you have a traditional stile and rail door, you do not have to add strap hinges because it does not make sense. Choosing two-tone paint works better for this door style.
Suppose you are thinking of putting strap hinges. Does it seem like a reasonable size for a person to swing open? Factoring in this detail will help make your chosen hardware look plausible and realistic.
2. Check the Size of the Accents
It would be funny to have big double doors but have super tiny accent hardware. These details would look out of place. For best results, measure your garage door and look at the overall proportion when picking out the hardware.
To illustrate, if you intend to use clavos or studs, the size of the door will affect how many studs you can place. Meanwhile, if you intend to use strap hinges, their size must be at least 1/4 to 1/3 of the door opening’s width. As such, you must treat double wide doors as two doors so the hinges will look well-matched.
3. Mount the Hardware Correctly
To make your hardware look elegant, you must mount them correctly. In general, ring pulls, handles, and latches on the door must be at a minimum of 34 inches. It should also not go higher than shoulder height. Aim for balance, so it should not be too high or too low.
If your door slides open from left to right, it would be incorrect to place door hand latches horizontally. For sliding doors, vertical latches will act as handles that your hands will grip. Remember, a horizontal latch only works for doors that raise from top to bottom.
Final Wrap Up
No matter the architectural design of your home, you will always find garage door hardware that can add to the visual appeal. You can transform a bare and blank garage door into a wonderful visual asset with the right decorative hardware.
However, you must be clear on what you want because once you drill the hardware into place, there is no turning back. If you need help, you can count on our Coastal Garage Doors team for advice.
We have been serving this niche and offering garage door services in San Diego for decades, so we are sure our product specialists can help you craft a beautiful design. Give us a call, and we would be happy to help you individualize your garage door and give it that custom one-of-a-kind look.