Favorite project ever? Well, not exactly — but this was a satisfying, straightforward update that made our basic garage doors look more polished and intentional. When we had the exterior patched and painted soon after moving in, we skipped painting the garage doors since we figured it was an easy DIY. A year later, we finally got to it.
The doors had been painted the same cream color as the old trim, and it felt out of place once the rest of the trim went white. We considered bright white, a medium gray-brown to match the siding, or a deeper gray-brown to echo the metal window frames and light fixtures. None of those debates led to a decision, so we drove around the neighborhood to compare. After checking out a variety of white, black, and gray doors, we agreed that a rich, dark color looked best on a brick house like ours.
First step was cleaning: a good hose-down and wiping everything dry. That was quick and necessary before any paint would stick properly.
This project turned out to be slightly more involved than our last garage-door paint job because the weather stripping and its caulk were in rough shape. Since I planned to recaulk anyway, I removed the weather stripping to allow painting all the way to the door edge. I pried the strips off with a crowbar and scraped away old caulk with a spackle knife. That prep took about an hour but made the paint job much cleaner and more durable.
The color we settled on was Urbane Bronze by Sherwin-Williams — the deepest shade on the swatch that included our siding color (Anonymous). It matched our dark window frames and oil-rubbed-bronze fixtures and complemented the charcoal roof, so it felt cohesive with the rest of the exterior.
We bought a gallon of the Duration exterior line because our house painters used it and praised its durability — it even includes exterior primer. Painting was a mix of brushing for recessed panels and edges and rolling for the flat areas. I worked in small sections so the brushed areas wouldn’t dry before rolling, which kept the finish smooth.
The first coat looked spotty, which is normal with dark colors over a lighter base, but a second coat evened things out nicely. To avoid cream-colored stripes showing along the hinge lines when the door opened, I raised the doors incrementally and painted the gaps between sections. That required patience because each section needed to dry before moving the door again.
Once everything had dried, I reattached the weather stripping and recaulked the edges. Caulking against brick is always a challenge because the texture makes a neat line difficult, but the refreshed caulk and new paint looked far better than the prior patchy job.
We briefly considered painting the weather stripping in Urbane Bronze to match, but ultimately chose Snowbound (white) like the rest of the trim. Painting the strips while the doors were open helped avoid getting paint on them and sped the job up.
After a second coat and more drying time, the doors were finished. The darker color ties the garage doors into other dark accents on the house — the light fixture, window frames, and roof — and helps the doors stand out less against the driveway and walkways, giving the façade more visual weight.
We also thought about adding decorative hardware like handles, but haven’t found the right style yet. We might keep looking online, so suggestions are welcome.
It’s a small update, but it feels good to have it crossed off the list. The darker doors ground the house and coordinate nicely with the other dark elements, and now Clara can get back to using her favorite chalking spot — once we give that area a power wash.
Have you painted your garage doors? Did you sneak around the neighborhood to scout ideas like we did? All the houses near us have side-entry garage doors, so we spent a lot of time craning our necks — thankfully without any visits from neighborhood watch that we know of.