How to Improve Curb Appeal with Your Garage

Curb appeal is the attractiveness of a property based on its presentation and surroundings from the vantage point of a street. Therefore, several elements go into the curb appeal of a home like the front door, siding, windows, and roof.

The garage is an element of curb appeal that easily gets overlooked. However, it very much plays an important role especially in more modern homes where the garage has gone from being in the back by the ally to front and center and representing a significant amount of the façade.

How do you improve curb appeal with your garage? There are several ways to spruce up its image and foster a more pleasing appearance to the eyes of a buyer or guest. Follow these subtle, cost-effective, and rewarding techniques to improve home curb appeal with a garage:

The Value of Curb Appeal

The curb appeal of your place alters its home value. Curb appeal designates everything that someone can see from the street outside the front of your residence. It includes the sidewalk, driveway, lawn, shrubs and trees, front door, windows, siding and roofing.

In the past, the curb appeal of your garage wasn’t as important when it existed along the side or back of a home. However, most modern floor plans design the garage to take up a fair amount of its façade.

Consequently, the relation between your garage and curb appeal is increasingly important. If you’re looking to sell, improving the curb appeal of the garage is mandatory. It also helps with impressing your family and friends, as well as improving the overall property value for your neighborhood. Therefore, curb appeal is important to everyone, not just people looking to sell their home.

Improving Curb Appeal of Snout Houses

Home construction since the 1980s has changed in America. Architects reached a dilemma in terms of building new homes that were spacious and affordable yet needed to maximize space, given the higher costs for land.

One solution was to create snout houses (or homes with a single or double car garage directly in the front of a home). The blueprint is so successful that numerous neighborhoods have copied the design in one way or another for several decades.

The exact definition of snout houses claims that a garage “takes up most of the street frontage”. If that is the case, and you currently live in a snout home, then you must take the curb appeal of the garage very seriously.

Ways to Improve the Curb Appeal of the Garage

Thankfully, increasing the curb appeal with your garage doesn’t involve a major remodel or outrageous costs. Some of the solutions are more cost-effective than others.

The more expensive solutions may seem like a lot to swallow, but the truth is they will do absolute wonders for the overall presentation of your home.

Replace the Garage Doors

Garage doors take the most abuse. It’s a close tie between the front door and the garage for the most use as a point of entry for many homeowners. It’s especially true if you enter and exit the garage every day. However, even dormant garages that only are used for storage get neglected over the years.

You can substantially improve the curb appeal of your garage by upgrading its doors. You shouldn’t skip out on money here if possible. New garage doors are guaranteed to last for decades and spruce up the façade. Keep in mind that garage doors take up most of the front of the building.

If you don’t have the funds for a complete garage door replacement then consider repainting or staining the structure. You’ll be surprised what a fresh coat of paint can do for a home, especially if you put in the effort with prep work to remove old chipped paint and fix defects while resurfacing the area.

Use Color to Your Advantage

It helps to repaint or stain a garage if it’s overdue. Simply doing so will improve the curb appeal of a home. However, it doesn’t just begin with repainting the structure but also making the right selections based on color.

As previously mentioned, garages dominate the landscape of most modern homes. If you have a double or triple car garage, you need to make the section of the façade a focal point. Certain colors stand out better than others, especially if you’re contrasting with the primary color of the rest of the siding.

Regardless, the crucial element is to draw the eye toward the entrance, including the garage which many people approach a home while they walk up the front driveway or sidewalk.

An important exterior decoration technique is to remember you don’t have to match the color of the garage door to the color of your front door. In fact, there are circumstances where doing so points the eyes in a direction that are not ideal. Often designers recommend neutralizing the garage door, so it doesn’t divert attention away from the brick, wood, or siding that needs to boost the image of the façade.

Attention to the Small Details

Lastly, don’t forget the small details that make a garage unique and valuable to a home’s curb appeal. Accessorizing a garage is a wise designer trick of the trade.

For example, adding decorative accessories like potted plants or antiques can add value to the area of the front. Greenery always brings things to life and creates a welcoming atmosphere.

Additionally, you should consider adding porticos and trellises to the front yard. Decorative pillars, trim, and built-in rooflines are subtle yet important touches. Ivy and climbing plants also work well on certain home designs.

Another affordable yet overlooked tip is to improve the exterior lighting around the garage area. Proper lighting makes the home feel safe and welcoming, consequently enhancing the curb appeal of the home.

Finding Balance and Garage Curb Appeal

Though the garage takes up a significant amount of space on the front of a home, especially in modern snout houses, striking a balance between making a garage a highlight while also neutralizing some of its qualities goes a long way with curb appeal.

The goal is to eventually bring all the attention to the front door of the home, even if the eyes may initially train to more commanding and dominant features such as the garage. Finding the right balance with garage improvements like updated doors, repainting or staining, decorating, and improving lighting at nights go a long way.

Replace Your Garage Door

Whether you have a stout house or your garage completes your home, the best recipe for a great curb appeal is to have a nice garage door. This garage door should have an appealing color to match the façade of your home. Additionally, your garage door should  be durable and energy efficient.

Everything that you’re looking for in a garage door is offered right here at Feldco.  That’s why over 400,000 homeowners choose us for their home improvement needs. We take pride in offering quality garage doors made out of high quality and heavy gauge steel.

Whether you’re looking for a standard garage door or a carriage garage door, we have great local services and customer service to help you choose the right garage door for your home. Lastly, we have professional and factory trained installers to take on the hardest job of installing a garage door so you don’t have to. Speak to a product specialist and get a free quote online today.