Garage Makeover: Painting Faux Door Windows
Sam Lutz • April 28, 2015
Do you dream about installing a carriage-style garage door in your home? You’re not alone. Carriage doors have an antique appeal that many homeowners crave. Unfortunately, real carriage garage doors can be prohibitively expensive to buy and install. As a result, many homeowners are willing to settle for plain white garage doors with no real decorative appeal.
What many people don’t realize is that they can achieve the look of real carriage doors for a tiny fraction of the price. By simply painting on carriage-style windows and installing carriage-style hardware to the surface of the door, anyone can transform a plain, undecorated garage door into a beautiful carriage-style door. This easy DIY project can boost your home’s curb appeal and make your garage doors look like real carriage doors.
Materials
- Decorative garage door hinges, handles and accompanying screws
- Drill
- Screwdriver
- All-purpose cleaner
- Sponge
- Painter’s tape
- Sandpaper
- Paintbrushes
- Paint tray
- Paint stirrer
- Tarps
- Primer
- Oil-based alkyd high-gloss enamel (black)
Process
Begin by attaching the decorative garage door hardware to the door. Decorative garage door hardware is available for sale at home improvement centers and hardware stores. Use a drill to make pilot holes in your garage door before attempting to drill the screws into the door.
Once this is done, you can start the process of painting carriage door style windows onto your garage door. You’ll use a shiny high-gloss black enamel to imitate the reflective quality of real garage door windows. To complete this part of the project, follow the steps below.
- Outline the perimeter of each window on the door with painter’s tape. Space the windows evenly across the front of the garage door and size each window so that they’re the same width and height.
- Tape a cross through the center of each window perimeter.
- Use sandpaper to rough up the door where you’ll be applying the paint, giving the surface of the door a texture that paint can easily adhere to.
- Lay tarp down beneath the garage door to prevent drips of paint from staining the concrete.
- Paint the surface of the garage door with primer and then wait for the primer to dry.
- Paint the primed surface with the high gloss black enamel and wait for the enamel to dry.
- Peel the painter’s tape off of the garage door to reveal perfectly shaped black faux windows on the garage door.
Resources
Before you get started, you may want to do some additional research. Here are a couple helpful websites and tutorials:
If you’re ready to get started and in need of the appropriate materials, stop by Ace Paint and Unfinished Furniture. We’re here to help you pick out the materials you need to paint your garage door, and can offer helpful tips and advice throughout the process.
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