Choosing and Installing Decorative Garage Door Hardware

Decorative garage door hardware can give it old-fashioned charm. Image from Houzz.

It’s the little things that matter, especially when it comes to curb appeal.  Although your garage door usually melts into the background, it’s one of the biggest surfaces on the outside of your home.  You can choose to ignore it or treat it like a canvas and use it to enhance the visual appeal of your house.  Adding a little bit of decorative garage door hardware to a plain garage door will make a big visual impact, especially in a neighborhood full of similar models.

Choosing Decorative Garage Door Hardware

You can buy decorative garage door hardware in nearly any style to compliment all types of architecture, but you should select the hardware you’ll install on your garage with great care.  After all, once it’s installed, it’s hard to remove without damaging the garage door.  Your garage door hardware should stand out, but in a way that makes your home appear more elegant, instead of overly cluttered.

Many homeowners start with iron gate hinges, hung in pairs on both sides of the door.  You’ll be surprised how this small, inexpensive touch gives your garage door a totally different look.  One or two iron door handles will further enhance your garage door, especially if you repeat the hardware’s style on other exterior items like shutters and doors.  Speakeasy grills are another garage door option for homes that have decorative elements evenly balanced across the face – after all, too much hardware on the garage door can turn classy to tacky if the rest of your home is plain.

Garage door hardware is easy to install thanks to the pre-drilled holes.

Installing Garage Door Hardware

Garage door hardware is easy to install with a power screwdriver and drill.  Positioning your hardware in the exact right spot isn’t as straight-forward, though.  Before you even take the drill out of the workshop, get a friend to help you decide exactly where to put the hardware you’ve purchased.  Once it’s on, it’s on and there’s no turning back.

Garage door hinges are typically set at intervals about 1/4 of the way from both the top and bottom of the door.  Whether you want to install two sets of hinges to create the illusion of two doors is up to you, but many garage doors lend themselves to this installation.  Just make sure to install the inner hinges along the visual center of the garage door if you opt for the double door look.

Handles are typically installed at the horizontal center of a single door or between two sets of hinges on doors with eight hinges.  Depending on the look you’re going for, they can be put into either a vertical or horizontal orientation, near the bottom of the door or near the vertical center.  Speakeasy grills are a fun way to transform small garage windows, or to simulate windows that aren’t there.  Place these in the upper fourth of the door for best effect.

No matter the style of your home, there is garage door hardware out there to give it a little something extra.  Go ahead, transform that blank garage door into an amazing visual asset.