Easy Way To Instantly Improve Curb Appeal – How to Paint a Garage Door

If you are looking for an easy way to instantly improve the curb appeal of your home, consider painting the garage door! It's a simple way to refresh the exterior of a home. Here are some helpful tips for painting a garage door.

If you’ve been following along, you know that we’ve been working on giving the exterior of our home a little facelift with a brand new paint job.

After we got the new exterior paint on the house and finished the trim, the old dingy garage door stuck out like a sore thumb.

PHOTOS: Before Painting the Garage Door

Before painting the garage door, it was dirty and grimy from years of caked on dirt.

Even though we washed layers of dirt and grime off of the garage door with a pressure washer, it was still riddled with years of yuck that was never going to come off.

Before we painted the garage door, it was dirty and grimy, even after pressure washing.
Before painting the garage door: a dirty, old white garage door soiled with years of grime.

Painting your garage door is an easy way to instantly improve the curb appeal of your home.

We chose to give our exterior a refreshed look with a simple white garage door in the same color as our trim.

Alternatively, you can paint your garage door the same color as your exterior paint color and even an accent color (like I did with my fun front door color!).

If you are stumped on what color to use, check out these front door paint color ideas that could totally work for a garage paint color too!

This post contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

The process of repainting a garage door - a garage door half painted with a fresh coat of white paint with text overlay that reads 9 tips for painting garage door

9 Tips for Painting Garage Door:

1. Start with cleaning garage door.

Be sure to give your garage door a nice cleaning before starting to paint.

We used a pressure washer to clean the entire exterior of our home before we start painting (one of the 9 things you need to do before you paint the exterior of your home).

If you don’t have a pressure washer handy, you can give your garage door a good scrubbing with soap and water before painting garage door.

2. Check the weather.

Choose a warm day when painting the garage door. It’s best to paint on an overcast day if possible. Avoid painting your garage door in direct sunlight.

3. Choose the right products.

Use a 4-inch roller to make it easier to paint in the smaller nooks of the panels of the garage door.

Using a paint rolled to apply a fresh coat of white paint to a garage door.

4. Use a grid directly in the paint bucket.

Put a grid in the paint bucket. This allows you to get more paint on the roller, so you can work faster. It also helps save some money because you don’t need to buy a paint tray – score!

5. Use high-quality exterior paint.

Wondering what kind of paint you should use on your garage door? We recommend using high-quality exterior paint, like the Behr Marquee line, which required only one coat of paint for us. A high-quality paint will also be more resistant to fading and stains.

You also want to be sure to choose a semi-gloss paint sheen so that it is durable and easy to clean in the future. Learn more about paint sheens here.

We also didn’t need to use a primer because the Marquee line is a paint + primer. Learn more about when you do and don’t need to use a primer before painting here.

A large bucket of Behr Marquee Exterior paint sitting on the driveway in front of the garage.

6. Get enough paint for the job.

Wondering how much paint you’ll need to paint your garage door? If you’re only painting the garage door, a quart should be enough paint if you’re using a high-quality line that requires one coat.

When in doubt, one gallon of paint will be more than enough.

A garage door half painted with a fresh coat of of white paint.

7. Consider your trim paint

We painted the trim the same color as the door, so we didn’t have to worry about this.

But if you are going to paint the garage door trim a different color, paint the trim first and let it dry fully.

Next, use painter’s tape to cover the trim before painting garage door.

8. Protect your driveway.

Lay down a drop cloth below you while painting garage door to protect the driveway from any spills or splatters.

9. Open garage door after painting while drying.

Open up the garage door shortly after painting. This will help the panels not stick together as they dry. Leave the garage door open while it dries.

Are you ready to see our painted garage door transformation?

Remember, here’s what we started with. An ugly, grimy garage door…yuck.

A pair of photos showing the before and after of painting a garage door.

And here’s what it looked like when we were all done painting the garage door.

Two photos showing the before and after transformation from painting a garage door with a fresh coat of white exterior paint.

What a dramatic exterior transformation, don’t you think?  It was such an easy way to instantly improve the curb appeal of our home.

A freshly painted white garage door, with drop cloth and large budget of paint sitting on the driveway.
A pair of photos shows the dramatic transformation from repainting a garage door with fresh white exterior paint. Text overlay reads "easy way to improve curb appeal: painting the garage door"

How much does it cost to paint a garage door?

If you’re thinking about painting your garage door after reading this tutorial, you’re probably wondering how much is this going to cost me?

If you’re DIYing it and you are painting the garage door and nothing else – the cost is pretty minimal. All you need is:

Keep in mind, of course, that these costs are subject to change!

So all in all, you’re looking at a total cost of $60-$92 to paint your garage door, depending on how much paint you purchase.

At such a small investment, it is definitely worth it to paint your garage door. For less than $100 and a few hours of your time, you can improve your curb appeal with a freshly painted garage door.

What color would you paint your garage door??

Let me know in the comments below!!


Source List for Painting Garage Door:

How To Paint Your Garage Door

How To Paint Your Garage Door

Yield: 1
Active Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $50

Wondering how to paint a garage door? Painting your garage door is a quick and easy way to improve curb appeal for your home. Here's what you need to paint a garage door, plus painting tips!

Instructions

  1. Clean garage door.
  2. Paint smaller nooks using the 4 inch roller.
  3. Paint the trim.
  4. Leave the garage door open while it dries.

Notes

  • Choose warm day to paint.
  • Put a grid in the paint bucket.
  • Lay down a drop cloth below you while painting garage door to protect driveway from any spills or splatters.
  • Did you make this project?

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    7 Comments

    1. I’m sooo going to do this in the summer! To simple not to..have you considered using black paint to make a row of faux windows ? I’ve seen this and am considering trying that too! Thanks for the boost yours looks great !
      Denise B

    2. I’ve been thinking about painting our old-ugly garage door. Now I will after reading on how to. I will be using the same color as the house trim, it has just been painted last year.

    3. Getting a roller is an expert tip. I started painting my garage door with a brush, but 2 hrs into painting I broke down and got a roller. So don’t waste time like I did. Just get a roller and be happy.