I vote dark, to match the trim and entry door. Go to your nearest Overhead Door franchise and you'll have plenty of options.

Me too. We are also building and have used a similar roof and trim color. We opted to match the front door which is stained a mahogany color. It looks like your roof is exactly the same as what we have on our new build!!

I'm with ODD. I don't want to put focus on a garage door.

Attractive garage doors on the side of a home can be nice. I can't imagine what it would look like to try to camouflage something so prominent.

Like this:

The Cliffs at Walnut Cove: Elliot Residence · More Info

Celebrity Custom Homes · More Info

Gingerly · More Info

I agree that they can be overwhelming on the front of a house, but on the side doesn't bother me. I think they can look nice! :)

@jilldag I agree! Thank you for your input.

I'm pretty sure that we ended up with Haas. They haven't been installed, yet, but they are fiberglass so they require virtually no maintenance, and they give you the Mediterranean look. The company that we are using said that they are less expensive than a lot of their competitors, but the hardware is superior. Anyway, I hope that you find what you are looking for!

For me, it's not really about "camouflage," so much as it's about keeping the eye drawn toward the front door.

Since we are attracted to contrast (since birth, even!), keep the attraction to the entry and main part of the house. :-)

Examples (I tried to match your house style with these photos):

It is *really* tough to find halfway decent images of garage doors that blend in with the house... Good grief, I didn't think I was *that* weird, lol.

I completely agree with wanting to keep the focus on the front door, but in keeping with the Mediterranean style, I think that wood looking garage doors are the only way to go! I also think that the front door isn't an issue because the garage doors are on the side of the house.

I very respectfully disagree that the entry isn't an issue because the garage doors are on the side. My bias is *strong,* I tell ya. ;-)

Actually I agree with One Devoted IF the driveway coming up is from the left side vs the right side. If you driveway is on the left like it appears, it means the first thing you see as you pull into the driveway will again be the garage. It then makes the garage the most prominent part if painted to look like wood. By painting it the same color as the house, it will sit back and the front of the house will become the more dominant element.

Thank you all for your suggestions. It really shows that there are ways to make either one work. It is correct that the driveway comes up on the left, so entering the house would be facing the garage.

What I notice about the light colored pictures is that the trim is also light in both pictures, where our trim is dark.

One other thing to point out is that my husband likes real wood doors (hard to maintain) but doesn't like faux wood.

The fiberglass faux wood is so good that you really can't tell that it's not wood. My husband said no to all wood anything for the outside of the home because of upkeep and warping!

I'm with One Devoted and prefer for garage doors to "disappear. Now if one is getting gorgeous wood doors like that first picture, that's another matter! I doubt such doors are even made today and if they are available they would be the price of an addition on the house. I'm not a fan of fiberglass anything on houses - not even painted doors - I want solid wood.

Adding windows to garage doors makes them look less industrial. Its an upgrade but we are doing it on our wooden garage doors to make them look nicer (and for the additional light for my husband but who cares about that) :)

I think that garage doors the same color as your house will not work because of the dark trim, they will look"framed". I like jillag's examples. I also agree with french toast about the windows.

IMO what is needed is some kind of site wall that hides the garage doors (and perhaps parked cars) from the primary access to the house. In general, the house lacks a connection or transition between the house and the site. The designer should show as much enthusiasm for that aspect of the design as he/she did for the entrance portico in order to correct that imbalance.

Or, rather than choosing between too dark and too light you could use a neutral color.

With so many responses, surely you've figured out what you want to do by now.

It's really simple, however! Do you want the garage doors to contrast and stand out, being a visual magnet for all who see the house? Or do you want the garage doors to blend in and not be a strong visual element, letting the rest of the house speak for itself?

For contrast, paint the doors dark and keep your dark garage door trim.

For blending in, paint the doors to match your siding. Repaint the garage door trim to match.

Easy-peazy! Good luck!

@Virgil Carter Fine Art You are so right, it should be easy. I honestly would like to do dark doors. However, in this area, for every piece of the project, there is is "one" person that our builder works with. So this "one" garage guy doesn't do any doors that really match either the side of the house or the trim. I guess we just decide and paint it ourselves.

You can't specify the paint color and have the sub contractor painter use that color? Something really weird about this? Have you talked with your general contractor? Seems very simple...