Make your garage door pop with great outdoor lighting

If you are ready to add a little curb appeal to your property and refresh your look, there is nothing better than getting a shiny new garage door. You can take things up another notch by adding a new garage door and complimentary outdoor lighting.

Of course, outdoor lighting has an impact on your home at night, but it can also make quite an impact during the day as well. Ideally, outdoor lighting will give you enough light to walk around your yard and driveway in safety, but it can also enhance the architectural style of your garage door and your entire home. While you certainly don’t want to go overboard and ruin your neighbor’s sleep, you do want to get enough light to make things look great.

Lighting the garage door area

It is a good idea to do a rough sketch when you are trying to plan your garage door lighting designs. Especially since you may decide to do things differently if you have a 16‑ft. garage door versus two 8‑ft. garage doors. On paper, you can visualize your layout.

Whether you have one garage door, two doors, or even three doors, you need to know how much space you are working with. You should also take a good hard look at where the eaves fall, what parts are siding and what parts are trim. Plus, you want to measure the amount of clearance you have on all sides of the door. You may also want to consider lighting the driveway or the flower gardens surrounding your garage door area as well.

Getting all of these details situated before you start the design process will prevent you from finding the perfect outdoor lamps and discovering that they don’t fit in your allotted space. You also need to account for the blank or negative space around the lights. You don’t want everything to look crammed together either. The eye likes balance and space, so make sure to give your design plenty of both.

Choosing your light fixtures

Before you can choose your fixtures, you need to consider what style house you own. It may be modern and contemporary, classic and colonial, or country and carriage house style. Your ultimate goal should be to enhance what you already have. You risk making things look odd and out of place if you do something like stick a modern fixture on a colonial-style house. There are instances when going against type will work out, but it usually takes a true designer’s eye to pull it off.

Don’t worry! There are so many outdoor lighting choices, you are sure to find the perfect match for your home. If you want to see examples of lighting fixtures and the houses they are most suited for, you can use sites like Pinterest for inspiration and explanations.

Here are some examples of a modern style home:

or a rustic style home:

Fixtures need lightbulbs

While it may seem like a no‑brainer, choosing your lightbulb is actually a little more complicated than one might think. You want to consider the style that will be most aesthetically pleasing inside your fixture, but you also may want to go for the longevity of an LED bulb. Before you get too picky, you should read the recommendations of the fixture manufacturer because certain bulbs may be out of the question.

In most situations, an LED bulb will be the best option for an outdoor fixture. They are very energy‑efficient, they last for years, and they are often weather‑resistant as well. In most cases, you can get up to 100,000 hours worth of light before they need to be changed.

Some fixtures may require incandescent bulbs, but you should never use the spiral compact fluorescent bulbs in your outdoor lighting fixtures. These types of bulbs contain a little bit of mercury, and this can be an issue during colder months. Unless you find one that specifically says it is good for exterior use, stick to the incandescent or LED variety.

So now all that’s left to do is install the lighting around your garage door, screw in the appropriate lightbulbs, and stand back and admire the warm and inviting appearance you’ve given your home.

Ready to shop for your new garage door?

Now that your lighting is looking top‑notch, it may be time to update the garage door to match! Contact us right away at 1-866-573-3667 to get the ball rolling. You can also ask to see our image gallery which can show you the projects we’ve done in your neighborhood. If you’d like, we can send you a quotation by email.

Another option is to come and visit our showroom and see the different models on display there. You can also try out our Design Centre to choose the style that best suits you, right from the comfort of your own home!