A big chunk of the front of my house is garage, so I really wanted to give it a style upgrade with a faux wood garage door. This project was way easier than I expected and super satisfying. I can’t believe how amazing it turned out—it completely transformed the curb appeal of my home!
Here’s the before pic from not too long after we first moved in.
And here’s a more current “before pic” of what the front of the house looked like just before tackling this faux wood garage door project.
This summer I’ve been busting out the front yard projects! I’ve planted some new landscaping, laid sod, gave that old, ugly 1970s rock siding a makeover, and more. You can see almost a third of the front of the house is garage door, so I decided it needed a facelift too and I wanted to transform it into a faux wood garage door.
Table of Contents
Tools and Materials
- Paint brush
- Roller frame
- Roller tray
- Roller sleeves
- Paint
- Gel stain (I used this one and this one)
- Lint-free rags
- Disposable gloves
- Painter’s tape
- Plastic drop cloths
- Garage door decorative accents
- Garage door windows
Prepping the Garage Door
The first step to getting the garage door ready for its faux wood makeover is giving it a good cleaning. The easiest way to do that is to bust out the pressure washer.
Next up, I gave it a fresh base coat of paint. Using an 18-inch roller made this part go by super fast!
Testing Stain Colors
Now it’s time to test out some stain colors! I’m using a piece of hardboard as my big test swatch, painting it with the same base color that I used on the garage.
After that, I divided the board into four sections and tested out four different shades of gel stain. For each one, I used the back of the paintbrush to ‘write’ the name of the color/mixture in that section.
The top left is Dark Walnut, the top right is Golden Oak, the bottom left is a 50/50 mix, and the bottom right is a 75/25 mix. After checking out the swatches for a while, I decided the Golden Oak was pretty, but just too orangey. I definitely knew that I wanted to mix in some of the Dark Walnut to tone that out, but I wanted to keep it lighter than even the 75/25 blend.
Applying Stain to the Faux Wood Garage Door
I landed on a mix of one cup of Golden Oak with a tablespoon of Dark Walnut. I masked off the edge of the house, laid down a plastic drop cloth to protect the driveway, mixed up my stain, and went for it!
Using a basic paint brush, I made horizontal stripes across the door, then blended the stain with lint-free rags. You have to work in small sections, applying the stain and blending as you go. Since we’re going for that wood grain look, always brush the stain on from side to side and blend in the same direction. This part might look a little wild at first, but trust the process, and you’ll end up with a gorgeous faux wood garage door!
Pro Tip: Wear gloves! Otherwise, you’ll stain your hands too!
As you work your way down and along the garage door, you’ll want to work quickly, blending before the stain dries. When you blend the stain using that side-to-side sweeping motion, it’s key to pull the stain back over to the areas you’ve already done. Since we’re aiming for a realistic-looking faux woodgrain, blending those sections together as seamlessly as possible is super important.
Just keep blending, just keep blending. As you wipe and blend, those harsh lines fade away and you’re left with a beautiful faux wood garage door.
I couldn’t believe how good this thing looks already. The color was perfect! And it truly looked like wood.
Here’s a YouTube Video of My Garage Door Makeover Process For All The Visual Learners!
Adding Accents To Your Faux Wood Garage Door
As much as I loved the faux wood garage door, it needed something else. I ordered these awesome magnetic garage door decorative accents, thinking my door was metal—oops, it’s not! So, instead of just popping them on, I had to use a little Liquid Nails to attach them to the door. No biggie! I used painter’s tape to hold them in place while the glue dried.
I also got this cool magnetic faux window kit, but unfortunately, I had to use Liquid Nails for these too. The kit comes with spacing guides, making it super easy to line everything up perfectly. I tried using painter’s tape to hold them all in place while the glue dried, but it wasn’t having it. So, I grabbed my brad nailer and put a tiny brad nail in each corner just to keep them in place.
And that’s it! I seriously can’t get over how much I love the after photos. My faux wood garage door turned out so good! The color matches my garden arbor perfectly, and the accents I glued on? They’re the cherry on top.
This faux wood garage door is a vast improvement over the plain, off-white door that was here before. I am so in love with this transformation. This is an easy weekend project that will totally upgrade your curb appeal.
Want links to more of my front yard projects? There are so many with a few more to come too!
- Laying sod
- Expanding the driveway with pavers
- Building DIY curbing
- Installing landscaping
- Updating the rock siding
- Building a trailer pad
- Mailbox makeover
You’ll need a base coat, wood-colored gel stain, paintbrushes, painter’s tape, and a clear sealant to finish it off.
Apply the gel stain with long, straight brush strokes, layering as needed to get that wood texture just right.
Yup! This technique works on metal, fiberglass, and most standard doors.
With a good sealant, your faux wood finish should hold up through the seasons for years.
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