The right outdoor lighting goes a long way for showing off your new garage door

You just got a beautiful new garage door put on your home! That was a great decision! Now, you can make another one and find the right outdoor lights that will show off the new addition to your home. You spruced up the front of your house, couldn’t you light it up too?

The effect that outdoor lights have on the way your home looks is often underestimated. At night your lights create an ambiance about your home, a sort of mood. During the day your lights can add to your house’s appeal with their style. Of course, your lights also provide added safety and security for your family, but make sure that you keep that to a reasonable level. If you choose something that is too bright, you might offend those around you, and they can actually make your home look less appealing. There’s a right way to choose the lights that will best help you show off your new garage door, so let’s talk about that.

The perfect frame

Outdoor lights can provide the perfect frame for your new garage door. You’ll want to start by laying out the size of your garage door on paper. Then take the specific measurements of the space around the door or doors and add that to your sketch. Make sure you account for the spaces on all sides and between any garage doors where there are multiples. Next, draw in any eaves, roof lines, or other features that should be considered. From there, you’ll just be looking at where you would like to place your lights, if there are areas that you won’t be able to, and if you would like the lights around your garage doors to give light to the driveway area also.

Once you have a good sketched layout of your garage doors and the space around them, you can start looking at some of the light fixture options because you’ll know what will fit and what won’t. There’s an easy guideline to follow for optimizing the curb appeal that you can get from your outdoor lighting around the garage door. It’s to fill no more than about half of the available space. Overdoing it will only cause the opposite effect of what you want.

Finding the right light fixture

Houses vary in architectural design. They can be modern and contemporary, classic and colonial, or a country or carriage house style? One purpose of adding outdoor lighting to your home is to elevate its appearance. That’s why you added a new garage door also. The fixtures you select should add to the beauty of your house in the daytime and be able to produce the lighting you want at night. Choose something that will complement the style of your garage door. Also, remember to look at what other light sources are nearby so you’re not wasting time and money on too much lighting.

A great thing about the outdoor lights you decide on is that they can be used to tie all of the parts of your home together. The selection is large and you’ll be able to find the perfect lights for showing off your new garage door just the way you want them to. Pinterest has some really good ideas to get you inspired.

Here are choices for a modern style home:

For a rustic style home:

Now you need the right lightbulbs

Light fixtures can’t produce light without lightbulbs. But, how do you know what kind to get? The first place to look is at the manufacturer’s instructions that come with the fixtures you chose. There may be a type that you have to use. If not, then you can make your decision based on what your goals are. For instance, if you’re trying to save money, as well as energy, then you’ll want to get LED lightbulbs.

There are some things you need to look out for when you are purchasing your lightbulbs. You need bulbs that are rated for outside. You also need to get the right wattage. Usually they need to be 100‑watt bulbs, but make sure that you check. You want to make sure you’re getting lightbulbs that are durable enough to last in the outside environment.

LED bulbs are great for outdoor lighting. They are durable, made to withstand weather and have a long useful life. You don’t want to have to change your outdoor lightbulbs very often. These bulbs can keep going for up to around 100,000 hours. They just aren’t right for every kind of light fixture so you need to make sure you check yours out before you purchase these bulbs.

There are also some lightbulbs that should never be used in outdoor lighting fixtures. Spiral compact fluorescent bulbs are one of these types. These bulbs react to cold temperatures because of the mercury that’s used in them. The light they produce fades out when it’s cold. They should be used indoors only.

It’s time to start showing off your new garage door. Go pick some light fixtures, add in the right bulbs and pat yourself on the back for a job well done when you see how incredible your home looks with your new garage door all lit up.

Still looking for a new garage door?

We’re waiting for your call at numbers below. Our image gallery can help you get a better idea of what we can do for you. We’re also more than happy to send you a quotation by email.

Are you more of a hands‑on type of person? Stop in to visit our showroom. Or never even leave your home and visit our online Design Centre where you can see what different garage doors look like on your house.