How to Use a Garage Door Inside Your Home

How to Use a Garage Door Inside Your Home

Have you ever considered putting a garage door inside your home? No, not the place where you park your cars or store your camping gear. We’re talking about a living room garage door or a garage door to separate rooms. 

It’s understandable if your first reaction was confusion or resistance. But the latest trend for architects is to install indoor garage doors in residential homes. It’s not a bad idea, as it opens up so many possibilities for homeowners to enjoy their houses in a whole new way. Discover how to use a garage door inside your home, the benefits of using interior garage doors and other tips on making the most of this new trend in the housing industry.

Where Can You Incorporate an Interior Garage Door?

The primary use for these garage doors is to use them as wall dividers. This can be accomplished in several different ways throughout your home. Whether you’re using them to separate exterior and interior areas or simply to divide two rooms, garage doors will make a house look chic and modern. 

The possibilities of how you use garage doors inside your home are endless, so here are a few of the most popular ideas for incorporating interior garage doors. 

Kitchens and Common Areas

The most popular place to install an indoor garage door is in your kitchen. You can use half garage doors as an upgraded skylight. Simply choose a glass garage door design that matches your style, and you can have skylights that actually open up to the outdoors. 

Another great way to incorporate interior garage doors into your kitchen is to use them to separate the kitchen and living room, especially in open floor plans. This allows for increased flexibility in how you use your home, providing privacy or sound reduction when needed, but also allowing for large gatherings for a party.

Kitchens have actually featured this trend before, just on a smaller scale. Countertop garage doors provide a convenient way to hide away appliances and other kitchen supplies in cabinets.

Patios, Pools and Sunrooms

One great purpose of a garage door is to open up a home to outdoor spaces. If your home has a patio or a pool, consider installing a garage door to give your home a modern feel. It’ll make taking food, tables and other household items from the kitchen to your outdoor living space so much easier. You don’t have to fuss with opening and shutting a sliding glass door when you have an interior garage door. 

Having pool parties will just get better as a garage door will allow you, your loved ones and your guests to move freely from the comfortable couch in your living room to swimming in the pool. Sunrooms will become new and improved, enveloping you in nature like never before. Instead of having traditional windows that you can only open a little bit, interior garage doors will allow you to feel the breeze and the warmth of the sun as you relax in your sunroom.

Other Interior Garage Door Ideas

Aside from using garage doors in the main gathering places of your home, you can also have them in all the rooms in your house. Now that people work remotely more than ever, many are converting the exterior wall of their home office into an interior garage door. 

When you feel “strapped” to your desk all day, it’s nice to hear the birds outside, listen to the rain or enjoy the fresh air while you work without having to leave your desk. Other areas where you can use interior garage doors include a home gym, bedrooms, bathrooms and closets. 

What Are the Benefits of Indoor Garage Doors?

Are you still curious as to why using garage doors inside your home is such a trend among architects and homeowners? There are actually several benefits to installing interior garage doors in your home. Some of the main reasons why homeowners are using indoor garage doors are that they:

Open up the Home to the Outdoors

Enjoying nature while in the comfort of your own home is a huge reason why homeowners install indoor garage doors. A garage door becomes a unique feature of your home, and it lets more light into the room when the door is open. The amount of natural light in a room gets even better when the garage door is made of glass and has an aluminum grid design. If you choose to go with a glass garage door, you can have tinted or frosted glass to maintain privacy.

Are Cost-Effective 

Interior garage doors do open up your home to the beauties of nature, but they’re also very cost-effective. This is possible because if you want to turn one room into two, you don’t have to hire a builder or attempt to do it yourself, waiting months for the job to get done. Instead, simply install a garage door in only a few days, and you can have your home just the way you want it.

Being able to make changes to your home in a way that’s easy on your budget is great, but that’s not the only benefit. Having an interior garage door can also make you money by increasing the property value of your home. 

What Are Some Interior Garage Door Do’s and Don’ts?

Now that you know how to incorporate interior garage doors into your home and the benefits of using them, there are some do’s and don’ts to consider before installing your first indoor garage door.

Purchase a Quality Indoor Garage Door

The most important aspect to consider when buying an interior garage door is to make sure you get a high-quality design. Especially if the garage door is going to replace an interior wall, you’ll want to make sure the door offers some sound reduction. The last thing you want after installing a garage door is being able to hear every sound that happens on the other side of the door. Having a garage door in your home doesn’t mean you have to give up the sound reducing benefits of a normal wall. 

In addition to making sure your garage door offers sound reduction, it’s good to research motors before you install one. You don’t want to have the motor of your kitchen garage door be loud and echo throughout the house.

Ensure Your Interior Garage Door Fits With Your Home

Even if you want to install a garage door in your home, it should complement your home’s overall look. Take a look at your floor plan to see if it can reasonably accommodate an indoor garage door. If your floor plan is too cramped, you may need to make adjustments to your initial plans. 

You should also look at the style of your home. Is it Victorian, colonial, French or something else? Ask yourself if an interior garage door would distract or complement your home. Experts say that homes with a contemporary or industrial design work the best for adding interior garage doors.

Evaluate if Your Home’s Location Is Conducive to an Indoor Garage Door

After you’ve determined the quality of garage door you’d like and that your home is a great fit, there’s one last thing you need to think about — your home’s location. Having indoor garage doors in your kitchen, living room or other living spaces is a great advantage for homes and rental properties in warm or scenic locations, like the beautiful Appalachian mountain range in Tennessee. 

Regardless of what kind of temperatures you have year-round, it’s important that the garage door has good insulation. This is especially crucial if the garage door is the only barrier between the exterior and interior of your home. Have good insulation and weatherstripping to prevent your utility bills from increasing dramatically and to deter insects from entering your home.

Take the Next Step to Installing a Garage Door in your Home

With so many great reasons to add an interior garage door to your home, this raving trend among homeowners and architects probably makes more sense now. It likely won’t be going away anytime soon as interior garage doors provide access to the outdoors, are cost-effective, increase property value and enable homeowners to host gatherings with loved ones as never before. 

Contact EXL Garage Doors to learn more about how to install your home’s indoor garage door. With years of experience and a showroom to display our products, we’ve made it easier than ever to transform your home using our high-quality products and commitment to exceptional customer service. Request an estimate today!

Archives