DIY Craftsman/Carriage Garage Door

So…yet again I’m blogging about project that I procrastinated on for weeks months and it only took 30 minutes or so to do. Seriously, this sat in the back of my SUV for forever! And with dark fast approaching last night we got it done in no time at all – after all that waiting.

Here’s the thing…we live in a suburban neighborhood. And I love it. Someday would it be nice to live on more land? Maybe. But for now, with a young one, this is great for us.

But just like the inside, I try to do little things to the outside to change up the appearance a bit, so it doesn’t look just like everybody else’s house on the street. OK, there are no houses that look just like ours on our street, but you get what I’m laying down.

I like a little detail, a little somethin’. And I found it while browsing Home Depot a few weeks months ago. Here’s our garage door as it was:

Boring. Really, it’s fine – it’s been boring for nine years and I haven’t cared. But over the past year or so I’ve been wanting to spruce it up a bit.

Anyhoo, this is what I found for only $10 -- I snatched it up!:

I love the look of craftsman/carriage door hardware – LOVE. I’ve been thinking of adding this type of hardware for a long time. It helps that this totally works with the exterior of our house too. It’s very much a cottage-type look and I knew this would look great! You can get a set online for as little as $25 (see below for links) but that’s the lowest I’ve seen a one till now -- $10 was a steal!

At first I was going to tape them up to see how I liked them, but the tape wasn’t holding, so I just said WHAT THE HECK and drilled them in. That was stressful.

I mean, holes in the garage door people! That stresses. me. out. And while I was installing them my assistant, AKA, the kiddo, kept laughing and calling them mustaches on the garage.
?? Mustaches?

They are really decent quality – heavy metal and I liked that the screws even came with black ends to match:

I added the handles in the middle and was still stressing about drilling and then the Bub said the garage door now had mustaches and a nose. Still don’t get the mustaches. Still not funny while Mama was sweating.

I stood back and looked and I REALLY loved it!!:

WHY does our driveway look blue? It’s not blue.

Now for a real craftsman/carriage door look we need the windows across the top. I’ve seen that you can do that yourself with paint or purchase some vinyl – when they’re done they really look like real windows. We’re not that far away from the street though, so I don’t know if it would just look fake. I may try cutting some black vinyl just to see how it looks.

For now I’m quite happy with the little change. It’s not something you’d notice driving by, but you’d notice something was a little different, you know?:

I love the new garage door mustaches and nose! I think they’re adorable!

I love a simple and inexpensive little change! Have you tried changing up something on your garage door? Added hardware or painted it? Anyone tried those faux windows? Do tell!

Edited to add: Years later these have held up beautifully! Not one bit of rust.
You can also use magnetic sets -- this one is affordable and would be easy to add with no commitment.
Here is a set similar to ours that you drill in.

Affiliate links included for your convenience!