Give your boring garage door a makeover with these clever wooden overlays

By Drew Prindle May 9, 2014

give boring garage door makeover sexy wood overlays screen shot 2014 05 09 at 12 16 29 pm — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Millions of people own nice, modern homes. But no matter how big or small they are, and no matter how simple or elaborate their architecture may be, the vast majority of these homes have the same basic stamped-metal garage doors on them.

Why? Because contractors are cheap, and generally speaking, the only other option they have when building a house is to purchase a high-end real-wood garage door that costs upward of $10K. So, more often than not, they go with the cheaper option and install one of the plain stamped-metal overhead garage doors that have been a staple of the building industry for decades.

The problem is that upgrading to a classy-looking wooden door is typically the last thing on your mind as a homeowner. Why spend a truckload of cash when you’ve got a perfectly good –albeit boring– garage door? Well thanks to this clever new system called Garage Skins, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get that snazzy-looking garage you’ve always wanted.

As you’ve probably gathered already from the name, Garage Skins are basically a system of pre-cut wooden overlays designed to be placed over your existing garage door. Designed and built in Eugene, Oregon, they come in a wide variety of different patterns and wood types. Just pick the pattern/wood combination you like, and GarageSkins will send you a set of pre-cut panels that securely attach to your garage door via strong rare-earth magnets. When fully assembled, the panels are nearly indistinguishable from a real wooden door.

It’s a brilliant idea, and could drastically increase the curb appeal of your home for a relatively low price, but unfortunately GarageSkins aren’t quite available for purchase just yet. The company’s recently-cancelled Indiegogo campaign wasn’t successful, but it’s website suggests that large-scale production is still in the works, and that the skins should be available sometime in the spring of 2015.

We’ll keep you posted on availability, but for the time being you can head over to GarageSkins.com or Indiegogo for further details.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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