Great idea!! Are you planning to paint a dark stripe down the middle?

The clematis is gorgeous.

How cute. Would do that is a heart beat but it is hubby's shop. I am not to touch it!!LOL

I do not thing the center handle needs to be removed. It pretty much disappears in the picture.If you painted it white you would hardly notice it.

Enigma,

Thanks for posting your photo. Tis' amazing how a small change can make such a difference. I have 6 of these hinges and have put off figuring out where to put them on my single garage door. They've been laying around for a year, so you know how long the figuring has gone on.

The issue mine has is 3 windows at the top. The only thing I could do is split each of them with some trim to make the door look like it opens out.

My door is the a 3 panel as yours, wasn't sure if it would be noticeable that the door didn't really swing out. But the idea does work. And they are so easy to add.

Momma Goose, I too thought of adding a black stripe down the middle. An auto stripe would work, stick down, lasts, not expensive and wouldn't have to deal with painting mistakes.

I wouldn't remove the handle either- someday someone might need to manually raise that door from the outside :)

Thank you everyone, I had thought about a stripe, my only concern was that the handles are so close together (because of the panels on the garage...grrr:) I wasn't sure there was even room for one...I love the idea of the car stripe though, how convenient! As per your comments I've decided just to stop wrestling with that silver handle. I don't think it actually works anymore (I can't get it open from the outside) but it doesn't seem worth the hassle and really doesn't bother me.

emagineer, I think the idea of molding is a great one! If you wanted you could even turn them into "cottage windows" with the extra grills (if you're really handy with molding...I'm sure I couldn't so it!). Or there may be some place that could do some custom inserts for you for not very much, my friend found some cottage style grills online that stick on the windows, you just cut them down to size and push them on. Anyway, I hope you find a good solution!

Here's a link to some 'different' garage doors--click on any on the languages to see the doors. I want one of a yard with no weeds.

Here is a link that might be useful: fun garage doors

I hadn't thought of the window grills. Volunteer at Habitat Restore and we had dozens of them for months. Of course not now. I kept looking at them and wondering what they could be used for. Adding them to house windows added cleaning issues, so I passed on them.

Mama...what fun. If I lived where that could be done with some humor my son would be all over one of those. I can see him picking the army tank on an angle. I do like the idea of some of the doors. First thought was the awful mirror doors in the office which are going to be replaced. But not at the cost of the vinyl overlays. They are quite expensive. And I really like the old door panel options shown. Great idea for my plain ole shed doors. Which I should just paint to look like one of the overlays (as an artist). Or just add some old doors.

emagineer, thanks, I posted that purely in jest. We have two sliding 'barn door' type garage doors. I've considered painting a large quilt block on each door (Wild Goose Chase would be appropriate), but I'm afraid someone would think we were on a 'quilt trail,' and stop to take pictures. Of course, if they saw an army tank they'd probably be driving really slowly, to check that out, too! Your artwork idea sounds great--do you have a link to pics?

e.q., you can tape off a straight line and paint a stripe--that's what they do on the HGTV shows. You may have to free-hand between the handles, but if you have the tape and paint already, it would be free. :o)

mama-goose that link is a riot. Hubby and I laughed. Passed it on too. Thanks.

LOVE that garage door link! I forwarded it to my brother. One of his neighbors has a couple of dump trucks. I can just see the big yellow dump truck cross ways of his garage door.
Man oh man, I also loved the Tuscan countryside.

The only garage door I have is one of those spring loaded thingies, and we have it propped open permanently as shown in this picture:

and from the other side:
{{gwi:299902}}

and then I apply my VIRTUAL PAINTER software and get:
{{gwi:299900}}

The two very heavy cypress louvered doors holding up the metal door, were salvaged from the front doors of our river house, which was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Love this thread, Enigma. And I love your very low key treatment of the door. It goes right by folks if they are not paying attention. That is a good approach, and such a reasonable price too.

Great job with the doors. It's so creative and makes a lot of difference.

Enigma, wonderful job with the doors. What a difference you've made. :o)

mama_goose, thanks for the link to the 'fun' doors. Some of those would be a hoot.

ML, you must live in a very safe area, or you don't keep anything of value in your garage. It's neat that you can leave it open permanently.

~Missy

ML I love your garage door treatment. Great you were able to salvage your two doors from Katrina's clutches. Looks wonderful.

Missy, that garage has no roof at all. It is only used to hide the ugly stuff like big garbage cans full of mulch or topsoil, empty flower pots, some cement blocks, and last year I found a canvas and net gazebo for half price and set that up inside the garage. It was nice and shady, but when August came, it was sweltering hot with no air circulation.
One day, it will have a Lexan roof and become myy greenhouse.

Safe? We have a 7' tall privacy fence. I suppose our neighborhood is safe, do not recall anyone being burglarized close to us. The finer homes on the riverfront, however, do get breakins. Ours is just a cottage, and not very conspicuous.

Besides, we have a guard dachshund girl! She can hear a pin drop, no joke.

Ah, thanks for the clarification, ML. I thought maybe a flat roof was there. :) It's good to have a guard dachshund. I sometimes think that the 'guard' gene was missed when our pups were put together!

enigma - I just have to say that I saw your kitchen remodel over on the kitchen forum. O My Goodness!!! You did SUCH a fantastic job!!!

~Missy

moccasin, ahhhh for a greenhouse in the backyard, what a lovely idea!

Missy, thank you! It was a lot of work but I enjoy it so much now :)

ML, What a great space. The old doors are wonderful--I love salvage! Your little checkerboard patio area is pretty enough as is, but with the paint program, it looks Tuscan and rustic. The greenhouse idea is great--you'll have such a good time. Makes we want to go clean out my potting shed...kinda...