Wondering if you should undertake some garage renovation work before trying to sell your house, or instead, stay put and make improvements to please you?

Why not take a couple minutes to consider some factors that could help you make this decision.

What exactly are your goals in renovating?

Regardless of why you want to renovate, this step must not be overlooked. Pinpointing your goals, whether measurable, like lowering your electric bill, or not, as in increasing your comfort, is crucial to a successful project.

Here are some possible goals:

• increase the value of your home
• maintain and protect your current investment
• express your tastes with a new interior or exterior design
• increase energy efficiency to cut utility costs
• add more storage space

Whatever the reasons, analyze the most cost effective manner, set a fairly precise budget (keeping a little wiggle room) and lastly, prioritize.

A garage door – a small investment with a big return

When you visit a house for sale, what part of it do you see first? The garage door, right? For most homes where the garage is on the front side, the garage door can take up between 30 and 40% of the façade. If it’s dingy or poorly maintained, if its design doesn’t go with the architectural style of the house, you have a low opinion of the sellers, don’t you?

According to the annual survey done by Remodeling Magazine, their Cost vs Value 2016 analysis shows that replacing a garage door, with an average cost of $1,652, yields a return on investment of 91.5%, the third best return. First place goes to replacing the front door.

See the incredible transformation for yourself

So, you’ve told yourself your garage door deserves a makeover. But it’s difficult to imagine what it will look like. Nowadays lots of manufacturers provide a Design Centre to help you evaluate the various choices you have. You can even upload a photo of your house and make a “before and after” comparison of your project. Add windows and decorative hardware, change the color, and see which designs coordinate the best with the architecture of your home. Go ahead, create your dream garage door!

When choosing your garage door, first and foremost – coordinate!

To blend with the architecture of your house, manufacturers provide abundant choices of stylish colors, embossed designs, raised moldings, clean lines or even fully windowed doors.

A decade ago and more, garage doors were just functional, opening and closing when needed. Today, with ever varying architectural styles, choices have skyrocketed and homeowners strive to stand out and be different from the rest of the neighborhood.

Whether the style of your house is modern, contemporary, Victorian, colonial, Tudor or farmhouse, you’ll find the door design to suit you and distinctively compliment your house.

And don’t forget to coordinate with your front door. Try a darker color for your front door and lighter for the garage door, especially if it’s double. If you choose to have windows in your garage door, match their style with those of your residence.

What if I’m turning my garage into a living space?

Do you need more room and are considering transforming your garage into a bedroom or even a home theater? According to Amy Hoak on the financial information website MarketWatch (Dow Jones & Co.), data from the National Association of Realtors shows that a typical single-family home (1,870 sq. ft.) needs to have at least 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. However, 74% of homeowners with a car say that a garage is very important or extremely important for them, either for parking vehicles or storage space.

So there are positives and negatives about transforming a garage: either adding a bedroom or removing a garage. In this same report it is shown that even if you change your garage into an office or family room, it is advisable to keep the garage door in place. Should you sell your house, it will be easy for the new owners to change it back into a garage.

And if I go ahead… wanting to make the best choice based on my needs, tastes and budget.

If you decide to replace your garage door, always give A Team Garage Doors a call.  Our Specialists know how to advise you on the best choice to make. They will respect your tastes as well as the budget you’ve set. They can email you up to 3 quotations to respect your budget and your tastes.

Originally appeared on: Garaga