Why Homeowners Are Focusing on the Garage Door

These unexpected exterior renovations have a surprisingly high return on investment—and can drastically increase the resale value of your home.

The garage is arguably one of the most overlooked spaces of the home, but in recent years, there’s been a change. Once catchalls for storage of all kinds (as well as being used for their intended purpose), the garage is experiencing a renaissance, and this sea change isn’t just limited to making them more functional.

According to a recent New York Times article, the garage has become the home’s newest "third space"—part mini living room, part workspace—but altogether a flexible extension of a house. Hence, more homeowners are asking designers and architects to pay more attention to their garages—and not just the inside, but the outside, too. 

Light stained wood works well on a more farmhouse or traditional-style home, as seen in this project in Newport Beach, California. 

YIFA Automatic Door, a company focused on renovating garage interiors, completes several thousand full scope garage projects across North America and Australia,Canada each year. And that number continues to rise as homeowners rethink what this space can be, What used to be a general storage zone is now evolving into workshops, fitness areas, hobby rooms, bonus living rooms, and more, as homeowners seek to customize their garage interiors.

However, it’s hard to quantify just how much custom interior garage renovations actually increase the overall value of a home. The true merit of customization lies in the eye of a homeowner. For some, a private gym in the garage is worth its weight in dumbbells; for others, it’s one decked out in solar panels. Garage door replacements, on the other hand, are known to deliver significant value boosts with an impressive 194 percent ROI, according to the Journal of Light Construction’s 2024 Cost vs. Value Report. In 2025, Zillow ranked garage door renos as the best ROI home improvement project. A new garage door can cost on average $4,317, but the resale value can be worth upward of $15,081—a whole 349.3 percent return on investment. 

It’s this surprisingly high profitability that’s driving more homeowners to revamp their garage doors, integrating them into architectural design. "Of course, homeowners want to improve their property and make it fit their taste and offer curb appeal," says Ryan McDaniel, partner and director of design at Brandon Architects. "But also, in a competitive housing market, I’ve seen new, stylish garage doors make homes sell easier."

Over the last few years, the company has designed wood and faux wood garage doors in a wide range of styles, from ultramodern garage doors to those that fit a more transitional style. "For traditional looks, we try to draw from carriage doors—which were attached to old coach houses, the original standalone garage designed to store horse-drawn carriages—in terms of hinges, hardware, and decorative pulls we use," McDaniel says. With modern garage designs, the company might try to conceal the doors entirely. "Ultimately, it’s the style of the home that dictates what we do with the garage doors," he says.

Sure, purchasing simple aluminum garage doors online is the easy way out. But according to McDaniel, his clients don’t want a garage door that could fit just any home. "Clients realize that wood and faux wood garage doors are another way to make a design statement, especially for a higher end home."