{ ..in the Small Details } Ask a Designer

We received an e-mail from a reader looking for advice on how to incorporate red shakes in the gable roof with the rest of his newly constructed garage.  Thanks B. for your e-mail, here’s what I think you should do…

Before

After

Inspiration photo via: RemodelingCenter.com

Building a detached garage can be a very exciting home renovation project, as it can add additional storage space, and increase the value of your home.  The process from start to finish is much like that of building a home, but on a smaller scale.   Most of the same stages in construction occur during the project such as drawing up blueprints, applying for permits, gathering quotes, and finally physically constructing the building.  A detached garage  provides an excellent opportunity to experiment with colour and an assortment of building materials, since it is not attached to the existing home.

This inspiration picture really has the look of a mini house, as it mimics many of the same great architectural details used on houses on the exterior of the garage.  Like the before shot that our reader has sent in, the garage in this photo has chosen red as an accent colour for the upper part of the garage.  I think this a great use of colour, and in order to create a unified pallet, the red should be carried to the lower portion of the garage.  Let’s start at the top of the garage and work our way down.

To soften the red shakes in the gable, try using a white bracket in the centre of the peak as shown above.  Since the roof is a dutch-hip style, there would only be room for one bracket, but it will still give the desired effect.  You can duplicate these brackets on either side of the garage man door with or without a pergola above.  In my opinion the brackets would look just as good without the pergola since there are deep eaves around the building, and little headroom above the door.

Next, I would suggest using white shutters on either side of each window to break up some of the blue siding and introduce more white to create a more balanced colour pallet.  I love the white planter boxes below the windows, so if you have a green thumb, they would be a charming addition, especially with some red flowers to coordinate with the other red accents.

Since the siding has already been completed, there is no option to incorporate red brick directly on to the building, so perhaps some red brick planter boxes, or something with a similar red-tone on either side to the overhead door opening would work instead.

I contemplated red for the garage overhead door, but I feel it would be too overwhelming.  Instead, I think the overhead door should remain white, and the garage man door would be perfect painted red.  This way all of the colours will have be evenly distributed across the whole building, creating a uniform and cohesive look.

~k