DIY Faux Garage Window/Carriage Kit!

This is seriously one of the EASIEST DIY ideas I have EVER tried…. AND, coming in at under $15, one of the BEST ideas out there!!  It seriously requires no power tools or husband to complete!!!  I have wanted carriage kits for my garage door for a LONG time; however, even at $25, just for the hinges, it is not in my budget with only one income and seven hungry kids!

I thought about making a stencil and painting it on there with spray paint; however, at the risk of really messing things up, I couldn’t get myself to do it.  What if Ed didn’t like it?  You know, he has to live here too!  He’d has to like the way things turn out also!  I got to looking around on the internet to see if there was something I could find and one idea that kept coming up was VINYL!!!

So, when my friend found some vinyl on sale for me at $5 a roll, I couldn’t be more pleased!!

I simply cut out 32 squares that were 7 1/4″ long by 3 1/2″ wide (It only took 2 roles that were 12″ by 48″ long for the windows and a small partial role for the hinges).  Placed them squarely on the raised panel part on the garage door.  For the hinges and the handles, I found a picture of the ones I liked, blew them up on the printer at 200%, then cut those out.  I also took a hole punch to the end of those to make a nice little hole in the hinges and handles…

We purchased a total of three rolls and I have a bit left over, so I might get a start on the shed garage door.  I think Ed will like it…. a lot!

UPDATE: September 2015… Well, my sweetheart didn’t complain about the doors.  We liked them a lot!  However, after about a year’s time, the vinyl started to peel.  I still loved the look so I taped it off and painted it black with some outdoor black paint I had.  Same great look…. much longer lasting!

Let me know if you decide to give it a try!

One “before” and a few “afters!”

UPDATE:  I had enough to do my shed door as well!  The last window is sort of pieced together, and we had to forgo the hinges, but I still think it looks great!  So for three rolls of vinyl, I did a double garage, and a single garage door!