update:
We are going to begin our garage refresh with Sherwin-Williams paint and stain in Tricorn Black at our beach cottage. The house was built in 1920 and the garage was probably added in the 1950s. So it’s still old and has absolutely no appeal. It’s pretty ugly in fact. Much like our old house where we made it so much better with just paint and a DIY portico. We are trying to figure out a way to add some sort of portico to our current garage. You can see the before of our old house in this post. You can see a before of our current project is the end of this post!
Selecting the right color of black
We considered several “colors” of Sherwin-Williams black before deciding on Tricorn. Some were too blue, too green, too brown, Tricorn Black seems perfect!
What is a portico?
A portico is a structure consisting of a roof supported by columns leading to the entrance of a building.
What is the purpose of adding a portico?
Adding a portico gives a small area of coverage in an entryway providing shelter from the rain. It also adds architectural detail and defines an entryway.
Why we decided to add a portico to our garage:
When we purchased our home we knew it needed a fair bit of work. One thing that was a terrible eyesore was the detached garage. The house was built in 1900 and at some point a two-car garage was added. It’s hard to say when exactly, but in this town, it had to be a long time ago because it is in the backyard. Planning & Zoning would never have signed off on this. With an older home, it’s pretty nice to have a two-car garage.
The first thing we did was remove a lot of overgrown landscape around the garage and the entire property. We created more of an open backyard, but then the garage, which is visible from the dining room and the kitchen, was even more obvious. So like all house-related problems, we quickly realized the paint was the answer. We weren’t ready to paint the house white (it was a light gray) so we went with black. Best decision ever. We painted the entire garage black, including the side door and the garage door. It was much better, but still, we kept thinking more could be done to make it look more attractive. You can see the before here.
I started noticing porticos on houses in our area and then quickly moved to Pinterest for more inspiration. I created a Pinterest board just for Porticos. There were so many great options, but since this was the garage we went with simple. Our first idea included a galvanized corrugated metal roof, but that proved to be impractical. We still like the idea, but finding the material in our area was not easy and then finding someone to cut it to the right size was even more difficult. So we did what we always do in these situations. We improvised. We found a bundle of cedarwood shingles for less than $20 at Home Depot. Done. The rest was used for kindling in our outdoor fire pit.
How to build a portico
Materials used for building a DIY portico
We started with a unique size of wood we got from Home Depot. You kind of have to look for it. The actual dimensions are 3 1/2″ wide by 1″ thick (yes, 1″ and not the normal 3/4″).
From left to right, We created an L shape with two pieces of wood – one screwed to the garage and the other screwed to the top of the piece attached to the garage.
Next, we created a brace at a 45-degree angle. Then we built a frame around the braces in the shape of a box. Again, utilizing 45-degree angles for the corners.
The screws are all inset just enough so that patch and sand is easy. We usually drill a 1/4″ deep hole about the same size as the head of a screw so that it sinks in easily without splitting the wood.
Once we built the frame around it, we had to build the braces that create the slope of the roof. The only tricky part was determining the angle of the slope of the roof. After trial and error several times, we settled on a 25-degree roof slope.
Once the braces were attached to the garage and the frame, we then used slats of 3/4″ pine for the roof. Another option would have been a sheet of plywood. But that would have required another trip to Home Depot so we used the wood we had.
Once the roof was on, we laid the shingles starting at the bottom and working our way to the top. Not seen in the photo here, the finishing touch is a piece of molding at the top where the shingles meet the garage. We also painted that black. The molding closed the small gap between the end of the shingles and the garage and prevents rain and melting snow from dripping through.
A portico helped define this space as well as adding the industrial guard sconce from Barn Light Electric.
Having a white house and a black garage makes it so much fun to decorate for the holidays. Everything looks good with black! We especially love the Atomic Industrial Guard Sconce from Barn Light Electric. We loved it so much that we added two more for the back of our house. These mums are fading fast, almost time for Winter plantings out here!
The Before of Our Current Project
You can see how we spruced up the exterior of this area using Sherwin-Williams Porch & Floor Enamel last year in this post: Outdoor Spaces: Making the Most of Our Small Yard
Other options for porticos if you didn’t want to DIY a portico
I love Brooke’s portico. It’s a fairly reasonably priced solution without having to DIY it! It looks great and provides coverage for entering the door in the rain and it adds architectural detail. She also added the screen door recently and she never misses an opportunity to add a detail like the Beach sign.
Marilyn says
It looks like it was always a part of the structure and adds so much charm to the entrance. I love the black and think you are so brave to push that color button. I’m going with black trim on our house around the windows but the panes are still white. It’s my small step! What you do it always an inspiration! 🙂
Stefanie Wall says
I have always adored your garage…and it has never looked better! Thanks for the step-by-step tutorial with pictures. It makes the project seem possible. ? Love the pea gravel, too, for a clean look. And you’re right about black and white – makes everything look great! ❤️
annie diamond says
Stefanie,
I always appreciate that you never miss a detail…like the pea gravel. You probably even notice the weeds growing and the sparse grass! Thanks for bing so supportive dear friend!
xo
annie
cindy hattersley says
Wow-what a difference. Isn’t it amazing what the little things do. You two are quite a team! You gave that garage character ++
annie diamond says
Thanks, Cindy! Never underestimate what a little (or a lot) of paint can do! xx
Casey says
Could i ask your dimensions on the portico? Please. Thank you
annie diamond says
Hi Casey! We no longer own that house, so I don’t think I would have the exact dimensions! I’m sorry that’s not very helpful!
Courtney says
Hello. What is the color of house and color of trim. Beautiful.
Thank you
Courtney
annie diamond says
Hi Courtney! It’s just called Black from Behr paint at Home Depot. I also like Tricorn black from Sherwin Williams!