The Best Garage Door Window Covers To Increase Your Privacy

Whether you use your garage to protect your cars, as a workout area, to relax, or to store everything that inspires your inner handyperson, this space is an important part of your home. Although garages are convenient to work in to minimize the mess inside the main living space, from a security standpoint, working in the garage and storing valuable tools in this area is not quite the same as having your items secured in a basement workshop. Roughly 10% of home burglaries go through the garage, making this area enticing to thieves as a soft target. If you have windows in the garage doors, they provide natural light, but they may also make your security and privacy vulnerable. Your items are easily visible to nosy neighbors — or someone with more nefarious reasons for peeking through the glass.

Adding window coverings is one of the smartest ways to protect your garage from break-ins. As an added advantage, most of these coverings will provide protection from the sun's harmful UV rays. Parking a car inside is a great way to protect it from sun damage, but sunlight passing through garage door windows could still damage the car's finish over time. When you are emphasizing privacy and security over style with your garage window coverings, you have several options that will do the trick. Thankfully, some of them will also give you a bit of style without losing privacy points. Learn more about the best options for covering windows in garages to increase your privacy.

For one of the cheapest and easiest options for garage door windows, curtains work nicely. (Don't confuse window curtains with garage door curtain walls that hang in front of an open door to provide privacy while allowing airflow.) Window curtains are flexible options, as you can open and close them easily, depending on whether you need some natural light or want to maintain privacy. If you're using your garage for yoga workouts or as a relaxing gathering space, using curtains can provide a homey feel like you'd expect to find in a main living space.

One downside to using curtains over garage windows is the dust, insects, and cobwebs that will probably collect on the fabric. They can be hard to clean without frequently taking them down. Cloth curtains might also absorb odors from the garage, such as exhaust from your vehicles.

Additionally, you have to be extra careful if you choose to mount your curtain rods on the garage door. You don't want the mounted rods to interfere with the mechanism used to raise and lower the door. If you have a metal garage door, you could consider magnetic curtain rods that are easy to install and remove without needing to drill into the door. Another option is to use heavy-duty strips of Velcro to connect the curtains to the door without having to drill into it.

Adding blinds to your garage is another potential DIY option to add privacy to the windows. Blinds provide a sleek look to the garage while giving you the ability to control exactly how much light and privacy you have. Metal blinds may be the most popular option, as they consist of aluminum that will stand up to the varying temperatures of the garage. Unlike wood blinds, aluminum slats won't warp when exposed to moisture and varying humidity levels that are common in an unheated garage.

You might consider blinds that consist of composite materials, as they won't warp, either. Manufacturers often make composites to resemble real wood, but they're far more durable. PVC blinds are another option. These usually hang vertically and can economically cover a larger window in the garage. In the often dusty garage environment, you can wipe down aluminum, PVC, or composite material blinds with a damp cloth to remove dust and grime. Fabric or honeycomb-shaped paper blinds are not a great idea for garages, as they're difficult to clean to remove cobwebs and insects. 

Similar to some of the challenges to installing curtains on garage door windows, you have to make sure the blinds' mounting hardware doesn't interfere with the operation of the door. An inside mount design can be helpful for avoiding problems with the garage door operation. Consider installing "no-drill models," which will attach to the interior of the window with magnetic brackets or adhesive brackets.

Some people install shutters on the exterior of garage windows to create a distinctive artistic element that enhances the look of the garage. Shutters on garage windows can match those used on other windows of the house, enhancing curb appeal and creating a seamless look with the main part of the house. However, exterior shutters won't guarantee privacy in the interior of the garage, as someone wanting to peek inside could just open the shutters from the outside.

Wood composite interior shutters are a good choice for use over garage windows, as they're more durable than real wood, resisting moisture and warping. Composite materials often have UV protection built into them. This helps them resist fading. Closed interior shutters effectively block sunlight and can prevent the garage from heating up when the garage windows have direct sunlight exposure. They can keep the space warmer in winter, too, by providing thermal protection. Plantation-style shutters are especially popular for this use case. They have tilted louvers, allowing you to open or close the slats to control light. When they are made of composite faux wood, they'll be easy to clean and wipe down with a damp rag. To simplify installation, look for models that hang with a magnet system.

If you're especially concerned about someone trying to break into your garage, you could hang security window shutters inside the garage. They usually consist of reinforced steel, making it difficult for a burglar to break through the material.

For one of the simplest ways to enhance privacy in your garage, consider using roller shades. You can select among a variety of colors and patterns, and they deliver clean lines that will look great in your garage. If you have a lot of windows inside your garage, opening and shutting the roller shades — or any type of window covering — might be time-consuming work. You might consider motorized cellular shades, allowing you to push one button and have all the shades move up and down.

If your garage windows receive a lot of sunlight that uncomfortably heats the space, cellular shades are a popular choice because of the thermal barrier they provide against heat from the sun. During winter, cellular pull-down shades provide thermal benefits against cold weather outdoors, too. Many of these shades are resistant to fungus, making them a good choice for harsh garage areas where moisture is common.

Roller shades can be easier to clean than some other options because they consist of a single flat piece, unlike shutters or the slats in blinds. However, if the roller shades consist of fabric or thin vinyl, they may end up looking dingy and oily when exposed to the harsh conditions found in a garage. Because they are lightweight, they may flap around if any air is moving inside the garage, which could give a nosy neighbor a brief peek into the garage.

Adding privacy to a home is easy with window film options, and they work just as effectively with your garage door windows. Additionally, installing film is usually cheaper than buying and hanging window treatments, making this a cost-effective way to keep your affairs private. Many films are made for DIY installations, saving money compared to hiring a professional.

One of the biggest benefits of using window film is that you can block UV rays from the sun, protecting items stored in the garage from sun damage and keeping the space cooler. If you'd still like some natural light to pass through the glass, use a product that resembles frosted glass. However, a notable drawback to this kind of film is that it doesn't provide complete privacy unless you specifically select a blackout-style product. Dark window tinting can provide an enhanced level of privacy, even if it doesn't completely block someone's view through the garage window like a blackout film.

Another drawback is the permanence. If you want people to be able to see through the windows sometimes, the options we discussed earlier will work better than this one. Removing film and then reapplying it is difficult unless you have a static-cling style of material. Other types of garage door window film need to be discarded after you remove them. Films primarily represent a semi-permanent type of garage door window covering for privacy.