Ways to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Improve your home’s curb appeal or simply said: curb appeal is a term you might hear a lot on renovation and home shows. The term describes how attractive your home and property are from the sidewalk or perhaps to a prospective buyer from the exterior. You’ll hear realtors use the term quite a bit. 

The curb appeal of your home includes your landscaping, lawn design and maintenance, your front door or doorway, your driveway, any walkways, and your home’s actual exterior.

When a client is trying to sell a home, many real estate agents will emphasize the importance of maximizing curb appeal. This is true because not only is it a first impression, but many of the things that you can do to give your home more exterior appeal are relatively cheap and easy. Small things can make a big difference. 

Even if you aren’t planning to sell your home, you want your property to look well-maintained and like something you’re proud of. Then, if you decide to sell at any point, you’re prepared. 

The following are things homeowners can do to improve their curb appeal. 

1. Tidy Up

If a lawn has toys or junk in it, it’s going to make a house look like it’s not well-cared for. Do an assessment of your home’s exterior. Throw away anything that’s not being used or is in bad shape. This can include items like flower pots that are broken or no longer used, yard tools and equipment, or anything that’s otherwise cluttering up the space surrounding your home.

If you have kids with toys, create a space where they can put them away out of sight after each use. 

This will help extend the life of the toys too. 

Make a space for all your tools and yard supplies so they’re not left out. 

2. Paint Your Front Door

New front doors can be a pricey investment, so if you don’t want to buy a new one, give your current one a facelift. Add a new coat of exterior paint to your door to breathe new life into your entire house. 

You might choose a bold color that stands out as long as it goes well with the rest of your house. You can also choose a more classic color. 

Prep it before you paint your front door. 

3. Add Window Boxes

Having window boxes is one of those things that instantly creates a sense of coziness and warmth in a home. 

You can also add color and personality to the outside of your home with window boxes. 

Window boxes are fairly cheap, and you can also make your own. 

You’ll have to maintain the flowers in the boxes, so keep that in mind. 

Another option if you don’t want window boxes is to use container gardens on your front porch, as long as they don’t make the space look cluttered.

4. Give Everything a Good Clean

You can clean the home of your exterior with a pressure washer, so it’ll look fresh and cared for. You can rent a pressure washer for the weekend and get your driveway and walkways, fences, siding, and gutters. You can also do your patio furniture. 

On the driveway, you might want to use a degreaser first so you can get up the oil stains. 

5. Add Shutters

If you don’t already have shutters, they give color, personality, and symmetry to the front of a house. Choose shutters that are the same height as the trim of your windows. If you’re getting non-functional shutters, they should be between 25 and 50% of the width of the window, unless it’s very wide. 

You can buy vinyl shutters for around $40 a pair. 

You can also use real wood. 

If you already have shutters, consider whether they could use a fresh coat of paint to revive them a bit. 

6. Change Your Exterior Lighting

Exterior lighting fixtures can be fairly inexpensive and can make the outside of your home look more high-end and also better illuminate it when it’s dark. 

Along with lighting on either side of your front door, use landscape lighting. You can add landscape lighting to illuminate walkways, and it improves security and safety as well as is nice to look at. 

Use combinations of different types of lighting and fixtures. If you can’t use lighting requiring wiring, solar fixtures are an easy, inexpensive choice. 

7. Perfect Symmetry

Above, we talked about the benefits of adding shutters to your house because they bring symmetry. In general, anything that integrates symmetry to the front of your home is good for curb appeal.

Our eyes like to see symmetry. 

Your light fixtures can be a form of symmetry, and you can also add the same planters on either side of your door, for example. 

8. Add Seating to Your Porch

If you have the space to put seating on your porch, take advantage. Adding seats, like a swing or traditional rocking chair, makes the exterior of your home look inviting. It gives the sense that your home is welcoming and cozy. 

9. Makeover or Change Up Your Mailbox

Your mailbox should be complementary to the overall style of your home’s exterior. Choose a mailbox that not only coordinates but surround it with flowers to make your yard seem friendly and your home approachable. 

If your mailbox isn’t in good shape, get a new one. 

Finally, something else you can do to upgrade your exterior is to replace all of your hardware. Your hardware includes your street numbers, as well as your doorknobs and door knockers. Choose something newer, more modern, and upgraded for an easy change that’s eye-catching and makes your home look more high-end. 

If you have garage doors, you can add hardware to them like handles. They can be magnetic and purely decorative. 

When people arrive at your home, you want them to be wowed, and so many of the things you can do to make that happen are weekend projects. 

Thank you for reading Ways to Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal