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Improving Your Home’s Curb Appeal

‘Curb appeal’ is a term we usually associate with the process of sprucing up the exterior of the house (mainly the parts that can be seen from the street curb) by someone who is trying to sell their house. 

But why should curb appeal be about selling your house at all? It should simply be about enhancing the aesthetic value and  enjoyment of your home, for you.

So, where do you start? These are some basic elements you could begin with. If you are planning large or small home improvements in the future like building a porch or installing a paver driveway, replacement windows, or a tree, these certainly are projects that can make your home more beautiful. But don’t worry about that now. Work with what is going on in your yard presently, to get started.

 

Outdoor Lighting

Don’t you love the way outdoor lighting illuminates the exterior of a house and the yard? One of my favorite outdoor accents are light fixtures. There are so many to choose from, it can be a difficult choice!


To enhance the visual appeal, keep your outdoor fixtures clean and change out spent bulbs. If you need to replace worn out fixtures, choose light fixtures that are of the same architectural style as your house style. And don’t overlook the beauty that 2 or 3 accent/landscape lights can create.

 

Lawn and Plant Beds

Your lawn and planting beds may take up the most square footage of the outdoors of your home. Even if your plant bed design is not at the level you’d like it to be, you’d be surprised at what beauty can be achieved simply from a well manicured yard.

Clean, crisp edges between the lawn and plant beds is the place to start. Then to make those plant beds pop, dress the surface with mulch. We recommend dark brown, finely shredded mulch for optimal appeal – you want the flowers, shrubs, and lawn to pop, not the mulch. The mulch needs to blend in with the ground and be subtle.

Also, keep the edges of the lawn adjacent to the curb, driveway, walks, and patio trimmed, too.

 

Driveway, Walks, and Steps

These elements are part of the hard surfaces in your yard. Over time they may need repairs: the surface of a concrete walk and steps may spall (break or split off in chips or bits), cracks form in the asphalt driveway, and, if the cracks are left unattended over the change in seasons, areas may need to be patched. These problems can be easily repaired and restored. Beautiful hard surfaces are a great curb appeal booster!

This asphalt driveway has been well maintained over the years

Minor asphalt repairs can be a DIY project. For patching, you’ll need good quality high performance cold asphalt patching mix, and for cracks, use a high quality crack filler (these are a available in a tube and can be applied using a caulking gun). And don’t underestimate the instant visual enhancement for the yard that a new coat of driveway sealer can provide. The uniformity of a solid color can be eye-catching.

Using a sealer with a non-slip formula, may help keep the surface grip better under foot. If you have freshly placed asphalt, wait a minimum of 30 days for it to cure before using a sealer on it.

It is difficult to create a warm and inviting welcome to your home when surfaces are in need of repairs. Steps that are damaged should be repaired for safety first, then for aesthetics. Repairing step edges that are missing need to done correctly to reduce the occurrence of injury.

Old concrete walks or porch floors can be given a fresh and restored surface by applying a layer of resurfacing concrete to the old concrete surface. For best results, follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

 

Painting and Exterior Repairs

Chipping and flaking paint, bare spots on wood, rotting trim, and missing mortar in masonry are a few examples that can detract from your homes innate beauty and bring down the dial on the curb-appeal-o-meter!

Paint and protect any exterior painted surface on your house, porch, lamp post, fence and gate, and shutters. Even keeping exterior surfaces clean is important for visual appeal.

 

Accessories and Architectural Features

Start with the basics: a welcoming doormat, a large wreath on the door (or use a wreath holder), oversized planters brimming with seasonal flowers or a holiday arrangement, and some porch furniture (wicker, a porch swing, a bench).

 



Some basic architectural features include a mailbox, a doorbell, address numerals, shutters, or window boxes. Choose these features and elements to complement your house style.

 

An architecturally detailed screen can hide utility meters or A/C units from view

 

These are the basics that would get you on your way to increasing your curb appeal – for you! We think you’ll agree that most of these suggestions would be quite easily accomplished. Overtime as you do more extensive projects to your home, the enhancement value could likely increase. For instance, when you need to replace the roof shingles, you may want to consider dimensional roofing shingles for their high architectural appeal, or an entry door replacement in a style that matches the architectural style of your house.

 

Frugal Friday Link Party!

 

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