Creating a Beautiful Curb Appeal
You get one chance to make a stellar impression on a potential home buyer. Your home’s curb appeal is the best way to accomplish this all-important goal. If your home doesn’t look pristine and inviting on the outside, your buyers might assume the inside is lacking as well.
Creating a beautiful curb appeal doesn’t have to cost a lot of time and money. Here are several quick, inexpensive, and time-tested tips to make your home look great without causing a huge dent in your budget.
Take a Walk Around Your Home
Chances are you walk to and from your driveway to the mailbox or front door every day without paying much attention to how your home looks to others passing by. Before planning your upgrading strategy, walk around the circumference of your home. Pay particular attention to details like shrubbery, lighting, the front door, porch, flower beds and the driveway. Be objective. Does anything seem in need of some TLC? Congratulations, you’re on your way to putting together a plan of action!
Power Wash Your Home and Pathways
Pressure washing is a quick, inexpensive way to brighten up your place without resorting to a completely new paint job. Heavy-duty pressure washers can usually be rented from your local home improvement store. And while you’re at it, give your driveway and sidewalks a “power” boost, too.
Give Your Front Door a New Look
One of the most effective – and least expensive – ways to improve curb appeal is a fresh coat of paint on your front door. Try a color that fits in well with other homes in the surrounding neighborhood. Clean the fixtures and doorknob with good metal polish and complete the effect with a wreath, decoration, or flag treatment. If the door itself is in bad shape, consider replacing it entirely.
Replace Old Hardware and Outdated Fixtures
Over the years, things like house numbers, door hardware, and the lights over your entranceway may have become a bit dated, mismatched and weather-beaten. To make your entranceway look its best, make sure all elements, old and new, coordinate well together. When buying overhead or wall-mounted light fixtures, make sure they provide adequate illumination for your entryway and choose ones that mount the same way as your existing ones.
Add Window Boxes and/or Potted Plants
Window boxes and pots full of colorful plants and flowers are a fantastic way to brighten up your home’s curb appeal with minimal financial outlay. Mix and match flowers and plants depending on whether they’ll get full or partial sun and choose ones that align with your home’s color scheme.
Light Up Your Yard
Low-voltage landscape lighting not only lets you highlight your yard’s best features, it’s also an effective way to make your home safer and more secure. Consider putting a spotlight on an ornamental tree or unique architectural feature and definitely use lighting to illuminate any walking paths on the property. Don’t want the hassle of installing electrical wiring? Solar lighting is even simpler to set up and just as impactful.
Clean Up the Mailbox
Whether your mailbox is curbside or mounted to your home, giving it an upgrade is a great way to show potential buyers you care about the details and make them eager to see what’s inside your front door. Pick a color and finish that matches your home’s paint and trim. For a mailbox that’s near the street, consider planting flowers around it to provide some extra color and visual appeal.
Touch Up Foundation Plantings & Flower Beds
Keep the flowers and shrubs around your home looking their best. Pull weeds, trim shrubs and consider planting new ground cover and low-maintenance flowers to create a neat, well-manicured look. Add fresh mulch to make your plantings “pop.”
Clean Up the Driveway
When it comes to curb appeal, a driveway that’s full of cracks and weeds is a definite turn-off. If it’s an asphalt or concrete surface pull out the straggling weeds and repair the cracks with the appropriate sealant. If the surface is concrete, you can really boost your curb appeal with a stain that hides flaws and picks up your house’s color scheme.