Tired of feeling like your house looks a little dim and drab from the road? Want to come home to a gorgeous home every evening? Wish your neighbors would compliment you more on your house? Want to maximize the value of your home at the sale? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could benefit from upgrading your house’s curb appeal.
5 Curb Appeal Projects for Any Home
First impressions matter. Whether you’re meeting your significant other’s parents for the first time, interviewing for a job, or shaking hands at a networking event, what people see when they first meet you determines how they perceive you moving forward. And the same is true with houses.
Whether you’re selling your house or you have plans to stay for another 10 years, your home’s first impression is largely dependent on its curb appeal. Here are some specific ways you can elevate it:
1. Pressure Wash the Driveway
You probably don’t realize how dirty your driveway is. Over the years, rain, dirt, tires, and oil droplets have a way of turning your once pristine concrete into a hazy, grimy mess. But what if you could return it to its former glory?
One of the easiest ways to restore your driveway is to pressure wash the grime away. It’ll take you a few hours, but it’ll make a world of difference.
“You can rent a 3,000- to 4,000-psi pressure washer from a rental yard for about $100 for a half day,” home improvement pro Mike Klimek writes. “That is plenty of time for a driveway, especially with a powerful machine in your hands.”
While you have the pressure washer, you might as well clean your siding, deck, and any other hard surfaces that have picked up some dirt over the years. You’d be surprised how much a good cleaning can do for appearances.
2. Replace or Paint the Front Door
Your front door has a big impact on curb appeal. Not only is it the central focal point of the front of your house, but it’s also the metaphorical “entry point” into the home. If the front door is old and dated, people will assume the rest of the house is, too. If it’s fresh and modern, similar associative properties will follow.
The easiest way to upgrade your front door is with paint. But in some cases, it might make more sense to replace it with something that’s more reflective of current styles and trends. Either way, you’ll see a positive ROI. (As a bonus, a new front door tends to boost energy efficiency and lower utility costs.)
3. Add Planters on the Front Porch
One of the least expensive ways to boost curb appeal is to add a little color and greenery in the form of planters on the front porch. It’s amazing how much a simple addition like this can transform your front porch or stoop. It’s like breathing life into a space that was otherwise dull and disengaging.
4. Paint the Trim
Want to freshen up the look of your house without repainting or replacing siding? You can save a considerable amount of time and money by instead repainting the trim.
Many older homes have beige, brown, or weathered trim that could really benefit from a fresh coat of white paint. (You’d be amazed by how much fresh white trim makes the rest of your siding pop.)
5. Add Landscape Lighting
Have you ever driven by a house with exceptional landscape lighting at nighttime? It doesn’t matter how old or small the house is, landscape lighting has a way of making the property seem more regal.
You can hire someone to do the lighting for you. Or if you’re handy, you might be able to install some basic lighting yourself. Here’s a good guide on how to do it.
Give Your Home a Boost!
Your home deserves to be seen in its best light. Whether you’re planning to put it on the market, or you simply want to be proud of your property, enhancing curb appeal will get you closer to your goal. Try a few of the projects outlined in this article and see what happens!