If your home’s curb appeal makes a great first impression, everyone—including potential homebuyers—will want to see what’s inside. Check out these simple home improvements to increase your home’s value. And here’s a bonus: all of them can be done in a day, a week or a month.
Curb Appeal in a Day
Dress up Your Home’s Front Door
Your home’s front entry is the focal point of its curb appeal—and one of the first features homebuyers notice. Make a statement by giving your front door a blast of color with paint or by installing a custom wood door. Clean off any dirty spots around the knob, and use metal polish on the door fixtures. Your entry should also reflect the home’s interior, so consider choosing a swag, wreath or other door dressing that reflects your personal style.
Replace Old Outdoor Hardware
House numbers, the entry door lockset, a wall-mounted mailbox and an overhead light fixture are all elements that can add style and interest to your home’s exterior curb appeal. If these features are out of date or dingy, your home may not be conveying the aesthetic you think it is. These elements add the most appeal when they function collectively, rather than as mix-and-match pieces. For example, oiled-bronze finishes suit traditional homes, while brushed nickel suits more contemporary ones.
Balance Your Front Entry
Symmetry is not only pleasing to the eye, it’s also the simplest design to arrange. Symmetrical compositions of light fixtures and front-door accents create balanced and welcoming entryways and boost curb appeal. This door is flanked by two sidelights. The lantern-style sconces not only safely guide visitors to the door, but also coordinate with the door hardware and urns.
Install Outdoor Lighting
Low-voltage landscape lighting makes a huge impact on your home’s curb appeal while also providing safety and security. Fixtures can add accent lighting to trees or the house or can illuminate a walking path. If you aren’t able to use lights that require wiring, install solar fixtures (but understand that their light levels are not as bright or as reliable).
Create an Instant Garden
Container gardens add a welcoming feel and colorful curb appeal to any home exterior—and they’re quick and easy to pull together. You can buy ready-made containers from garden centers or create your own with your favorite plants. For most landscapes, a staggered, asymmetrical arrangement works best to create a dynamic setting.
Give Your Mailbox a Makeover
Mailboxes should complement your home and express your own personality. When choosing a hanging drop box, pick a box that mirrors your home’s trimmings. Dress up mailboxes for curb appeal by painting the wooden post to match the house’s exterior color, or by surrounding it with a beautiful flowering garden.
Install Window Boxes
Window boxes offer another fast, easy way to bring color and charm to your home’s curb appeal. Choose boxes made from copper or iron for a traditional look, or painted wood for a cottage feel. Mix and match flowers and plants to suit your lighting conditions and your home’s color scheme.
Renew Planter Beds
Get your home’s garden beds into shape by pruning growth, pulling weeds, planting flowers and adding new mulch to restore color that was taken away by sunlight and harsh weather. If stone or brick borders your bed, consider cleaning and resetting any pieces that are soiled or dislodged. If your border is old or tired-looking, try upgrading to stone or a decorative cast-concrete edging system for improved curb appeal.
Add Arbors or Fence Panels
Arbors, garden gates and short sections of decorative fence panels will enhance your home’s garden and boost the value and curb appeal of your property. These amenities can be found in easy-to-build kits or prefab sections you simply connect together. For best results, paint or stain these items with colors already on your house.
Curb Appeal in a Weekend
Add Outdoor Art
Give your home’s yard a little spunk and curb appeal by adding weather-resistant artwork. Choose pieces that complement your home’s natural palette and exterior elements. Birdbaths, metal cutouts, sculptures and wind chimes are good choices for outdoor art. Water sculptures not only function as yard art, but the burbling sounds soothe and make hot days feel cooler. Place fountains on level ground in optimum hearing and sight vantage points. Avoid spots in leaf-dropping range.
Make a Grand Entry
Even with a small budget, there are ways to draw attention to your home’s front door and improve curb appeal. Decorative molding acts like an architectural eyeliner when applied to the sides and top of the doorway. Notice how the white door casing makes this door pop.
Add Shutters or Accent Trim
Shutters and trim add a welcoming layer of beauty and curb appeal to your home’s exterior. Shutters also control light and ventilation, and provide additional security. Exterior shutters can be made of wood, aluminum, vinyl, composite or fiberglass. New composite materials, such as PVC resins or polyurethane, make trim details durable and low maintenance.
Create a New Planting Bed
Add contrast and color to your home exterior with a new planting bed. Prime spots for curb appeal are at the front corners of the yard, along driveways or walkways, and immediately in front of the house. When creating a new bed, choose features that will frame your home rather than obscure it. Opt for stone or precast concrete blocks to edge the bed. Include a mix of plant size, color and texture for optimal results.
Replace Gutters and Downspouts
If your home has an older gutter system, odds are it’s also suffering from peeling paint, rust spots or other problems that can convey a sense of neglect. Replace old systems with newer, snap-fit vinyl gutter systems that go together with few tools and require no painting. Copper systems, while pricier, convey an unmistakable look of quality and offer pretty curb appeal—consider them as an investment that can help greatly when you get ready to sell your home.
Curb Appeal in a Month
Renew Paint, Siding and Trim
An exterior facelift (new paint, siding or trim details) automatically transforms the look of a home. Periodic maintenance of that exterior surface is the surest way to keep your house and its curb appeal looking its best. Any obvious defects, such as cracked or rotting material, can downgrade the aesthetic and quickly turn away potential homebuyers. Once defects are repaired, look for ways to add personality with color, trim or shingles.
Tile Your Doorstep
Create a permanent welcome mat by tiling or painting a design that contrasts with the porch floor or front stoop. Not only will you not have to worry about replacing the mat when it gets ratty, but you can impress your visitors with your creativity.
Dress Up the Driveway
If your home’s driveway is cracked or stained or has vegetation sprouting from it, you can upgrade it for curb appeal without doing a complete redo. First repair the cracks and stains (and kill the weeds), then dress it up by staining the concrete or affixing flagstones. If you need more room to move your car or park, add stone, brick or pavers to the sides of the drive to widen it with flair.
Build a Walkway
Well-designed walkways make your home feel warm and inviting. For a dramatic improvement to a straight concrete path, replace it with a contoured one made of stone or brick. For a less radical upgrade to your home’s curb appeal, apply a colored concrete resurfacer to the old walkway, then edge with brick or stone borders. Brick pavers offer traditional, classic beauty to the landscape of any home.
Upgrade Railings
Your home’s porch and stoop railings can deteriorate quickly if not treated properly. If your railings are past their prime, look for quality wood or metal components to replace the existing material and improve curb appeal. As with other improvements attached directly to the house, make sure the color, scale, design, details and material are compatible with the home’s main features.
Apply Stone Veneer
Nothing carries pedigree and permanence like stone. It’s a great option for dressing up any home’s exterior features such as concrete foundations, column footings and other masonry details. Natural and manufactured stone can be costly options for large expenses, but both are affordable and well suited for use as accent material.
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens. Used with permission. © Meredith Corporation. http://www.meredith.com. All rights reserved.