In the United States, a beautiful yard can add between 5.5% and over 12% to the value of your home.
If you’re wanting to sell your home, or make it look nicer, curb appeal is essential. Houses are judged on a first impression basis, which means that instant curb appeal will have a major impact. Don’t risk getting less for your home than what it is worth, make sure your yard is working with you, not against you.
Here are five ways you can make your home looks even better from the curb than before.
1. Washing and Maintenance
A yard won’t be beautiful if it is full of dirty furniture and clutter. Make sure that the yard is clear of any debris or trash as this can be an eyesore if seen from the road. You can use a power washer to clean concrete, sidewalks, and even parts of your home.
This will leave your house looking beautiful. Drawing eyes to the beauty of the lines and decorations you have up is a great way to enhance the curb appeal. A clean, pristine home acts as a blank canvas, showcasing your efforts to anyone who drives or walks by.
Keeping up on maintenance is also essential to having great curb appeal. Make sure that gutters are hung, nothing is broken or out of place. If you have gravel, it should get combed and swept away from sidewalks and walking paths.
2. Landscaping
There are many front yard landscaping ideas that can add instant curb appeal. Front yard design is so important because that’s what people see first. From various garden ideas to shrub grooming, the front yard can look as magical as you want.
Match the landscaping with your home, does it need flowing, smooth lines or would a sharper, more angular presentation be better. You have to make this decision, though consulting with a professional is always a great idea. What type of plants are colorful and grow well in your area?
Add color and texture to the yard without making it look gaudy or out of control. Be conservative with your decorations and yard ornaments, let the natural beauty of your landscaping speak for itself. Some objects add curb appeal and can act as a centerpiece in landscaping such as an outdoor flagpole.
3. Painting
The color scheme of your home is going to attract a lot of attention. Make sure that you don’t use wild colors, keep the color palette you choose tastefully. A lot of people will look for cracks, chips, or other damage in the paint when they look at a house, so make sure to repaint doors, window sills, and other visible surfaces.
With outdoor paint don’t be afraid to add extra coats. You want the paint job to stand up against the elements, so having a thick coating of paint isn’t a bad idea. This will also help to protect the home against dangers such as rot.
Vivid paint is a great way to cause parts of the home to stand out. You may want to make your accents vibrant and eye-catching. Doing this helps to guide a viewer’s eyes around the yard and draws their focus to the areas that you love the best.
4. Add Area Lighting
Lighting doesn’t just have to be for the front door of your home. You can add accent lights to various shrubs, gardened plants, and of course any flagpoles you have. This lighting will draw the eye and make the home look far more beautiful during the nighttime.
There is also a safety reason to add lighting. Most people feel safer if there is lighting around a home as it can prevent you from falling. Make sure that the regular lighting you choose isn’t too bright, as that can be distracting and cause more problems than it fixes.
With modern LED light solutions you can even choose different colors. Matching the colors of your accent lighting to the scheme of your house is a great way to present a uniform, beautiful yard. You can also use LED lights to highlight landscape design, and LED lights to last for a long time, so maintenance on them is minimal.
Lightning is also a great way to create secluded or darkened areas of your yard. If you contrast these right, you can really cause the beauty of your home to stand out. Lighting allows you to control what people see and how they see it, so if you want curb appeal invest in lighting.
5. Modern Updates
It is common for homes to last for over a century, some of them last for much longer. If you have an old home, make sure that you renovate the yard and decorations just like you would the inside of the home. Take out the old light fixture and put in new light fixtures, they will look better and save you money.
Old planters can be beautiful, but make sure they get taken care of. If you can’t clean or fix one, replace it with something new. Keep an eye towards minimalism if you need to save money and preserve the crisp lines of your home.
You should also pay attention to the garage and any outbuildings you have that are visible from the front yard. While the front yard is the most important, it is also not alone. Having a bad backyard can really hurt the curb appeal of your home as well.
Instant Curb Appeal
The more positive attention your home draws from the road, the more you are going to be able to sell it for. Make sure that all of your efforts are coordinated, the best way to do this is by hiring a contractor to take care of these projects. They will be able to get you the resources you need to make your yard stand out.
Instant curb appeal is only a bit of hard work away from you. If you found this article helpful then please take a moment and check out our website for more great ideas.
