Wouldn’t it be great to have the nicest looking house on the block? Even if you don’t have a ton of money to make big time improvements, adding a few things here and there to enhance your curb appeal can go a long way! You’ll be happy every time you pull in the driveway and feel proud when your neighbors walk by. The best part about it all, you don’t need to empty your wallet to do it.
#1 Upgrade Your Hardware
You may not think that such a simple fix as a new mailbox could spruce up the place but it’s true. Door knobs, house numbers, wall-mounted mailboxes, even new porch lights can freshen up the style of your house in an instant. If it’s not quite in the budget to replace, you can always simply clean and paint. An easy project like covering up that old contractor’s brass with a fresh coat of matte black can do wonders for modernizing your front stoop. Just make sure you clean the hardware and prime it before adding that fresh coat. Here’s how. You can do the same for your porch lights and house numbers.
#2 Freshen Up the Front Door
Inside, the easiest way to revive a room is to add a new coat of paint, right? Well it may be costly to paint your entire exterior BUT did you know that for only about $25 you can re-paint your front door, shutters, and trim? Try for a color that will compliment the rest of your house and the landscaping. Afraid of what that new red door might look like? There’s an App for that. It’s called Paint My Place. You can take a photo of your front entry and play around with different options. If you’re still insistent on keeping the color you have, you can always give your door a good scrub down. Cleaner always looks nicer.
#3 Add Some Shrubs and Flowers
Springtime is the perfect time to add some extra green to the old yard. It’s amazing what some color can do to help curb appeal. Try not to go too overboard as you don’t want to crowd your yard. A nice flower bed under the window or some shrubs on either side of the garage should do the trick nicely. Make sure you also add in some simple edging, like stones, so they can be protected from the mower. Besides, it gives it a nice clean finished look.
#4 Tidy Up Existing Landscaping
If you aren’t ready to go full on floral bed with your front yard you could at least make what you currently have better. You’d be surprised what a few bags of fresh mulch can do, for instance. A lot of home improvement stores have sales on these items this time of year, so keep an eye out for that as well. Trim the hedges and use an edger on your lawn to make your property stand out in a good way! Don’t forget to water your lawn regularly and use appropriate fertilizer to make the most of your precious property. Weeds getting in the way of winning yard of the month? Now is the time to get serious about weed control. Pick up a few bags of weed and feed from your local home improvement store and start applying. Weeds tend to be most active around this time of the year.
#5 Power Wash the Place
Now let me start off with a warning – if you don’t know what you’re doing you could actually damage your house by pressure washing it. So if you’re not sure, call in the professionals. However, if you’ve done it before or are very familiar with your siding and how to pressure wash, have at it. Pressure washing can add new life to your house and wash away any nasty residue the winter months may have left behind. If you have a porch or patio, you can pressure wash that as well and make it look brand new. Don’t forget the windows. Now only will cleaning those glass panes help the outside of your house look better, you’ll notice a brighter inside as well.
