Improving Curb Appeal for Your Home

If you have a home owner’s association (HOA) in your neighborhood, you know how important “curb appeal” is for you and your neighborhood. Even though some associations are known for taking it a bit too far at times!

In fact, exterior projects are often ranked as the most important home-improvement projects (as said by Remodeling Magazine). These projects include fixing and improving your entry doors, windows, fencing, siding, lawn, and garden.

Well, when you’re strapped for cash, sometimes it can be difficult to improve on your curb appeal (all of those external projects that I just mentioned). Here are some quick and easy ways to improve your curb appeal without spending your entire paycheck at your local home improvement store.

Get rid of that clutter.

When you look at those “junky” houses, what do you normally see? Piles of stuff on their porch!  An open garage full of boxes, garbage, and stuff! Overflowing trashcans!

A quick fix (sometimes not so quick, depending on your house) is to clean up all of the clutter that’s outside of your home. Check to see if you have piles of stuff:

…on your porch,

…along the fence line,

…in plain view when you open the garage door,

…in your backyard,

In addition to these piles of stuff, look at your landscaping! Do you have dead and old plants that are still taking up space in your yard? Even a lawn and yard void of plants looks better than one that is lined with dead plants.

Repaint the front door.

Even just a coat of paint on your front door will change the look of your entire house. If your home is light in color, look at painting it dark (like black).

While steel doors can be expensive, they improve both your curb appeal as well as your home’s energy efficiency.

Look into buying a planter box instead of a dozen different pots.

For a lot of things, minimalism is better than the opposite. So instead of cluttering up your yard with a dozen different pots of various sizes, try to spend the money on making/building or buying a good looking planter box.

Keep your hedges trimmed.

An overgrown hedge or bush in front of your house makes your property look messy and ignored. If you have a hedge that lines your property or a few bushes, make sure that you keep them trimmed.

Speaking of keeping things trimmed back; make sure that your walkway is clear. If you have a path that runs from the driveway or the sidewalk up to your front door, make sure that it is clear of overgrown plants and clutter.

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Image: http://pixabay.com/en/villa-home-dream-home-luxury-340451/