Your home’s exterior design affects its value. This is why neighborhood associations and cities assess fines for junk in the yards, unkempt yards and home exteriors in bad repair. Conversely, improving your home’s curb appeal increases interest in it from potential home buyers and adds thousands of dollars to your listing price. Your house doesn’t necessarily have to be on the market either, a better looking house is something everybody should thrive for. Here are five easy ways to improve your home’s exterior design.
Tame the Landscape
Homes with overgrown bushes, dead trees and unkempt lawns cause others to wonder what else is un-maintained in the home. If you don’t bother to keep up the basic appearances of your home, are there unaddressed water leaks or bug infestations? Start with basic lawn maintenance. Weed the garden, kill the fire ant mounds, and prune back the branches hanging dangerously over the roof.
A side benefit of this process is that you may discover serious problems around the home that need to be addressed, whether it is insects living in the walls or drainage problems that threaten your foundation.
The next step to improving your home’s curb appeal is planting attractive flowers around the home, though low maintenance plants are better than ones you plant now and neglect later.
Don’t forget the value of cleaning up the yard, whether purging the junk piling up in the backyard or toys strewn around the front yard.
Edge Your Driveway
Laying bricks or stones along the edge of your driveway is a low cost way to make your driveway look upscale. One benefit of doing this is to improve the visibility of the edge of your driveway in low light conditions so that people are less likely to drive through the grass.
Outdoor Lighting
Outdoor lighting done right adds value to your home while improving its safety. Lights on the front porch let you see who is ringing the doorbell at midnight and discourage criminals from doing so in the first place. Lights that light up dark corners around the house make thieves less likely to stand there while trying to break into your home. Lighting up your walkway at night prevents visitors from tripping on unseen obstacles. A series of lights along the walkway make your home seem inviting and pleasant to those driving past to inspect the neighborhood.
Bold House Numbers
You can improve your home’s curb appeal by putting big, bold house numbers by the front door. This has the side benefit of ensuring emergency services and deliveries know exactly which house is yours.
Open the Right Doors
Replacing your garage door with a durable, attractive one has a nearly 100% return on investment if the prior one was dented, damaged or flimsy. Companies like Door Systems, Inc. sell high quality garage doors for all budgets. Solid garage doors with electric garage door openers are attractive to homebuyers, while those with windows built into the garage door give the home an upscale look.
Before you replace your front door, clean it thoroughly to remove scuff marks and fingerprints. If the door’s finish is marred, it likely needs to be repainted. However, if there is any structural damage to the door, especially if it affects the security of the entryway, replace the door. The door must be secure against would be intruders, and the locks must be secure when closed and easy to open.
If you follow these tips, you should soon see a huge difference in your home’s exterior design.