Five Ways To Improve Your Curb Appeal

Curb appeal, or what your house looks like from the street, can make you proud to come home every day, make visitors want to step into your spaces, and encourage buyers to make offers when you put your abode up for sale.

You can improve your home's exterior appearance with costly and lengthy remodeling projects. Or you can use the following simple methods to create better curb appeal.

Clean the exterior

Over time, even the most attractively painted home can suffer dirt and grime from urban air pollution, surrounding foliage and weather events. Cleaning the exterior walls, windows and fixtures is a quick way to spruce up your curb appeal.

To save money, you could use your own garden house, soap and a sturdy brush. But if you want to save time and do an effective job, consider renting a power washer from your local home improvement store.

You can also use the machine to splash away water from your driveway, walkway and patio.

Fix up the yard

If you consider your house a piece of art, then you can see surrounding yard as the frame. Keep your frame well-maintained by mowing the grass and pruning bushes and trees regularly. Don’t be afraid to add new plantings to fill in any bare areas.

You can add outdoor lights to highlight outstanding trees or interesting details of your house.

During the spring, plant annuals to bring some colorful blooms into the more neutral green. If gardening is beyond your skill and desire, hire gardeners to come in periodically to do the job.

Update the curtains

Although window coverings are located inside your home, they are clearly visible from the street. Dated, dingy and ripped curtains will detract from the overall curb appeal.

You could wash these coverings if they’re in good condition or replace them altogether if they’re not. Make sure that the side of your coverings that faces the street have colors that either match the exterior paint job or are neutral enough to be ignored by passersby.

Consider replacing the hardware, such as the curtain rods, to match the style of the covering and to make it easy to open and close the drapes.

Make repairs

If broken panes of glass, missing door hardware and broken pavement are the first things that greet visitors to your home, then they'll assume that you don't take care of your home. They may also think that your interiors are equally in distress.

Making repairs as soon as something is broken prevents them from piling up. If you have to deal with several issues at the same time, prioritize them. Do the ones that affect safety first of all and then the ones that are visible from the street.

Fixing the problems yourself can save you money but don't be afraid to hire a handyman if the issues are beyond your experience. A bad job can be worse than no repair at all.

Spruce up with paint

Painting your exterior is an easy way to change the look of your home and improve its curb appeal. Choose a neutral color for the main surfaces, such as wall, and contrasting accents for trim and accessories.

Unless you have a lot of time and energy, this type of improvement is best left to professionals, especially if you have a sprawling property or a structure that spans more than one story.