Many of us focus on making our home interior shine by investing in expensive furniture, art pieces, and the works. However, no matter how modern and welcoming the inside of your house looks, you cannot pull off an excellent first impression if the exterior is largely neglected.
Visitors are going to judge you over how your home looks on the outside, and more than often first impressions are all that matter. Renovation and remodeling projects are indeed expensive, but there are several cheap ways to improve curb appeal.
Curb appeal can be defined as the street view of your house. The term is widely used by real estate agents to demonstrate the first look at a property when communicating with prospective buyers. If you enhance your home’s curb appeal, its economic value on the market automatically increases. Real estate that looks worn out or shabby at first glance will naturally be subject to lower bids.
If you don’t have a budget for external renovations, that’s okay. You can transform the outer look of your house without making drastic changes. Here are ten cheap ways to improve your home’s curb appeal:
1. Deep Cleaning
Sometimes all you need is some washing and cleaning. You house didn’t always look Halloween-ready after all; that’s years of dirt and grime that took a toll on its appearance. You can try power washing to remove the layer of grunge and restore the original aesthetics of your property.
You might need a few extra set of hands or a professional to expedite the process. Cleanse all the crevices, scrub off the stains, and rinse every spot twice. You won’t recognize your own house once all the dust, cobwebs, and grease have been eliminated.
2. Basic Landscaping
Greenery is a must to enhance curb appeal, but it can become unsightly due to lack of maintenance. If your front yard is brimming with over-grown shrubs, dying/dead plants, and wild weeds, it’s time to take out your gardening equipment.
A neat and clean garden will instantly add life to a dull exterior. Trim the trees, shape up the hedge, cut out the weeds, even out the grass, remove the fallen leaves, and revive the flower beds.
3. Paint over the Imperfections
A DIY paint job is the easiest and most affordable way to renew something. If the outer walls of your house have lost their color and sheen, visit the paint store to pick up a few buckets today. Go for a different color than before to change things up a bit.
If you choose more than one color, do a swatch test to ensure that they complement each other. It is also recommended to repaint rusty/withering doors, windows, and pipes to give your home a facelift.
4. Replace or Repair old Hardware
Door knobs, light fixtures, and other hardware fittings on the exterior must be replaced or repaired in due time. If something is no longer working properly or is obviously broken, don’t leave it be and ruin the aesthetics of your property.
Buying some new hardware to spruce up the place doesn’t cost much, yet it makes a huge difference. The glossy new trinkets add their charm, as well as improve functionality of the place.
5. Opt for Matching Fixtures
If you’re buying new fixtures such as a door knob for the main door and bulb holders for the front porch, coordinate and balance. Matching pieces add consistency and elegance, whereas odd ones may appear to be chaotic and out of place.
For example, you can go for all brass or silver, depending on whatever suits the rest of your external color scheme. Sticking to a theme or color palette leads to better organization and synchronization, which is easy on the eyes.
6. Add new Plantations
Nothing boosts curb appeal more than natural elements. If vegetation or greenery around your house is scarce, change that. Invest in a bunch of potted plants to decorate the edges of the entryway and turn your unoccupied front yard into a beautiful garden.
You may plant evergreen flowers or seasonal fruits/vegetables to add pops of color. If you have ample outdoor space, plant a few native trees as well.
7. Enhance with ambient Lighting
Sunshine is all you’ll need during the day to illuminate the street view of your house, but you can play up with artificial lighting after sunset. Warm low voltage lighting among plantations can give your house an unearthly glow.
It won’t draw too much attention to your house, yet accentuate its features. Adding ambient lighting to all sides of the house also helps exclude dark corners, thereby functioning as a safety feature.
8. Install Window Boxes
If your house windows look too plain or bare, installation of window boxes is an inexpensive method for taking things up a notch. These window boxes shall be used to grow colorful flowers, which provide a magnificent scenery for people inside and outside the house.
They are much easier to manage and maintain, as compared to indoor plants. You can use artificial plants or other water proof ornaments to decorate these boxes as well.
9. Mailbox Makeover
The mailbox outside houses are among the most neglected external elements nowadays. You might not care if your mailbox is literally falling apart, but anyone stopping by sure will notice.
Giving your mailbox a DIY makeover is fun and effective for improving your home’s curb appeal. It’s the small details that make a house stand out on the street, and a cute revamped mailbox is one of them.
10. Utilize spare furniture and decorations
If you have some spare furniture, rugs, and other decorative items around the house, put them out under the front porch. You can create a cozy sitting area that will add character to your exterior and make your place more inviting.
You can even recycle old materials like empty crates and wooden blocks to create your own masterpieces. You can craft and paint small bird houses to hang around the house outside, and personalize the exterior in so many different ways.
Elijah Cole is the founder of The Witty Minds blog and a professional content creator. His expertise lies in creative writing and lifestyle blogging. At Witty Minds, he is the lead writer, editor, and publisher of all original content.