When it comes to a great-looking home, initially, it doesn’t matter what’s on the inside – it’s all about the exterior. Otherwise known as curb appeal, the aesthetic quality of the outside of your house is crucial for making a great first impression and having your home stand out as a shining example on your street.
But what exactly goes into creating the look? In this article, you’ll learn 10 exterior maintenance tips for show-stopping appeal!
1. A Fresh Coat of Paint
You’d be surprised at how far a fresh coat of paint can go. Whether you’re using paint to simply freshen up the walls and fencing with the same color or going for a radically different look, paint is going to be a crucial component when it comes to making your home look a million dollars.
Exactly what look you go for and how far you want to go is up to you, and it’ll all depend on the architectural style of your home. For homes with extensive wooden paneling, paint is truly one of, if not the most important aspect, given how much space you’ll be covering; brick homes may require a more conservative approach – a focus on touching up the window frames and door. Either way, head down to your local hardware store and see what options are available. Depending on the size and complexity of your home, you may want to call in a professional decorator to complete the job for you.
2. The Benefits of Power Washing
The humble power washer has many different functions – it’s not just for blasting dirt off your car or swilling out the trash. High-pressure water can be used to remove even the deepest of stains, and it is particularly useful for flushing out dirt and grime from brickwork and stone.
You can use it to clean your windows, drive, and walls with ease, and you may even find that having done so, you don’t really need much in the way of proper renovation. Power washers have the power to completely restore the look of a home in some cases, so don’t underestimate them!
3. Fixing Damaged Driveways and Paving
Your driveway and paving represent very important elements of your home, both from a functional and aesthetic perspective. While they may sit in the background against a pristine lawn, vibrant flowers, and nicely varnished woodwork, cracked flagstones and damaged concrete will considerably detract from a property’s curb appeal.
For this reason, it’s important to sort it out as soon as possible. If only one or two paving stones or bricks are damaged, you can usually remove and replace them yourself. When it comes to driveways, crack repair kits can be effective for minor jobs. For anything more extensive, though, you’ll want to call in a professional to fully restore the area.
4. Don’t Forget About Your Gutters and Drains
Your gutters are probably the last thing on your mind when it comes to how attractive your home looks. After all, their primary job is to redirect water, and you’ll never hear anybody praise your house for how nice the structure looks.
Nevertheless, guttering is a primary element of the exterior of your home. Badly damaged or dirty gutters are always a visible issue, even from afar; when moss, dirt, and mold collect and begin to crack the brickwork and fade or blacken paintwork, you (and others) will soon notice.
Guttering might be a relatively simple piece of home infrastructure, but it’s difficult to get to without the right equipment, so it’s usually best to call a professional in. They’ll flush out any debris and repair decay.
It’s also worth paying attention to any drain pipes in the area running from the inside out. Sometimes these run parallel to the guttering system, and when they clog or overflow, the smell will be far more off-putting to passers by than the look of your property (it’s not just about appearances!). Similarly to any gutter issues, if you need to unclog clogged drains, it’s best to contact a pro to do the job properly.
5. Refreshing the Garage Door
The garage door is a bit of an unsung hero in contributing to top-tier curb appeal. Most people underestimate it, but given how prominent it is, a well-maintained, appropriately coloured door can make a big impact.
Again, a dirty garage door is the prime candidate for a quick powerwash, but going beyond this, you’ll want to focus primarily on the paint. The best option is usually to match your garage door’s color with whatever color your other doors and windows are painted in – just make sure you get the right paint for the material the door is made out of. If it’s wood, giving it a varnish is also a good idea.
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Image Credit: Pexels
6. The Importance of Outdoor Lighting
While it’s true that most people will be viewing your home in broad daylight, it’s also important to consider how your house looks in the evening. In fact, you may have an even greater opportunity to showcase the aesthetics of the property when the sun goes down.
Of course, your ability to do so all depends on the lighting, and there are many different types to consider. Usually, a combination is the best bet: wall scones that shine upwards are great for illuminating the exterior walls, and you could also get a tasteful porch light and some inset circular bulbs for the paving.
7. Blinds Make a Difference
Your efforts towards better curb appeal will almost exclusively focus on elements outside the home, but some interior aspects also make a difference.
One of these is your blinds. Everyone knows how much of a difference attractive-looking blinds can make to the interior aspect of your windows, but they’re also visible from the outside. Neat, high-quality wooden slats, for example, can do a great deal to soften the exterior of the property, and conversely, broken blinds can easily make an otherwise good-looking house appear shabby.
If you’re not keen on slats or they don’t fit in with the architectural style of your home, you could go with roller blinds, which always look classy (providing you keep them clean, of course!).
8. Change Your Mailbox
It might seem like a simple change, but changing your mailbox, or revamping the one you already have, can actually make a surprisingly big impression. Even high-quality mailboxes can rust over and degrade in the weather over time, and wooden ones, no matter how well preserved, will be subject to rot eventually.
If you don’t want to replace your box entirely, you can de-rust metal ones with a wire brush and then apply a fresh coat of protective paint. For wooden boxes, you could replace the broken wood yourself if you’re handy at DIY, or call in a carpenter to do the job for you. Either way, just make sure you paint it in a color that’s in accordance with the main elements of the house – you don’t want it sticking out like a sore thumb.
9. Regarding the Front Door
When you’re considering ways to improve the front of your home, special attention needs to be given to the front door. The eye naturally gravitates to this area, so you want to make sure the door and everything in the surrounding porch area are in good shape.
The importance of fresh paint has already been discussed above, but it’s worth mentioning that a full door replacement may be in order. Once the wood has degraded beyond a certain point, it becomes very difficult and costly to restore the door to its original appearance; particularly with older houses, the panels have been hand crafted, and it’s often cheaper to buy and fit a whole new unit as it would be to have a carpenter painstakingly repair the original.
You’ll also want to consider the hardware: restoring or replacing the letterbox, handle, and trims can offer the perfect accent to a home.
10. Caring for the Front Garden
And finally, there’s the front garden to consider. While much of your curb appeal will come from the structures of the building itself, you mustn’t underestimate the impact fresh flowers and a cleanly cut lawn can make.
Start with the flowers directly around the perimeter of the house. Hanging baskets in the porch can augment the beauty of the central elements of the property, and you could also consider dressing the windows with their own flower baskets. If you have any large trees at the front, make sure they’re not overhanging and obscuring the main features of the house (you’ll also risk leaves blocking your gutter if the trees are big enough).
Cut your lawn nice and short, taking care not to forget to water it alongside the rest of the plants, and if you have any hedges, trim them carefully and symmetrically – a shoddy job can detract significantly from the home’s appeal.
Most importantly, don’t forget to stay on top of things. Plant life requires a lot of regular maintenance, so keep a tight watering and feeding schedule; try to stick to plants native to your local area if you want as much of a hands-off approach as possible.
Wrapping Up
Hopefully, you now feel much more prepared to take on the task of bringing your home’s exterior to life. It won’t be easy, and there will be a lot of work involved, but take things one step at a time, and you’ll get there soon enough. Good luck!
Image Credit: Pexels
