The first thing that people notice as they walk by your home is its appearance. Is it clean, and well-manicured? Is the lawn overgrown or riddled with weeds? First impressions last, so homeowners should give the same importance to their property’s exterior as they do to maintaining and improving its interior. Cleanliness, care and attention to detail are the keys to enhancing your home’s curb appeal.
Curb appeal generally pertains to the attractiveness of your entire property when observed from the street. Numerous factors play into your properties curb appeal, from exterior architecture to outdoor fixtures, gardening, landscaping, and more.
If you’re interested in improving your home’s curb appeal, here are foolproof ways and tips to do so:
Pressure Wash the Exterior Surfaces
Before incorporating design and style elements into your property, cleanliness should be the priority. After all, it’s redundant to hang decorations on dirty facades. Pressure washing is an efficient and effective way to deep clean your exterior surfaces.
Many homeowners with tight budgets opt for DIY pressure washing by purchasing a pressure washer and doing the work themselves. However, this isn’t advisable for people with little to no experience, due to safety hazards and potential surface damage. Rather than risking these issues, engage a professional provider like The Curb Appeal Pros, that offers pressure washing services executed by experienced staff.
Pressure washing your property’s exterior presents the following benefits—many of which have value beyond curb appeal:
- Eliminates deep-seated dirt, grime, mold, and other nasties that have accumulated over time
- Protects surfaces from future damage
- Primes surfaces for painting
- Keeps residents safe from unwanted germs that may be detrimental to their health
- Increases property value
Add Fresh Color with a Repainting Job
Once all exterior surfaces have been thoroughly cleaned, it’s time to make your home pop with a fresh coat of paint. Make sure that you repaint after pressure washing the exterior, as paint doesn’t adhere well to dirty surfaces. With a thorough repainting job, you can give your home an entirely new aesthetic, so choose a shade wisely. If you’re planning to sell your home soon, it may be wise to pick a color that complements the current trends.
Prior to painting your walls, sidings, and other surfaces, ensure you do the following:
- Check the weather forecast, and rethink painting if it’s windy, cold, raining, or hot
- Repair any damaged surfaces
- Remove uneven bulks or textures that could ruin the paint finish
- Chip off old and loose paint hanging from the surfaces, and sand if required
Whether you choose to paint yourself, or hire a professional is a personal choice. Many opt to paint their home’s interior themselves but leave the exterior to experienced contractors. If you’re planning to do the painting, invest in high-quality paint and equipment to guarantee a smooth finish.
Reimagine Your Lawn and Consider New Landscaping
When redefining your home’s curb appeal, it’s essential to consider symmetry and balance. After prioritizing the home’s facade, you should also look after your lawn and consider additional landscaping, whether that be through weeding, laying new turf or planting fresh flowers and greenery. It’s a perfect opportunity to demonstrate your personal style.
If you’re short on funds, there are plenty of easy landscaping ideas to give your home’s exterior an overhaul. You can make your surrounding environment safe and appealing without spending too much, and subsequently increase its curb appeal.
Illuminate Your Home with Light Fixtures
Even with the recommended home improvements, your property may still look dull without exterior lighting. Make your home shine with energy-efficient or solar light fixtures that brighten your house without contributing to emissions or your energy bill.
While outdoor lights are great for decoration, they also serve a functional purpose, illuminating the outside of your home and ensuring areas like the front door, garage and driveway, steps, walkways and patios are safe and accessible. They can also be placed throughout gardens to highlight landscaping accents.
Utilize the three most essential types of lighting: ambient, task, and accent lighting, which work together to provide exemplary outdoor lighting.
Don’t Forget the Small Details
Often, when people become too focused on the substantial elements of an outdoor space, they end up overlook the smaller details. Features such as a visible house number or mailbox that matches the property aesthetic can be the difference between a place having beautiful curb appeal or being easily overlooked.
Therefore, it pays to clean, paint or update your mailbox and house number to remove dirt and dust.
Conclusion
Through playing with these elements of your home’s exterior, you can spruce up its curb appeal and make it more appealing for guests, potential buyers and passersby. Improving a home’s façade presents an opportunity to reinvigorate old or tired properties and showcase your own sense of style.
