Even if you aren’t trying to sell your home, curb appeal matters. Maintaining a polished exterior not only does wonders for your property value and keeps you in your neighbors’ good graces, it also makes it a pleasure to come home to a beautiful house that is uniquely you.
Whether you’re planning to sell or you’re just tired of pulling up to the same drab home, give some more attention to your home’s exterior. While it seems like making exterior improvements are labor-intensive and cost a fortune, you’ll be surprised to find that there are many easy ways to spruce up your exterior curb appeal that you can do yourself. Here are 15 of the easiest, budget-friendly ways to give your home some added curb appeal.
1. Update Your Door
Source: DIY Network
The door is a focal point of any home; it’s also one of the easiest parts of your exterior to upgrade. Replacing an old wood-paneled door with something sleeker will instantly modernize the look of your home. But if a new door is not in the budget, a simple coat of paint and new molding can make all the difference. Go for a bold or high-contrast color to give your facade an instant contemporary upgrade.
2. Conceal the Foundation
Source: Mini Blessings
Many homes have 1 to 2 feet of exposed foundation slab showing at the base of their exterior walls. This gray slab can be an eyesore, but it’s very simple to conceal or upgrade.
- Paint over it to match the color of the home or a darker contrast color—maybe to match your new high-contrast door. A simple coat of paint can change the entire look.
- Plant hedges around the exterior where the slab shows. This will add value to your landscaping as well.
- Cover the slab with paneling like faux stone, plank wood, or brick. This is a more expensive route than painting or planting hedges, but faux paneling is much more affordable than real stone or brick. It also comes in a variety of colors, styles, and textures, and will make a unique statement.
3. Camouflage the Utilities
Often, the things your home needs the most can create clutter on the exterior. Camouflage utility boxes, meters, electrical panels, piping, and wires by painting them to match your home (but ensure that they can still be opened and accessed by yourself or a technician). If you’re more ambitious, build a box around them with the same materials as the exterior of the home using custom panels for easy access and reading.
4. Add Window Boxes
Window box styles have evolved from a fixture in quaint country homes to a sleek addition to condos and mid-century modern homes—particularly with the growing popularity of living walls. No matter your style, give your home’s exterior new life (literally) with a window box filled with flowers, succulents, or dangling ivy for more of the living wall effect. Window boxes help add color and dimension while adding a pop of outdoor foliage that’s easy to maintain and replace.
5. Spruce Up Your Mailbox
Detached mailboxes are an eye-catching part of your exterior, but many people consider them more utilitarian than decorative and don’t put much thought into their aesthetics. Upgrade a rotting post or change out an old, rusted mailbox to instantly make a difference. Go the extra mile by planting a small mulched garden around the base or adding climbing flowers around the post to transform it into a decorative focal point.
6. Upgrade Your Address Numbers
Many people don’t even think about the aesthetic impact their address numbers have on their home. You might still have the original, dated serif numbers that were installed when the house was built. Updating to floating metal address numbers can add a tasteful, modern element to your home’s exterior. If you’re handy, create a wooden plaque to mount them on or simply attach them directly to your exterior for a clean, simple look.
7. Pour a New Walkway
Anyone who has ever looked into hardscaping a patio or walkway knows that it can be very expensive. But if you know how to mix cement, you can build your own walkway with DIY concrete molds. This project might seem more intimidating than others, but the resulting stone paver effect is worth it, at a fraction of the cost.
8. Spot Treat the Lawn
A lush, green lawn is essential to maintaining your curb appeal. Regularly reseeding and fertilizing those yellow or bare spots is important to make sure they don’t get out of control. Reseeding takes little time and effort and is very affordable. Be sure to spot treat any weeds as well with a combination weed killer and lawn fertilizer.
9. Add Shutters
One of the best ways to add character and class to the exterior of your home is with shutters. It provides a visual contrast, breaks up the blank space on the siding, and makes the windows look larger. Go for shutters that contrast your trim like black against white or gray. If you really want to make a statement, opt for a bold standalone color to add a pop to a neutral or monochrome exterior, or if you have a bright door, install shutters to match.
10. Stow Trash and Clutter
Don’t let unsightly things like trash cans and loose hoses detract from the appearance of your home. No matter how much work you put into beautifying your exterior, visible trash cans create clutter. If you don’t have an area that’s not in view to store these items, build a small garbage can and gardening shed that’s painted to match the house. If you aren’t as handy, invest in a simple vinyl trash shed, available at any home improvement store for under $200. Not only will these keep your home tidy, but they’ll also prevent pests from getting into your trash.
11. Power Wash the Exterior
If your siding is starting to look a little dingy, it doesn’t necessarily need to be repainted—it might just need a good cleaning. After years of being exposed to the elements, your exterior will get caked with dirt and water stains, giving it a dull sheen. Not only will power washing make the paint job shine again, but it’s also a lot of fun. Rent a power washer from a hardware store for the weekend and get to work. You might not believe your eyes when you’re done. Just be sure to spot test your siding to make sure it won’t peel or chip.
12. Touch Up the Trim
If the idea of repainting your entire house seems overwhelming, you can take on a more attainable project and stick to the trim. You’ll only need a couple of cans of paint to give your trim, gutters, downspout, shutters, and window frames a fresh pop of color. Give your home a modern upgrade with a high-contrast color like black against light walls or a bright color against gray walls.
13. Replace Light Fixtures
It’s time to upgrade that front door light from the ‘80s. There’s so much more that you can do with outdoor lighting than that old hanging porch light. Install recessed garage floodlights, line your walkway and the edges of your lawn with landscape lights, replace hanging lamps with flush-mount lights, or flank your front door with lanterns. Not only are they functional, but they will also make your home look classy and timeless.
14. Build a Fire Pit
While this one might not be visible if you choose to build it in your backyard, a fire pit is a great way to add coziness to your outdoor space. Building a fire pit is a simple, affordable DIY project—often less than $100. There are several materials you can use—paver stones, retaining wall blocks, bricks, metal, and even wood. Buy a kit at a hardware store or simply buy the raw materials and build it yourself. You’ll be surprised how simple it is and how much use it’ll get.
15. Mow and Edge the Yard
Keeping a neat, mowed lawn that is edged and trimmed properly is the absolute best way to keep up your home’s curb appeal. Overgrown weeds, untrimmed bushes, and unmanicured yards can make even the nicest homes look like a mess. Unfortunately, this can mean having to do lawn maintenance 3 to 4 times a month in the warmer months to keep it in top shape. However, it’s one of the most crucial steps in maintaining your curb appeal, especially if you’re in the process of selling.
