If you have plans of selling your house, better work on increasing its curb appeal, the sell value of the home can potentially increase by 3-5%.
Not only will the value increase, but you can also sell it quicker. It will give your house a finished clean look that you can take pride in.
I’ll show you some easy and budget-friendly ways to boost your home’s curb appeal. These tips differ and can be done in a few hours or a short weekend.
15 Ideas to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal
1. Brighten up Your Front Door and Shutters
A top priority to boost the curb appeal of your home’s exterior is to brighten the color of the front door and shutters. This task can make your home glow and could be done in one day.
- Cost-effective: Painting your front door and shutters are a cost-effective way and one tip to brighten up the front door of your home.
- Pick a color that pops: Pick out a fun and bold color that pops and adds curb appeal, but ensure that it doesn’t clash with the rest of your home’s color schemes.
- Do not overdo: Stick with the color scheme of your house, and try to stick to one theme. Do not overdo the paint works and make your house look like a rainbow.
- Pro tip: While doing this, check out the frames of your front door and its surrounding walls as well. If you cannot fix the front door damage by covering it with bold color paint, better yet replace it with a new door.
This fresh coat of paint can draw people’s eyes to the front door of your house and make it look brighter and feel more inviting.
2. Add a New Mailbox
If you can’t get a new front door, why not try to get a new mailbox and replace the old rusty one? At least there’s something shiny and new near your front door to boost the curb appeal.
If your old mailbox is worn out, chipped, and has missing paint, then maybe it’s time to get a new one. It doesn’t matter if your mailbox is mounted beside your front door or if it’s a full-sized one next to the street.
Adding a new mailbox can freshen up your home’s exterior design and add curb appeal. You do want to check and confirm with city regulations before you change your mailbox.
Updating your inbox is a do it yourself a task that could be done in under an hour.
3. Mow Your Lawn
Whether you have a small or a large yard, nothing makes your home’s exterior more welcoming and than having a tidy and trimmed lawn.
It costs you very little to accomplish this task. Especially if you use an electric cordless lawnmower that will help you save effort and time.
With this type of mower, you won’t have to worry about gas or oil. It only uses a small amount of electricity to charge the battery.
If you’re looking for a quick tip to boost your home’s curb appeal in order to sell, consider buying a cheap cordless lawn mower an investment for your next big move. They’re much easier to maintain and last longer than their gas-powered competitors.
4. Put Up New House Numbers
Your house numbers spend a lot of time out in the elements. As a result, this can cause them to look faded, grungy, or have peeling paint.
You can purchase new house numbers for an affordable price. You can also paint them to match your lighting fixtures. You can place them on your front door entrance or mailbox for a quick and noticeable update.
A new addition or update to your front door is always a good idea to get the attention of potential buyers or passersby.
If you don’t like the idea of a DIY project, you can buy new, pre-painted numbers or specialized plaques and directly attach them to your front door.
5. Upgrade Your Exterior Light Fixtures
We all know that styles change, and you don’t want to have outdated light fixtures on the front of your house. Here are some tips to remember when you update your light fixtures:
- Make a statement by placing or replacing (if you have existing) new lights that focus on your front door, entryway, and driveway.
- Find light fixtures that mount to your house with the same setup as your current ones to save you money.
- Know your options and check vintage shops to find light fixtures that match the age of your home.
- You want to consider how large of an area you’re going to light up along with your home’s style.
This is a simple and affordable idea for home improvement and to add curb appeal. If not, get a new one and give some life to your front door and porch.
6. Install a New Sprinkler System
Technology has come a long way, that’s why replacing and updating your existing sprinkler irrigation system is now easier. Here are some benefits of a WiFi irrigation controller:
- A WiFi irrigation controller will ensure that your lawn receives the correct amount of water when it needs it.
- It will also help keep up with your everyday tasks because you can set some models that run and shut off on a timer.
- Irrigation controllers are relatively inexpensive, and they can save you on your water bills and yard upkeep.
- Any new homeowner will love the fact that you have a system like this installed in your home and can help make that final sale.
You can check out more information about these devices and which is the best WiFi irrigation controller here. I also recommend four other top competitors that range in a variety of prices.
7. Get Rid of the Outdoor Clutter
You must get rid of the things in the yard of your house that decreases its value. After all, our goal is a home improvement and to spruce it up, not make the space less attractive.
Anything that is displeasing to the eye can cause your home to lose curb appeal. Here are some points that you need to remember:
- Throw out old and unnecessary junk: Many things, including unkempt plants, old unused door, scary trees, broken toys or lawn furniture, old vehicles, an overgrown lawn, or rusted decorations in your driveway should be tossed out. It will help make the space clean and look a lot bigger.
- Recycle and Up-cycle: If you don’t like to throw them away, consider recycling them, up-cycling them, or giving them away. The goal is to have a neat and clutter-free home.
- Give life to your plants: If you have interesting plants and trees on your lawn and are not just well taken care of, you don’t need to cut them all out. Just give its branches a trim, add mulch to the soil, and fix anything that you can. But if the plants are dry and dead, better take them away. You can always buy new plants or flowers to improve your home’s curb appeal.
8. Add Flower Boxes
Flowers can add pops of color and smell great during the spring and summer months. You don’t need much space to achieve this. You can put flower boxes under your window panel and along your porch railings.
Window boxes with beautiful flowers are a great addition to your front porch, as the colors of the flowers will be attractive.
I find it aesthetically pleasing to find more green, combined with colorful flowers in a house. Window boxes are not hard to water because you just need to open the window and pour water over it.
If you have free time, you can make DIY flower boxes with a few scraps of wood and paint it with your favorite color. Or buy a ready-made box for an affordable price in thrift stores.
Gardening soil and bright flowers won’t cost you a lot either, and they can last for months with proper maintenance.
9. Pressure Wash the Exterior
Dirt, cobwebs, and general dinginess happen as your house sits for a few years. Cleaning your house often, and removing these items with a traditional hose can be difficult.
The best solution is pressure washing. A power wash is a simple and affordable tip to make your house sparkling clean. You can rent a pressure washer or borrow from a friend if you don’t have one.
Here are some points to remember when you pressure wash the exterior of your home:
- Pressure washing will take less than three hours to remove dirt, invisible parts of your home.
- Make sure that you set the pressure washing powerful enough to get rid of the debris but not powerful enough to chip the paint or pit the siding. [1]
Pressure washing will make a big difference. Your house will instantly look brighter, more inviting, and cleaner to anyone that goes by on the street.
10. Redo Your Walkway
Boost the curb appeal of your home by redoing your walkway. A series of broken and unattractive concrete slobs will often make your house look dull, so make sure that getting rid of this is a priority.
Here are some things that you can do:
- You can add life to your home’s exterior by placing beautiful flagstones, add plant boxes, or place gnomes (if it doesn’t creep you out).
- Give a major boost on the curb appeal of your house by placing outdoor ground spotlights on both sides of the walkway. It can make your home stand out at night and will leave a great impact on first impressions.
- If the budget permits, there are more options you can add on your driveway, like landscaping projects. This may be one of the expensive options, but landscaping adds value to your property.
- Avail the services of a landscape company or start a DIY landscape project. If you’re into details of a good landscaping project, you can get inspiration from photos online.
- Place a welcome sign somewhere in your driveway.
11. Revamp Your Porch
Another good idea to boost your home’s curb appeal and attract potential buyers is to revamp the porch. It is a perfect idea to add life to the front porch along with adding color to your front door and around it.
This won’t take too much time and will not require a major house construction. You can place modern metal chairs, solid rockers, or a hammock. Adding some green plants inside your porch might be a good idea too.
You can also add a light fixture to your porch so you can enjoy quiet nights just chilling. This is a good idea to create a welcoming vibe to the front porch.
12. Clean Your Windows
If you’re trying to attract a buyer’s attention, attract it with clean windows. This is an easy weekend DIY project you and your family can do.
A window that is not cleaned for a long time becomes dirty and hazy and also limits the natural sunlight coming into the house.
It may affect the decision of potential buyer’s labeling the home as too depressing even during the day. That’s why it’s important to have clean a window.
13. Add Life to Your Fence
If you already have a white fence, make sure to take time and inspect around if it is presentable before the date of the open house. This is the first thing people see even if they’re a block away.
So don’t forget to inspect if your fence is peeling, rotting, or sagging. If it doesn’t need too much intervention, you can repaint.
You can choose white paint or try other daring colors. But if you see that something’s not right and there are wood boards start to sag, it is best to replace them.
14. Upgrade Your Garage Doors
Another home exterior that demands attention are garage doors. You can inspect if the door hardware needs faux hinges and handle replacement. But if the garage door is saggy, do not risk it, and just have the whole door replaced.
If budget permits, go for an up to date and smart garage doors. You might as well pick a new garage door that could potentially value to the real estate.
15. Place Outdoor Art on Your Entryway
This last tip can be done by anyone, won’t take up time, and all you need is just your creative mind and right judgement. You can spare a few dollars to pick artsy decorations for your entryway.
Or if you can, gather around recycled materials that you can turn into a cool masterpiece like a Christmas wreath.
You can place seasonal decorations outside the door (for Halloween and Christmas), a birdhouse, windmill, or a wreath.
There is no limit in your creativity. This may not add value on your property’s selling value, but it sure will make a great first impression.
Boost Your Home’s Appeal…
As you can see, these tips are fast and effective ideas to boost your home’s curb appeal without breaking your budget. Make your home stand out in your whole block and make great first impressions.
You can accomplish most of them in a weekend or even in a few hours. You’ll be left with a clean and bright home that you’ll be proud to show off.
Reference:
[1] https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/05/pros-and-cons-of-gas-and-electric-pressure-washers/index.htm
