3 Easy Exterior Home Improvements to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal
The ground is beginning to thaw and the warm rays of the sun are starting to peek through the clouds. Yes, spring is right around the corner and so is the start of exterior home improvements. If your home’s exterior needs a facelift but you don’t want to spend much extra time or money on a massive project, you can still easily improve your home’s appearance with a few specific exterior projects. These are three easy exterior home improvements that boost your home’s curb appeal.
Improve Your Lawn and Landscaping
One of the easiest outdoor projects is simple lawn care. The cost of basic yard care, which includes cutting your grass, fertilizing your lawn, and controlling weeds will cost an estimated $340. But that small price will yield a 539% return on investment. When the ground has thawed you should take a bit of extra time to cover your yard in a slow-release organic fertilizer. You should also apply a layer of grass seed to sparse or bare areas of your yard. Once your grass begins to grow, let it reach a length of about 3 to 3 ½ inches before trimming it. This height shades out weed seeds and in the hot summer months shade the soil. If you are not at all interested in lawn care you can always hire a company or friendly neighbor to trim your grass and assist with additional work.
In addition to basic lawn care, you can spruce up your yard and increase your home’s value by installing landscaping or garden areas around your home. Designated landscaped areas add to the overall appeal of your home and can really drive up your home’s marketability. Clear areas for landscaping are around the front porch, along the sides of your house, or in one or more corners of your backyard. If you are new to landscaping or simply dislike gardening you should stick to smaller easy to manage landscaping. This includes a layer of weed barrier over your landscape area as well as the addition of easy-to-manage perennial bushes or shrubs. If you are a more avid gardener you can always add in perennial flowers such as marigolds or daisies or go all out with a layered flower and decorative area that blooms from spring to fall. Once you have planted a few show-stopping flowers or bushes you should cover the area with a fresh layer of mulch. The simple act of adding a fresh layer of mulch to landscaped areas can add $1,749 to your home’s final sale price.
Paint Your Front Door
An easy and very low-cost project that 70% of real estate agents encourage homeowners to complete before trying to sell their home is applying a fresh coat of paint to your front door. With a cost of somewhere between $150-$300 a front door makeover takes very little time and is relatively easy to complete. Your front door should complement your home’s existing paint color and style. Bold colors that are a favorite among homeowners with neutral-colored homes are red, teal, and yellow. These colors draw the eye right toward the front of the house and really improve your home’s curb appeal. Other colors that are popular among home buyers are dark blue and dark green.
Create Outdoor Ambiance
Outdoor lights are necessary for safety and security, but they are also a great way to amplify your home’s appearance. Best of all, home exterior lighting has never been easier to install. Small solar-powered exterior lights can be placed around walkways and your driveway for a bit of additional lighting. You can also add an in-ground solar spotlight that will light up larger areas around your home. Additional string lights and hanging solar-powered lanterns are great additions to your front porch as their warm light adds quite a bit of ambiance.
Exterior projects do not need to be difficult, time-consuming, or expensive to increase your home’s value. Choose a couple easy to complete projects and your home will be as bright and appealing as the spring flowers.