When it comes to changing the look of your home from the outside, there are tons of huge projects you can do!
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You can revise the landscaping and change the shape of the driveway, path, steps, and natural environment. You can renew the siding or the roofing. You can get new windows and doors. All of these projects are quite time consuming and quite expensive. This article focuses on the little tweaks that can make a big difference in the appearance of your home in an afternoon, up to an hour or two.
Paint the front door
The front door is one of the most symbolically important parts of your home. It is through this entrance that most of your coming or going happens. This is often one of the first things people notice about your home and it can change the whole feel of your space. Think of the door as your statement piece in an outfit. This is where you can really play around with a pop of color or choose something that creates the emotions you want people to feel when they walk by.
Once you have chosen your color, buy the color. You won't need too much, but make sure you find something that can withstand the weather near you. You can also take the door straight off the hinges as you work, although you can leave it on the hinges if you wish (you just need to be very careful with the trim and door frame). You can add to the power of this change by finding a few other things that could be painted to match, like shutters.
Reconsider your mailbox
In today's digital world, more than ever before are ordering parcels online. Suddenly our rusted mailboxes, meant for occasional bank statements (which we now get in our emails anyway) are unable to do the job we need them to do. We have more packages and they are bigger. If you want to give your mailbox a fresh new look, you may want to look for a new shape too. A Selection of parcel boxes and other alternatives have become very popular lately (people are constantly stealing packages that are on the doorstep) and can give your home a little freshening up in the process. When buying or building a new mailbox, be sure to think about weather protection and how long materials will last their surface and color when exposed to the weather.
Plant vines
You knew there would be at least one garden-related item, right? Grapevines are climbing plants, and that means a well-placed vine can become a complete makeover for your home if you let it be. There are blooming and non-flowering vines that can add a lot of whimsy, romance, or class to the exterior of your home. Vines, once they have a good start in life with some careful tending and guidance (with a vine trellis or similar tool), don't need a lot of tending or nurturing. Once or twice a year, you may need to prune the vines that reach for your windows to keep your inside visibility nice, but for the most part, vines are incredibly independent plants. Of course, you need to be sure that your home is sturdy enough to support the weight of the vines and not so delicate that the tendrils can damage the exterior. If your home is hundreds of years old, or is crumbling in places or has cracks for vines to reach through, this may not be the choice for you.
Think about the sound
One of the most underrated aspects of creating a good ambience is the sound. There are many ways to cultivate a calming or dreamy or natural audio aesthetic in your garden. You can just start with a single greyhound (wooden and metal chimes make drastically different sounds) or a bird feeder filled with seeds that attract songbirds. Bird baths or features with bubbling or running water can also result in delightful background noise while sitting on the porch.
The four steps above can help you improve the exterior of your home quickly. It's worth noting that there are a few other considerations to keep in mind when preparing the exterior because you are planning a sale. It's always best to speak to a real estate agent before making changes to add value or speed sales – what actually makes a home worth more money is sometimes counterintuitive.
