11.01.2017

Beautifying a beastly home exterior

When it comes to the home, we often treat the interior with a lot more care and attention than we do on the outside. However, the longer that habit continues, the more and more dissatisfied you will be with the face of the home that it’s no longer an issue that can be ignored. You’ll feel like you’re greeted by an eyesore every day. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to give the home a face-lift, some of them cheap and cheerful, too. Here are a few ways to transform the exterior of your home.

Start from the beginning
The exterior of the home draws a lot of attention, but for anyone actually coming in the home, it’s the entrance that’s going to get most of it. A welcome mat is a start, but there’s a lot more than can be done to make the front door much more welcoming, too. A brighter coat of paint and some love and care for any metal parts like knockers and handles can immediately add some sheen. You can use overhead lighting or hang some plant baskets just by the front door to give it a much livelier, warmer approach as well.
Let it live a little
A little green goes a long way just beyond the front door, as well. Whether you use landscaping or focus more on potted planters, the right flowers can make a perfect impression for the home, as homedit.com shows. If you have a porch or any other sort of awning, it makes it even better since you can display more without having to worry about the plants being overly exposed to the elements and needing a lot of upkeep. This is especially true of those who have a lot of paved slabs or a lot of decking in front of the house. The outdoors looks especially good with a drop of nature and keeping it too clean and too man-made can end up making it look a little sterile.

A place to be
If you have a big porch or patio directly outside the home, then it means you already have some usable space. The front garden can be a great place to spend time with the family on those summer evenings. Even if you don’t use it too often, making it at least look livable can make the whole home seem much friendlier and more approachable. To that end, even a little furniture can do the trick. Check out nostalgicporchswings.com if, for instance, you have a more old-fashioned looking home and you think you could create just the right rustic appeal. Furniture, mailboxes, and the other little additions also make a good choice for making small, seasonal color changes that keep updating the look little by little.
Light your land
The home is going to be most visible during the day, of course, but many have the issue that as soon as night descends, it becomes cloaked in shadow. It can genuinely create a rather intimidating nature about the house, which is exactly what you don’t want to come home to in the fall and winter evenings. A little lighting goes a long, long way. Play with landscape lighting, particularly under any big front garden elements such as trees of squat bushes. If you have a patio or an overhanging roof that’s not too high up from the ground, the under lighting can give it a nice glow. When you’re done with work in the winter, there’s nothing better than coming back to a home that looks warm and comfortable even from a distance and lighting can give it that vibe.

A splash of color
Regardless how well cared for it, the materials on the façade of the home are going to wear down eventually. If your home has a wooden exterior, then so long as the wood itself is in good condition, it might be as simple as giving it a new coat of paint to make it look brand new again. If you’re not going to use painters for the job, then make sure you get plenty of prep work in as suggested by thespruce.com. Even if you choose the right season for it, it’s a long monotonous task and you might find yourself racing against time to beat out the bad weather if you’re not taking an organized approach.
Give a good opening
There are a lot of reasons to replace the front windows of the home over time. They’re an expensive fix, so it’s often best to do it for more reasons than just the aesthetic. Check out your existing windows and if they’re showing all the signs that they’re no longer as functional and efficient at sealing the home as they once were, then new windows can help you not only update your look but make the home much easier to insulate and more energy efficient, too. If you only want a small update to the look of the windows, consider installing exterior shutters, instead.

Tidy gardens are happy gardens
We’ve focused a lot on the direct exterior of the home, but we can’t forget how important the garden is to the overall composition. Landscaping can help you carve out a more detailed entryway to the home but even if you’re not going that far, regular maintenance of the garden is a must. Of course, motorized trimmers and lawnmowers can help reduce the work so that routine doesn’t become overbearing. If you have a big garden, then it’s going to make it a lot less of a hassle if you browse planopower.com and get the right equipment. If you’re not willing to, it might just be a better idea to go with a synthetic lawn rather than ending up with an untidy, overgrown garden. That can really distract and detract from a home that’s been carefully presented.
Get the gunk out of the gutters
It might not be the first thing you think of, but if your gutters are cluttered up and overflowing, it’s going to be very noticeable. First of all, not only will they look overgrown and stuffed, drawing the eye. They can also result in rainwater blockages, which can end up with big wet, grimy patches down the side of the home. Certainly not a good fit with a new paint job. Check out spinaclean.com for tools that make it a lot easier for you to clean your gutter on your own. This is especially important if you have high hedges or trees that mean a lot more vegetative debris ends up in there than the average home.

Right that roof
Especially on homes with lower roofs, if it’s in a state of disrepair, it’s going to be noticeable. Cracked and missing tiles can draw a lot of attention. Even if it’s higher up and out of range for too many people to notice, that’s still not a good reason to ignore one of the most important parts of shielding the home from the elements and making it a lot more energy efficient. It’s a good idea to use services like elevatedroofing.com to give the top of the house an inspection every two or three years. Sometimes, you might just need a small fix but it’s good to have some funding set aside for the replacement that every roof needs eventually.
Tuck away the odds and the ends
There are some elements of the home’s aesthetic that aren’t too easy to hide away. Some might very well call them eyesores. We’re talking about things like electrics panels, home ventilation, and garage door openers. They’re essential, but they often don’t fit well with the look you’re trying to cultivate. If that’s the case, then taking the steps to hide them can often do the trick just fine. For instance, you can create an openable wooden panel door for door openers so that they look just fine when not in use. For things like outside ventilation, strategic placement of potted plants can keep them hidden from view, so they don’t disrupt the overall look.

More than a place for the car
The garage is a utilitarian part of the home above all else, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored when it comes to making changes. If you don’t like how cold and barren your metal garage doors look, then consider a new coat of paint or even replacing them with traditional, refined wooden panel doors instead. Customize the doors as well, with little details like adding windows, changing latches and pull handles. Landscaping can soften what might be a harsh disruption against the rest of the home’s aesthetic, tastefully placing foliage, wall planters or a trellis to make use of its verticality to further enhance the home’s appearance.
Even though you spend most of your time indoors, knowing that the face of the home isn’t showing you up is going to give you a lot of peace of mind. There’s nothing like a little curb appeal to drive up the value of a property, either.

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