How to Maximize Your Home's Curb Appeal

Clean rain gutters to get rid of sticks and debris that take away from the tidy appearance of your home.

Maximizing your home's curb appeal adds value to both your home and your neighborhood. If your home is on the market, improve the curb appeal to increase the odds of getting a fast, strong offer. Even small changes can make a big difference to your home’s curb appeal.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

1. Walk out to the middle or your street and take a few pictures of your home. Study the images and try to see your home as a potential buyer might see it.

2. Clean up around the outside of your home. There is nothing less appealing than a messy yard. Before moving on to other projects, clean your front yard, driveway and porch areas. Mow the lawn, trim the hedges and clear out dead plants. Clean gutters; remove all trash, toys, bikes, non-working cars and other items that detract from the view. Power wash the driveway and sidewalks.

3. Painting goes a long way. Your budget may dictate the amount of painting you can do, but if you can't afford to repaint your entire house, there are still smaller projects that will add to your curb appeal. Touch up the trim -- or change the color -- on your home and garage area. Repaint the gutters if needed. If you have rusting metal fencing or gates, use spray paint with a rust barrier to restore them to an almost new condition and prevent future rusting.

4. Upgrade a lackluster entry with a new stylish front door. Update the entry lighting, doorbells and doorknockers at the same time. Consider adding a solar porch light or two -- one on each side of the door -- as well as solar lights along your walkway. Add flagstone and colorful flowers or low shrubs to add dimension to the entryway landscape.

5. Offset a flat yard with a trellis or garden arbor and install a few plants that can be trained to climb the trellis as they mature. Low-height trellises can also be used to hide air conditioning units as well as gas and electric meters. Paint them in colors that will coordinate with your overall paint scheme to maximize the curb appeal.

6. Use window boxes and containers to add color and charm. Petunias, pansies, geraniums, ivy, alyssum and miniature roses all do well in these types of containers.

References

• MSN: 7 Ways to Increase Your Home's Curb Appeal