First Impressions from the Curb
Today, let's talk about curb appeal. We spend a lot of time inside our homes painting, organizing, living and enjoying. But how often do you think about the front of your house? Curb appeal can have a huge effect on resale value, neighborhood value and overall happiness in your home.
Spring is a great time to invest in your curb appeal. These improvements don't have to cost much money, but can make a huge impact. Even if you're not considering selling, you’re guaranteed to walk away from this post inspired to revamp your curb appeal.
Dallas is absolutely infamous for having cute houses on the inside, but absolutely hideous on the outside. We see that especially as realtors, so many people write off homes because the first picture is just horrible of the outside.
Why does the outside matter?
It’s a huge point of focus. Obviously, when selling a home, most people are going to see the outside and make their first impression based on how that feels to them. People will judge the neighborhood as a whole based on how the outside of the other homes look, too. It gives them a sense of what they think the neighbors are like and whether or not it's somewhere they can see themselves living.
Things you can do this weekend to revamp your curb appeal:
Paint
Paint can make a world of a difference! And no, we don't mean painting your entire exterior. (Unless you want to! In that case, make sure you use a masonry paint so that it will stand the test of time.)
Examples of things you can paint that will make a huge difference are your:
Front door. That's something you can do in less than an hour. A colored front door is such an easy touch. We know people that paint their front door a couple of times a year just depending on what they want to do. It can give a great first impression, very low commitment, and it just adds some personality.
Shutters! Changing the color of your shutters can dramatically change the look and feel of your house from the curb. Look on Pinterest and look at different colors of shutters and how they look with the color siding that you have and start there. You can always change it next year because it's a smaller project.
Trim. If you freshen up with some white or you use a contrasting color, it can make a huge, huge difference. The majority of this would be painting it probably white or black. Even just a trim paint job can communicate “hey, we've taken care of our home” and get things looking fresh again.
Plants
Plants are, in our opinion, one of the most inexpensive ways to add curb appeal to a home.If you're not hiring a landscape architect and working on a giant project, which you absolutely do not need to do in most circumstances, just putting a little effort would be more than most people in Dallas.
Examples of how to add a little pop to your home with plants:
A decorative pot (or two) beside your front door
Care for your landscaping by keeping up with trimming, replanting, weeds, etc. If you are not already subscribed to our email list, head over to wherewelivepodcast.com. From there, you can download our FREE Home Maintenance Checklist. We update this every single month and there are always several different items related to landscaping plants and other ways to improve your landscaping. This list is a great starting point to improve your curb appeal and your backyard. When you download it, you're going to automatically get an updated one every single month with what to do and when to do it.
Add that beautiful tree to your front yard that will grow over time. Someone has to plant it first!
Windows
Sun screens keep a lot of the heat out because we have an intense heat here in the summertime, obviously from our sun. But the truth is, they're pretty ugly. If you're not effectively using them to save on your energy bill, get them out. At the very minimum, remove them when you're going to sell your house. Same with thermal seals. This is when you look at a window and it looks kind of foggy. If you try to clean it off and you can't clean it off, that means that the thermal seal has been lost. This is a cosmetic issue, but if it's in the front of your house, it's always going to look foggy. So we would say consider replacing the glass before you sell. This doesn't mean you need to replace the entire window and window frame, just the glass!
Bars on your windows indicate that there is something to be afraid of to potential buyers. For the sake of your resale value, remove those bars! It will not only look better visually and to buyers, but it will let more natural light into your home.
Sidewalks
Power-wash your sidewalks, driveway and even the exterior of your home to really make it feel more clean. This not only helps to get all the goop and grime off that has accumulated in the last year, but will help your home stand out on the block.
Is your sidewalk pitted out like Keelie’s? You’re in luck! The city of Dallas, if you're in Dallas, has a sidewalk replacement program where they will essentially split the cost of the materials with you. The labor itself is free, but it does take a while to get someone to come to your home. So, we recommend submitting as soon as possible, then when they get you the quote, you can decide if you want to do it or not. It's a good way to get your sidewalk fixed up to help with the curb appeal of the neighborhood. The information's all on this website: https://dallascityhall.com/services/311/Pages/default.aspx.
Misc. Small Things
It's the little things that can really make a difference in your curb appeal. These can include:
A cute, painted house number both on the front of your home AND on your sidewalk. Adds a modern touch and adds some flair from your sidewalk view. It’s not only practical if you ever need emergency services to come to your house, but it will also help your Amazon packages get delivered correctly.
A cute wreath on your front door. You can have a wreath for each holiday or season. Lots of options here!
Doormats. If you want to take it to the next level, search Pinterest for ideas on how to layer them!
So we hope you got some ideas on how to freshen up your curb appeal. Even one or two of the small items is going to go a long way. So if you do some of these improvements, we'd love to see it. Tag us at @Dallas.Haven on Instagram.
For more information on home improvements and what to avoid. Go back and listen to episode 4 titled Top Five Home Improvement Mistakes.