When the snow melts and the green buds on the trees you know that spring is just around the corner.
While the term “spring cleaning” often focuses its attention on refreshing your indoors, now is a great and opportune time to upgrade your home’s curb appeal. External upkeep can sound intimidating, especially if your town had a cold, harsh, wet winter. Truth be told, there are many effective ways to improve your home’s outward appearance. Continue to read to find 8 of the best and simplest ways to give your home’s exterior an upgrade, just in time for spring.
1. Spring Clean the Exterior of Your Home
Winter can be long, bringing along with it some rough temps, making it likely that the outside of your home will need a deep clean, possibly even more than the inside. To start, think of the term “top to bottom” when cleaning. Empty those gutters, clean the windows, and pressure wash your driveways. After a harsh winter, inspect your home for any damage and restore what you already have, so there can be a good evaluation of what will be needed. Stand on the curb and get a good visual of your home, walk to the backdoor through the backyard, and note what needs updating and extra care. This can help you with prioritization if it all starts to feel overwhelming.
2. Enhance a Welcoming Entryway
If you want some of your changes to pack a punch, consider upgrading your front door and entryway! Repainting your front door a bright and cheery color will give the appearance of a welcoming home facelift. Another great way to make your home appear more welcoming while bringing on spring is the addition of planters filled with your favorite kind of flowers. If you are simply looking to upgrade your door without having to paint it, try door decor like wreaths, a fun decoration that comes in styles suitable for display year-round!
The addition of an artful doormat can also offer a friendly ambiance, especially if it can be seen from the street, says Greg Dallaire, Real Estate in Green Bay
3. Make Your Porch an Additional “Room”
If your home is equipped with a porch or patio, it should be refreshed the same way that a room inside your house would be. The key to up keeping your patio is treating it as if it were a room inside your house. Follow the trend of outdoor living rooms by picking out a few pillows in similar shades to coordinate containers and surrounding greenery such as flowers. Weather-resistant fabrics should look fresh all winter long.
4. Spruce Up Your Garage
Your front door will be key in giving your home a facelift, but your garage and side doors deserve some attention as well. A prominent feature of a home is the garage, due to its size. Consider adding a pot of flowers to either side of the garage with seasonal flowers and bright colors to extend freshness.
5. Freshen Up Plants and Plant More!
When in doubt, just add plants! One of the simplest ways to improve curb appeal is by mowing your lawn, trimming bushes and hedges, and adding fresh plants. The addition of plants to entryways can soften hard surfaces of the exterior of your house, providing a path to bringing in color, texture, and sculptural layers to the entryway. A word of advice: don’t overplant! Sometimes, less is truly more as shrubs and bushes can cause clutter to the eye unless they are regularly maintained, which can be a hassle all on its own.
6. Bring Your Attention to All the Little Details
Even though it may seem minuscule in comparison to the many things on your list to upgrade for the upcoming spring and summer, upgrading your smaller exterior items can have a big impact as well. Think small, such as:
- Light Fixtures
- Planters
- Mailboxes
All of the above can do with some refreshing, and all of the above can be replaced at a low cost! While working on your curb appeal, consider the weather that spring can bring as well, such as humidity, cold snaps, rain, and wind, especially if you are doing a DIY paint job on your mailbox, and planters.
7. Improve the Use of Lights
Lighting provides a means of highlighting key features of your landscape, therefore it is crucial to your outdoor upgrade to check out uplighting. The play you get from this provides an impactful way to add drama to your landscape. Take into consideration your home’s current exterior lighting and the temperature of the lighting so that your uplighting matches when choosing where you will place additional lighting. This will overall create a stunning visual effect.
8. Switch Up Your Color Palette
Change can be fun, especially when spring itself is the embodiment of change from winter to warmer weather. Painting your home’s exterior doesn’t seem like a small project, and may even seem too expensive. The good news? It’s not! And the best part? The payoff can be huge! Giving your house a fresh coat of neutral-colored paint can bring it a long way! The first thing that draws someone’s eye to a home is the exterior color, especially the condition of the paint, think clean. Having the right exterior color scheme can breathe new life.
For more ideas and information on freshening up your curb appeal for the upcoming spring and summer, check out our website!
