TheLGN - Home Decorating The Little Green Notebook - Get Inspiration...Be Inspiration

1. Take a fresh look. It is difficult to look at our own house in the way others do (especially potential buyers if you are selling it), we get accustomed to the way something looks and functions, and because we see it daily, we tend to overlook or become blind to it's faults. So it is time to take a step back and look at your house from a different perspective. Walk across the street and look at your home from the neighbors viewpoint, take photographs and download them onto your computer and compare your curb appeal to others, even park where potential buyers would park and walk towards the house as if it was your first visit. Is the approach clean and tidy? What could you do to make it more attractive? (Wow, I didn't see all those spider's webs before). What would you think if you were a buyer?

2. Paint. Painting the exterior of your house is obviously one of the most noticeable improvements you can do to change the look of your home. Even repainting the walls the original color, will help the house look fresh and new. Also consider painting the front door. (If you belong to a Homeowners Association, be sure to check that you do not need permission to change the house color, before you start).

3. Grass / Vegetation. Keep the lawn trimmed and fertilized. Patch any bald spots in the grass (see ‘How to reseed a lawn' or ‘How to sod a lawn' in our DIY section), weed the flower beds and either plant fresh flowers or have potted plants scattered throughout the beds and along the walkways. Shape up the shrubs by trimming them and make sure that shrubs in front of all windows, do not block the view and stay under the height of the window.

4. Driveways/Walkways. We do not notice how driveways and walkways become dirty and cracked over time, especially where there are a lot of trees in and around your yard. Pressure washing will not only make a huge difference to the overall look of the driveways and walkways, but if you also power wash the entire exterior of the home, this will get rid of all accumulated dirt. Remember to fill in any cracks or gaps as well.

5. Tidy. A general clean up of the entire yard is essential for maintaining a tidy and clean looking exterior. Tidy away toys, empty plant pots, tools, garden hoses and anything else that should not be there.

6. Trash. Relocate the trash to the back of the house or a hidden part of the yard. Most houses nowadays have specific areas for the trash cans to go. (If you haven't got one, check out our "How to build an area for your Trash Can' section in DIY projects).

7. Flowers/Plants. Keep a nice, clean, neat and classy landscape with some splashes of color. Plants that need as little maintenance as possible are also recommended and you can find a laundry list of plants and flowers that best suit your climate, yard and style at your local home improvement store.

8. Lighting. Lighting can really boost the look of your yard and house at nighttime. To keep this simple, just make sure that all light bulbs are working and replace all dead bulbs in the lights that are attached to your home and garage. All home improvement stores have a great selection of easy to install landscape lights, and lighting walkways and plant beds will create a huge impact. (If your budget allows, consult a landscape lighting company to really make your exterior pop!)

9. Mailbox. This can be an easy fix with a fresh coat of paint or new numbers on the side of the mailbox. Even if you need to replace the mailbox, new ones are available at most home improvement stores and can be very easy on the wallet.

10. House numbers. Make sure your house numbers are easy to see. If your house numbers are older and showing their age, try replacing them with new numbers that have an updated finish like brushed nickle or high gloss black and choose larger numbers that are easy to see from the road.

The secret is to keep it simple and maintain the tidiness of the yard, weekly if you can. Another important tip to remember is that if your back yard is visible from the road or maybe an adjacent street, include it in all of your curb appeal efforts.