Face Value: Updating the Exterior of Your Home

Face Value: Updating the Exterior of Your Home

Face Value: Updating the Exterior of Your Home

For some people, the curb appeal of their home is what attracted them to it in the first place. For others…. It's the neighborhood eyesore that just totally ruins a good thing. Either way, there are plenty of projects big and small that can be done easily and fairly quickly (sometimes in as little as a weekend) to your home's exterior to make it the new Belle of the Block Ball. Try any of these ideas for an instant face lift for your house.

Adding/Changing Shutters

Shutters are a great way to add a little nuance to your home. If you don't already have them, add them. If you do, change their color. If you've got a natural brick or plain stucco cover on your home, painting the shutters a different color is an easy way to update your home often and with little effort. Unless you've got a very specific type of roof or siding, the color options are endless. Even then, there's bound to be a color – neutral or bold – that ties it all together and creates a fresh, new look to greet your when you get home.

Paint/Change the Door and Windows

If you've got a wooden door to go along with those shutters, match them with a new paint job. Even if you don't have shutters, a new coat of paint or a new door altogether is a very subtle, but easy way to update your house. It's not as cheap as a coat of paint would be. New doors from DIY centers can cost anywhere from around $1,000 to almost $9,000.

Obviously, the materials will affect pricing, but replacing a door and windows can also help save energy in your house by provided a better seal and material to keep hot and cold air in during the winter and summer months, respectively. So the cost could very well be worth it.

Rotate Plants

Farmers rotate their crops every now and then to shake up the nutrients in their soil and promote healthier growth and yield for future crops. Switching out the plants in your garden from season to season will also benefit the soil of your front and back yards the same way. Bonus, you get new plants of different colors and textures each season. Practice rotation with care and research what plants should follow what's already in your garden so you avoid planting a similar nutrient needing plant that will only further deplete the soil.

Add/Change Your Path

No, not metaphorically in your life. Change the path that leads to your front door. If you don't have a walkway from the sidewalk/street to your front door, create one. Same thing for your driveway. If no path exists make one. (That is good line and life advice.) It can be smooth concrete with clear, clean lines that is them embellished with small plants on either side. You could get fancy and add small potted shrubbery or trees along your already existing walkway. Add or change the lighting along the path.

Whatever you do, tread boldly in the direction of a new outlook for your home.