If you are like I am, you look at the beautiful homes in magazines, and fantasize about having your own home look that lovely. Then reality seems to set in, and I think, "If I had tons of money, of course my home could look like that." Well, I've come to a new conclusion. My thinking has been wrong. It isn't that, "If I had tons of money, my house could look like that," but rather, "If I understood the tricks of the trade, I could make my home look vastly better with a pretty limited budget." So I've worked hard at understanding just what it is that the exterior sprucer-upper folks do. I'm happy to share what I've learned with you. (Because I hope you live close to me and I get to see your increasingly beautiful home...which by the way, increases the value of not just your home, but our whole neighborhood. That means my house too!! Thanks for your help!)
The first thing I have learned in on-a-dime exterior changes is this: elbow grease goes a long way. Do the free things first. Weeding, trimming, washing windows, scrubbing off moss, picking up trash, putting a sharp straight edge on your gardens, and getting rid of clutter makes a huge difference in not only the true appearance of your home, but in the feeling of being cared for that it gives. (It's just like in parenting...a lot of love covers a lot of mistakes. The overall plan can have a few flaws if the care, interest, and attention that has been lavished on your home shines through.)
So where do you start? Put on new glasses first. Put on your Objectivity Glasses. They are the lenses through which you can see your house as you would see a stranger's house. Forget the fact that your 25 disintegrating birdhouses belonged to your dearly departed Aunt Mary...look at them realistically and realize that Aunt Mary passed on 28 years ago and the bird houses should have gone too. Look objectively at every element in your yard and be ruthless as you determine what goes and what stays.
The fence by the front sidewalk...is it fresh and new, with a current shape which contributes to a welcoming feeling, or does it just divide the space and make you feel closed away from the front entry? These are key points. Every garden and yard element should have a design purpose. The primary purpose is to be inviting and make people want to come to your front door. (Don't worry about being overly attractive and drawing the wrong sorts of folks...both solicitors and burglars even go to ugly doors, so your fantastic upgrades cannot in any way hurt you!)
It is often difficult to be objective about your own home. There are a few reasons for this. One is that you probably put things out that you loved in the first place. In your mind's eye, they still look as new and current as when you put them out there. Another reason is that we can easily train ourselves to overlook things that we convince ourselves aren't really that bad. (I had a house once with dark brown carpeting throughout. It must have been new when I moved in because it was in beautiful condition. I couldn't bring myself to rip out perfectly good carpet, so I trained myself to overlook this mudpit brown carpet. When I was objective, it bothered me for all of the four years that I lived in the house. However, most of the time, I convinced myself to look past it. My house sold in less than two days. Don't you know that in less than 4 days after closing, all of that still-in-good-condition carpeting was out at the curb?) The woman to whom I sold the house is the type of person you need on your side. If you cannot look at your home objectively, enlist the help a friend whose home looks lovely and who doesn't mind being honest.
Another person with whom to consult is a friend who has a good decorator. I talk with my sister a lot...she has a great decorator. My sister shares some of the information the decorator has shared in working on my sister's home. In addition, my sister tells me some of the things she and the decorator discussed that my sister didn't choose to do...but they are often great ideas.
Specifically, there are a few basic areas for improvement. In order, they are:
1) Neaten up existing landscape and hardscape. Plants should not extend over the edge of your gardens. If they do, trim the plants, or extend the edge of the garden, but plants which are jumping out of their designated areas look unkempt. Make sure your walkways, steps, and railings are neat; there should be no broken pavers, weeds between the pavers, and lumpy edges. Keep the yard trimmed, with kids' toys and trash cans neatly to the side or rear of the house.
2) Examine basic house exterior. Paint or reattach shutters if needed. If you have too many to replace affordably, ask yourself if you might not be better off removing all shutters. An exterior which is a little sparse may be preferable to one that is shabby. Reattach any gutters which are hanging down and clean them so that water flows away from the house quickly and no weeds can be seen growing out of the shutters. Again, use your objectivity glasses. I had a birds' nest behind my shutters that my family and I found charming. We loved to sit in the living room and watch the birds fly in and out. When I went to sell the house, the realtor asked why all of the bird dew was on the stones near the window. We were so interested in the birds, that we never noticed the gifts they were leaving us. After the birds left and we cleaned up all the mess (I made my husband do that), I had to admit that it did look a lot better.
3) Look to make enhancements. This is where the fun really starts. Start at the street. Look at your lamppost and your mail box. Are they clean? Wash the glass in the light and get rid of any dirt (usually gifts from birds) on the top of the lamp and the top of the mail box. Does either look shabby? If all it takes is a coat of paint, get going. Pick a paint which complements the rest of your color scheme. If they need more improvement, consider replacing them. Select something which not only complements the style of your home, but something that looks current. There are lamp posts and mail boxes for every taste and budget. Mailboxchief.com is one good source for mailboxes, house numbers, flags, and accessories for every style and price. There are lighting options which are environmentally friendly (those which use little energy and point the light downward, so as not to add light pollution to the night skies) and there are mailbox options which are attractive and secure so you not only enhance the appearance of your home but keep your mail, and hence your identity safer. Use your creativity here to really make a statement right out by the street. Then go closer to your home. Look at your driveway. Consider a coat of blacktop sealer if needed. Walk up your front walk. Does the landscaping look well cared for and cohesive? Are there nice spots of color? You can add flowers or decorative hardscaping elements to bring color and interest into this area. If your bushes fairly well fill the area, consider adding a few pots of plants for color. I even added an outdoor table under a window, just so I could put seasonal items of interest on it.
If you need some major landscaping and hardscaping improvements, consider not just materials and function, but current style. Look carefully at new gardens which are being put in near you. You will probably notice that there are plantings on both sides of the curved from walk now, as opposed to plantings only up near the house and bordered by a straight sidewalk, which is a substantially older look. Your improvements need to incorporate not only new materials, but current shapes and methods for using materials if you want the end product to really carry a fresh look. Again, pay attention to other homes, magazines and landscaping centers to get your ideas.
Get creative. While pots of flowers remain the number one choice for colorful seasonal welcome, there are other options too. One year I painted faces on my Halloween pumpkins instead of carving them. Then at Thanksgiving I just turned them around and made them part of a harvest scene with gourds and Indian corn. At Christmas, I painted a Santa Claus face on one and a Mrs. Claus face on the other. I put Santa hats on both. Believe it or not, they were still good at valentine's, so I spray painted the whole pumpkins white and painted on big pink and red hearts. (I was all set to paint shamrocks on them next, but when I picked them up in March, they were pretty rotten and fell apart. Next time I put a plate under them!) The point is, for not much money, I had a lot of fun and really got a lot of colorful impact...people really noticed my Valentine's pumpkins!
Consider some fresh new accessories such as house numbers, a storm door, door bell button, door knocker, porch railing, and even a little tiny seating area. All of these things say, "welcome...we're glad you're here...come, stay, and enjoy our home." They all help create the feeling of welcome that extends not just to your guests, but to you and your family as well. And that's what it's all about...making your house a place that says welcome home to you and your family.
Posts
