Refinish Your Front Door
Believe it or not, your front door has a lot to do with your overall curb appeal. If your door is old or outdated or simply a dull color, you can easily refinish it and give it new life. Simply choose a stain or paint color that will brighten up your front doorway and create a welcoming feeling for guests and passersby. It will cost you only about $50 to redo the door and less than a day for the work involved. The effect on your curb appeal however, will be priceless.
DIY Instructions – Thisoldhouse
Add Some Lighting
There are so many ways that you can add decorate lighting to your home, walkway or garden. Decorative lights help to make your home feel more welcoming and add beauty to your front yard or walkway. Whether you choose to go with traditional store bought lighting or you want to create your own, adding lights is a great way to improve curb appeal. You can create your own hurricane lamps which are beautiful when lighting a pathway, and you can make them for just a few dollars each, out of things like tuna cans, paint and a few sticks.
DIY Instructions – Inmyownstyle
Build Window Boxes
Window boxes give you the opportunity to have colorful flowers and plants growing right on the side of your home. You can add splashes of color which is sure to make your home look more inviting and more beautiful. Plant seasonal flowers or you could simply add some greenery or use the boxes for growing herbs which you can then use in the kitchen to prepare wonderfully delicious meals. Window boxes are easy and inexpensive to build (depending on the material that you choose to use) and you can dress up the front and back of your house if you add them to every window.
DIY Instructions – Shanty 2 Chic
Build An Arbor
An arbor at the base of your walkway or even at the entryway of a front yard garden is sure to spruce up your curb appeal. You can build an arbor for around $150 and in one weekend. Once built, you can simply stain or paint the arbor to match the exterior of your home and even plant vining greenery or flowers at the base to give it even more beauty. Arbors look great in front of the house or even at the entry to the side yard and will definitely increase the value of your property.
DIY Instructions – Houzz
Create A Walkway
If you don't have a walkway leading to your front door or you have a bland sidewalk and you want something a bit more special, you can create a stone walkway that will instantly improve how your home looks from the street. You don't even have to use actual stones (which are a bit expensive) to get the stone walkway look. You can simply purchase stone forms and then fill those forms with concrete to look like real rock. The entire project will cost less than $50 (depending of course on the length and width of the walkway) and you can finish it in a couple of days.
DIY Instructions – Budget101
Upgrade Your Hardware
Just replacing the hardware around your front door can significantly change how your home looks. This is one of the simplest things that you can do to improve your curb appeal and something that will take you just an hour or two to complete. If you are happy with the hinges and other hardware around your front door, just replace your porch lighting or your home address plate. Even something simple can go a long way in helping to increase the beauty of your home and replacing hardware is a really easy and really inexpensive way to do that.
DIY Instructions – Popularmechanics
Replace Your Mailbox
If your mailbox is a bit old, replacing it will instantly change your curb appeal for the better. Mailboxes are relatively inexpensive and there are many ways that you can make yours look better. If you don't really want to part with your old mailbox, you could just give it a fresh coat of paint (assuming that it's metal or wooden). You could also build a base for the mailbox from rock, wood or any number of other materials that will make it look loads better and help to make your entire property look more attractive.
DIY Instructions – Diynetwork
Paint Your House
If you really want to spruce up your home's exterior and you have some time and money to spare, you could always paint the outside of your house. Painting is not something that you necessarily have to hire someone to do. Once you choose the color and type of paint that you want, you just have to clear a weekend or two and just paint over that old paint, giving your home a fresh new look that is sure to be noticed.
DIY Instructions – Popularmechanics
Wash Your House
If you really don't want to spend the time and money to paint your home's exterior, you could simply pressure wash it. This will remove all of that old dirt and grime and make your home look virtually new again. Note that there are certain ways to pressure wash your house depending on your exterior so be sure to follow the proper directions for washing siding, brick, etc. Pressure washing will take much less time than painting and depending on the overall condition of your home's exterior, it may give you the same results.
DIY Instructions – Pressurewashinghickorync
Paint Your Garage Doors
A fresh coat of paint on garage doors will instantly make your exterior look better. Garage doors tend to get dirty and faded from all the up and down movement and should probably be repainted every few years. If your doors have been neglected for quite a few years, take the time to give them a little facelift. This is a project that should cost less than $100 (including paint brushes, rollers, etc.) and will make your garage look practically brand new. Be sure to repair any pings or dents in metal doors before painting.
DIY Instructions – Behr
Add Shutters
If your home already has shutters, you can simply clean or repaint them to spruce them up a bit. If you don't currently have shutters, you can make them yourself and give your home a completely different look. Shutters are the perfect accessory for your home and they are very easy to build. It really won't cost as much as you may be thinking to build shutters and you can paint or stain them whatever color you want to match your exterior. This is something that you can probably finish in a weekend and something that will add a lot of value to your home.
DIY Instructions – Thehandmadehome
Redo Your House Numbers
Something as simple as upgrading your house numbers really can help you to improve your curb appeal. Instead of using those peel and stick numbers or sticking with the same ones that you have had for years, take half a day and about $20 and create beautiful modernized numbers that will instantly improve how the front of your home looks from the street. This is one of the easiest ways to improve your curb appeal and is one of the least expensive as well. If you don't really want to make your new numbers, you can purchase them but steer clear of those tacky peel and stick varieties.
DIY Instructions – Curbly
Add A Welcoming Seating Area
Nothing will make your home seem warmer and more inviting than having a few chairs on your front porch. Creating a front porch seating area will take very little time and just a bit of imagination. If you tend to entertain, you will want to have comfortable chairs and a table or two, depending on the seating arrangement that you want to create. A couple of rocking chairs with cushions is a simple fix for a boring porch and will instantly upgrade your curb appeal. A porch swing is an even better idea or you could combine seating types to mix it up a bit.
DIY Instructions – Redbeacon
Add A Container Garden
Even if you don't have room to create a complete garden area in the front yard, you can still add flowers and plants in containers. Container gardens are easy to put together and they are flexible because you can move them about as needed. You don't even have to stick with traditional planters. You can create a container garden out of just about anything and make it as unique as you want. Choose plants that will grow in different seasons so that you always have plant life to improve your curb appeal.
DIY Instructions – Treehugger
Plant Perennials
Flowers and plants are definitely going to make your home look more attractive from the street and even close up. Planting perennials ensures that you have flowers blooming every year and there are many different varieties from which you can choose. Plant some flowers that will bloom in early spring, others that will bloom in summer and still others that will bloom late into fall. This ensures that you have those beautiful colors virtually year around. And, perennials are very inexpensive. You can pick up several varieties for around $1 or so for a pack of two or three bulbs.
DIY Instructions – Aarp
Reseed The Lawn
Whether you have bare spots in your grass or you simply need a thicker and more beautiful lawn, reseeding takes very little time and is probably less expensive than you may think. You can go all out and save yourself loads of time by simply churning up your current grass and replacing it with a blanket that will grow your lawn for you. Or, you could simply purchase some grass seed and begin sowing it in the areas that need it most. However you choose to do it, reseeding your lawn is sure to give your property a huge boost in value as well as beauty.
DIY Instructions – Familyhandyman
Buy A New Doormat
Ok, so a doormat may set you back up to $30 or so, depending on your style and preference, but nothing is easier than laying down a doormat to increase your curb appeal. If your porch can be seen from the road, everything on your porch has to be attractive in order for your home to look attractive. Laying down a new doormat not only makes your home more attractive but it gives a more welcoming feeling to guests as they knock on your door. You can get a new mat for as little as $5 – again depending on what you want – and laying it down takes literally only seconds.
DIY Instructions – iVillage
Cover Bare Spots
Any place in your yard that is bare – or dead – needs to be covered up in order to improve your home's beauty. If you have dead grass, dead trees or simply spots around your trees where grass does not grow, covering up these areas with flowers, potted plants or even mulch will increase the beauty and ultimately, the value of your home. Anyone driving up and down your street is sure to appreciate your landscaping, particularly when every single inch of your lawn is filled with life and beauty.
DIY Instructions – Popularmechanics
Add A Tree Bench
If you have a rather large tree in your yard that you just can't cut down and you want to dress it up a bit, build a tree bench around it. Not only does this improve your curb appeal but it gives you somewhere to sit when you want some peace and relaxation. This is a project that you can complete in a weekend and depending on your choice of material, is one that won't cost you an arm and a leg, either. Your home will look much more inviting and guests will really enjoy sitting under your tree with you during warmer months.
DIY Instructions – Thisoldhouse
Mow The Lawn
Really, mowing the lawn is absolutely the best way to improve your home's curb appeal. You have to keep that grass cut in order for others to see just how lovely your home really is. Depending on where you live and how much rain and sunlight you get, you may find yourself mowing at least once or twice each week during the summer months. During spring and fall however, about once a week or once every other week should suffice. Keeping your lawn properly maintained and manicured will instantly raise your home's value and it costs very little and takes very little time.
DIY Instructions – Diynetwork
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