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How to improve your home’s curb appeal

First impressions really count and curbside appeal is what makes a house get noticed. A house with good curbside appeal look more attractive and welcoming and for potential British home buyers, it is high on their list of priorities and increases their interest in the property immediately.  There are a number of ways you can improve your curbside appeal and the great news is that while many of them take a little time, you don’t have to spend too much money to make your house look really good. 

The way in which people go house hunting has dramatically changed in recent years. Many British home buyers look at a range of properties online and compile a shortlist of ones that ‘tick the boxes’. Others, spend time driving around and stopping to look at the various properties currently for sale. In both cases the curbside appeal of a house is very important and can make the difference between the buyers deciding to view or not.   

If you have decided to put your house on the market, before you approach an estate agent and have all the photographs taken, it is best to spend some time preparing your property to sell. As well as giving the inside of your home a really good spring clean and declutter, you need to make the front of your house look really attractive.

Here we bring you ten tips on how to increase your curbside appeal:

1. Check the paintwork

Is the paintwork on your front door looking faded and tired? Giving your front door a fresh coat of paint will really make it look good. If you are wondering what colour to paint it, you can opt for classic black or dark grey. Any shade of dark blue or green are popular to choose in 2021. If you want to really get your home noticed, yellow is another trending colour. 

Whilst you have the paintbrush handy, check that the garage door, gate, window frames and sills and any fencing, is looking good, as a coat of fresh paint will always transform them. 

2. Give your house a new number

Door numbers can soon look old and dated and nothing beats a modern set of numbers for giving a fresh, modern look to your home.

3…and your front door a new look

if your front door handle and knocker are looking old and tatty and don’t look any better, even after you have cleaned them,  a bright new set will totally transform your front door!  If your doorbell is not working as well as it used to, a new wireless model is easy to install and there are some great designs available.

4. Install a welcoming light

An old fashioned lantern with a soft golden light can look very homely and the smart new uplighters can certainly make finding keys much easier. Installing a light above or to the side of your front door will certainly make things easier and safer for visitors and will not be too costly.

5. Tidy up the drive

Driveways can often look untidy with weeds, so it is good to dig out any weeds and to wash your drive way with a power hose before you apply some weedkiller.

6. Wash your pathway and front step.

It is surprising just how dirty these get and a power hose will soon have them looking good again. If you have just a small area to wash, warm soapy water and a scrubbing brush will be just as good. If the pathway looks particularly bad, you can buy special detergent for the job from garden centres.

7. Hide the wheelie bins!

Unfortunately, wheelie bins are not the most attractive things so if you have to store them in your front garden, it is well worth trying to conceal them in a corner behind a rattan fence panel. You can plant a fast growing shrub in front of the panel so that no one will spot that its hiding the bins!

8. Dig the front flower beds

At this time of year, it is good to tidy up the front garden. Hedges and trees can be pruned and tidied. Cut them below the level of the windowsill so that they don’t block out any light. Dead annuals can be removed from the flower beds. Add some instant colour with some winter pansies or cyclamen. Good-sized plants can be bought in garden centres these are ideal for quickly planting.

9.  Add a feature.

An attractive and colourful hanging basket filled with winter flowers or tubs filled with small conifers placed either side of the front door both look good.

10. Add a doormat!

Both practical and stylish, a smart new doormat will certainly be the perfect finishing touch for your home.

Once you have finished all the jobs, take a walk across the road and look across at your home – it should have plenty of curbside appeal and  look the smartest house in the street!