To sell your home successfully it should be sparkling on the inside. Many people forget to walk out the front door and take a critical look at their home from the sidewalk. Making sure that your curb appeal is as high as possible is the key for getting walk-in visitors at your next open house. Here are 10 tips to increase your home’s curb appeal and create a welcoming exterior home.

Image via: Houzz

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10 Tips to Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

1. Mow the lawn.

An untended, scruffy lawn looks unkempt and messy. Avoid that by keeping the grass trimmed, and raking away leaves and debris in fall.

2. Clean the gutters.

Having water pouring out of your gutters on a rainy day is going to be a real turn-off for potential buyers. Jane Kennedy from ComFree mentions on her blog to make sure that the gutters are completely clear, thus avoiding any potential water damage and keeping your home’s façade looking tidy.

3. Paint the shutters.

If you have shutters on the front of your house, give them a fresh coat of paint (if needed). While you’re at it, do the front door.

Image via: Hursthouse Landscape

4. Pay special attention to the front door.

The front door is the first thing people notice when looking at your house. The area around it needs to be clean & clear of clutter, and the door should be in good condition. Clean off scuff marks from shoes and clean around the door handle to make it sparkle.

5. Clean the house’s façade.

This may sound extreme, but taking a power hose to the front of the house can make a world of difference. If things are looking a little grungy or dingy, give it a blast with the hose and brighten it up.

6. Tend to your landscape shrubbery.

Overgrown bushes and shrubs on the front lawn are sure to look scruffy. Keep them pruned and presentable!

7. Tidy up the walkway.

If you’ve got uneven stones or cracked asphalt, you may want to consider putting a little time & money into sprucing it up. You don’t want potential buyers tripping over uneven slabs when they walk up your garden path. If necessary, remove all stones and simply cover the path with crushed seashells or gravel. Make sure the grass verge of the walk is trimmed.

Image via: Pinterest

8. Paint the fence.

Moss on a fence can look romantic and atmospheric, but you want it to also look well-maintained and solid. So throwing a coat of paint on can really make a world of difference.

9. Pay special attention to the gate.

If the garden gate needs any repairs, get them done. Give it a paint as well, but most importantly: Make sure the latch opens and closes easily. If there is a lock on the gate, make sure it works and that you have the key.

10. Make your exterior have a presence.

Once you’ve got everything in order, you can add some decorative flair that will catch the eye. A tasteful pop of color in the form of a pot on the front porch or a garden decoration in the flower bed can attract the eye and get potential buyers to take another look at your home for sale.

For more curb appeal tips on Stagetecture, click here.

People who don’t have a backyard often dream of the day when they will have their own yard so that they can invite family and friends, crank up the barbecue, turn on some good music, and enjoy their home as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Then you have those who do have a backyard yet neglect it. Especially during the colder months when the weather makes maintaining their yard a difficult chore. And then what happens? The yard falls into such a dismal condition that even attempting to get it to some semblance of order becomes a task fraught with dread.

Image via: Landscape East & West

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Let’s assume that your backyard has reached the stage where you would rather not look at it. Following are five tips for organizing your backyard so that it will take pride of place in your home:

1. The Big Cleanup:

It has got to be done, so time you pulled out your finger, recruited the kids, and gathered all the items strewn about your garden in one location. You know what to do next – the garbage goes to the garbage, what you want to keep gets placed in a separate corner or in storage, and what you want to sell or donate needs to be sold or donated.

Image via: Steve Tsai

2. Storage:

if you don’t have enough outdoor storage then it’s time to invest in some. Plastic sheds are a great idea as they are weatherproof, easy to assemble, come in different colors and sizes to suit all spaces and color schemes, are relatively inexpensive, and usually don’t require a permit from the city.

3. Tend to the Garden:

once your backyard is tidied up, the time has come to either put on the gardening gloves, get out the gardening equipment, and get to work cleaning your garden, or ring up your trusty gardener and invite him to do the job for you.

By now your backyard should be starting to resemble its old self, so perhaps it’s time to spruce it up a bit more.

4.  Outdoor Furniture:

Some new outdoor furniture or a coat of paint on the old outdoor furniture will add a touch of the new to your backyard. And don’t we all love the feeling of something new?

5.  Build a Deck:

How about investing in a deck? They look great, make it easier to maintain the yard, and add another storage dimension if you buy deck boxes. Talk about a win-win-win.

This list is not extensive but following it will set you well on your way to truly enjoying your backyard, Enjoy!

For more outdoor activities for you and your family click here.

If you want to go to a relaxing outdoor area without leaving your home, you should go no further than your own patio!  You will have a beautiful scenery of your garden, natural breeze of the wind and the sound of birds in the air. It’s one of the best areas at home where you can find tranquility and peace of mind.

Image via: SRM Architecture and Interiors

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Your backyard porch should make a great patio for your home. Although you may not have the luxury of space in your porch but then it doesn’t mean you can’t have the best patio. It’s just a matter of maximizing what you have. Want to know improve your patio?

Image via: Peter Duke

See these creative patio trends for your backyard porch:

Produce more greenery

Plant more trees in your backyard. If this isn’t possible because of minimal space, make use of potted plants and flowers. The more greenery you have in your backyard, the cooler and more attractive your patio will become. It will give you a great view while sitting in a relaxing chair. There’s no better way to relax than that!

Go media frenzy

Who says home theater and multimedia entertainment are only good in your living room or bedroom? Make way for multimedia entertainment in your patio. It’s not just your ordinary radio but a sound system with a video monitor. It’s like having your home theater system setup in your patio. Isn’t that cool?

Image via: Coates Design Architects Seattle

Prefer a lighter look

Simplicity is beauty – this is the statement that best describe the idea. With lighter look, it will give the impression of larger patio. This is because it will blend with the outdoor surroundings. One of the best ways to achieve this is to have your shelves and furniture made to fit your patio. This will ensure that light will enter the patio naturally.

Design your backyard porch with a patio that’s a cut above the rest. Pick one of the above-mentioned ideas and see how it transforms into a picturesque site.

For more outdoor home ideas on  Stagetecture, click here.