There are several reasons for wanting to improve the exterior of your home, ranging from putting it on the market, and therefore wanting potential buyers to see the house at its best to just carrying out necessary improvements to prevent damp and rot racking up a huge bill for repairs. Although it may at first appear costly to carry out these improvements, the cost of this planned prevention work will be much lower than it would be to repair the damage if left unattended to.

Image via: Pinterest

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Painting Your House

The first, and biggest, consideration is painting the exterior- you need to use high quality paint to do this, in order to combat weathering which could lead to the colour of the paint fading or mildew growing, resulting in paint work needing to be carried out only a few years later at yet further cost! Restoration of brick and wood work should also be carried out at the same time as, or even before, painting is done as this is necessary to counteract any effects weathering may have had, or will have, on the exterior of your home. Repainting of window and door frames, and perhaps in the worst cases even replacement of windows and doors entirely.

Safety & Security

The pathway and steps leading to your door should be kept clean and tidy; any loose bricks should be secured or replaced. Consider a well-made personalised house sign too; having this instead of just generic numbers is sure to create the impression of a well-designed house before your visitors have even set foot in the door. Exterior lighting is also an important consideration- it can continue to make your house look impressive at night, as well as the added security benefits if you have movement activated lights installed. Having a prominent alarm system is also advantageous for security purposes, but try not to have one so imposing that it contrasts harshly with your exterior decor.

Image via: Houzz

The Front Garden

Your driveway should be impeccable, with no cracks or oil stains- if you are unable to mask these then consider getting it resurfaced. Your front garden is the first thing people see, before they even look at the house, it should be well maintained with regularly cut grass (or replace the turf if it’s starting to look bare), and decorated with lots of colourful flowers or topiary- being sure to handle any weed problems swiftly before they spread throughout the whole garden. In the autumn and winter months, be sure to clear any dead leaves before they turn to mulch and ruin the design of your garden. Planters are an easy and flexible way to decorate your garden, allowing you to move them around at your discretion. Planters or a creeping plant such as ivy would also make a great addition standing guard at either side of your front door.

Hopefully these pointers have given you a good idea of how to improve the exterior of your home, after all it is the first thing visitors see and you want to immediately create a long lasting impression, but for all the right reasons.

Tom Moss is a DIY enthusiast and a contributing writer for Design a House Sign, a leading online supplier of personalised house signs.

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

Home improvement is always so exciting. You can feel the pressure and thrill all throughout the process. From the creation of the blueprint until the construction, you just can’t take your eyes on looking into the details. Everything should be in accordance with your specification and meet your expectations.

More often than not, improvements are done by portion or section of your home. This is an advantage on your part since you can easily supervise the whole construction. Just like when you’re planning to improve curb appeal on your historic home, everything should be done perfectly to highlight the change.

Here are simple ideas to improve curb appeal of your home:

Choose the best color combination

Paint color does the magic. Whether it’s for interior or exterior, you can always count on the colors. So, if you plan to improve the curb appeal of your home, choose the best color. This can be achieved by combining colors to highlight the edges. It is best to highlight lines and curves with dark color shades and have the background with lighter ones.

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Hang antique lanterns and brackets

This is basically a must if you plan for curb improvements. Lanterns and brackets are great decorative items especially when you match them with your theme. For instance, a historic home setting can be well compensated with antiques lanterns and brackets. It’s like icing on the cake.

Image via: Meyer & Meyer, Inc.

Have a show-stopping window

Your windows can make the best of your enhancement. Explore on having a thick molding that surrounds your window to provide accent. This brings highlight to the window frames and commands the attention to any passerby. Also, try different window styles you desire.

These are great ideas that you can use for your curb appeal and definitely worth a try.

]]> https://stagetecture.com/how-to-improve-the-curb-appeal-on-your-historic-home/feed/ 0 44149 https://stagetecture.com/achieving-the-ultimate-curb-appeal-with-the-right-fencing/ https://stagetecture.com/achieving-the-ultimate-curb-appeal-with-the-right-fencing/#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2012 22:58:55 +0000 https://stagetecture.com/?p=33762 Your house is perfect – on the inside.  Wouldn’t it be nice for the outside of your home to reflect your style and décor tastes as well? By adding a stylish fence you can make your home practical and also boost its curb appeal. Fencing was once considered to be utilitarian and not aesthetically pleasing. Fencing that was nice to look at often came in a very few varieties and white picket fences were considered the only nice looking fences.

Today, there are limitless options. From wood, metal, pvc, and more, fencing is now an architectural feature of many outdoor homes. If you are looking to buy fencing panels? try www.edecks.co.uk. There are many varieties and reasons to choose the right fencing for your home and security and privacy needs.

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Here are some fencing options and ideas that will suit every homeowner’s needs and styles:

Do you need privacy?

Assess your needs. Do you have a dog that you need to keep contained in your fenced yard, or do you simply want some extra privacy? If you have these needs, then you will want to look for tall fencing that is made of solid wood or PVC materials.   Wooden fences can be installed in quite a few manners to reflect your tastes and needs. For example, the wood tops can be scalloped to give a pretty country look, or for a more modern appeal have the wood straight and streamlined with square caps on the tops of each post. There are also quite a few PVC-style fences that allow privacy and can suit both modern and classic tastes, depending on style and color choice.

Light up your fence:

A really great way to highlight your new fence and add some extra landscape lighting is by adding lights to the caps of your fence posts. There are plenty of choices at your local home hardware or fencing retailers; solar fence caps that run on solar energy are a perfect choice and can be found in numerous styles and colors.

Picket fencing:

Maybe you crave the classic look that a picket fence can give your home. Picket fencing is classic and will never go out of style. However, picket fencing is best left as a small addition to the front of your home and is mainly meant to add curb appeal – it is not really an option to keep a large dog in or for increased privacy.

Chain Link:

Chain link fencing is probably the most affordable option.  However, it doesn’t add a whole lot of curb appeal. But if you are on a budget, you can install a chain link fence and then beautify it with climbing plants. Within one summer season you can hide a large part of your chain link fence with a climbing plant such as clematis, or climbing roses.

As you can see there are a lot of choices to meet your individual fencing needs, with all these options, you can have fun creating a functional yet appealing outdoor landscape.

For more outdoor ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

Improving Curb Appeal with Landscape Pavers

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Increasing curb appeal with pathways

People most often associate the use of pavers with creating simple pathways across an expanse of grass (so that nobody has to dirty their shoes getting from one area of the yard to another). And if you have a large space and you’re not keen on pouring concrete paths, this is a great alternative that is easy to pull off. You can simply nestle pavers into the lawn if you want a quick fix, but you might also consider cutting out a swath of sod where your pathway will go, filling it in with gravel or river rocks, and then placing the pavers for a look that is far more pronounced. These ideas can work in both the front and back of your house as an alternative to concrete.

Landscaping ideas and resources:

Landscaping ideas with pavers

Landscape design

Landscaping lighting

But there are actually a lot more uses for paving stones. For example, you can lay them out on a grid to create a level patio space that is a lot more appealing than a concrete slab. And with so many options for colors, sizes, and finishes when it comes to pavers, you could get really crafty planning out a complex mosaic or an artsy, organic installment for a totally unique patio surface. You could even create several small patio areas connected by pathways to lead visitors from the grilling area to the koi pond to the hammock and then over to the kids play area.

Using landscape pavers with plants & shrubs

Of course, you can also use them in concert with your planting efforts. For example, you can create boundary lines around islands of plant life in your yard, containing mounds of dirt that will soon be teeming with trees, shrubs, and flowers amidst the grassy sea of your yard. Heck, you could even use them to create a line of demarcation around the swath of synthetic turf that you use for putting practice. But you might also use some types of pavers to create retaining walls for raised beds or even free-standing planters placed throughout your yard. The wonderful thing about pavers is that they provide both utility and beauty to your space. And considering that they are both easy to obtain and easy to install, the average homeowner will no doubt find tons of uses for them when it comes to landscaping.

For more curb appeal ideas on Stagetecture, click here.