7 Quick Tricks to Improve Your Home's Curb Appeal

The first step to improving your home's curb appeal is ensuring the lawn looks cared for. Don't worry about making it perfect. A few stray blades of grass are fine, but you want to ensure that if you had a visitor popover on a whim, your yard wouldn't look like a jungle. This means mowing the lawn or at least trimming the shrubs occasionally.  

Greeting guests with a well-maintained front door is like luring potential clients with a professional-looking office. Take it upon yourself to polish and paint the exterior of your home when you have the time. And don't forget to polish the doorknob, knocker and other hardware your front door has.  

People like to see some greenery in their yards just about anywhere in the country. Flowerbeds are a great way to add a vibrant flair to your home's overall appearance. Pull out the weeds and mulch edges, remove a few dead flowers and add new ones. Try strategically placing a few flowerbeds or flower pots near doorways or at the end of walkways.  

A driveway and walkways are like the frame in a painting. If the frame is sloppy, it detracts from the piece's overall effect. A simple way to improve your home's curb appeal is brushing and sweeping your walkways periodically. Power washing and filling cracks give a professional appearance without committing to ongoing, expensive maintenance.  

Most homes have those tiny little areas that are hard to reach, such as on the bottom of windows, around door frames and the like. Instead of waiting for them to get messy, take on the task yourself. Open windows a few inches, grab some microfiber cloth, dust off the surface of any dirt or dust, then dry them off with a towel. You can also use your vacuum cleaner attachment to suck up fine particles like dirt or lint.  

Another quick trick to improve your home's curb appeal is by adding a few lamps. Lights can draw attention to entrances or showcase a garden or well-kept lawn. Porch lights, solar lanterns and spotlights can also draw attention to structures that might otherwise go unnoticed. Nobody wants to work in the dark, so be sure to illuminate any dark areas of your home.  

Have you ever noticed how people slow down to look at pretty doormats? Keep your doormat clean, and ensure it has a nice pattern or image. This is also a nice place to put a welcome mat, which gives visitors the impression that your home is more hospitable. And, if you're feeling creative, sisal, coir, or jute are hardy natural fibers that can be used for a doormat.