Give Your House a Fall Facelift...in One Afternoon

Traditionally, spring is the season to clean and freshen your home, inside and out. Why not plan a fall “refresh” too?

Once summer trips are over and the mercury dips, weekends are more likely spent at home. With the hectic holidays just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to take advantage of crisp fall afternoons and improve your home’s exterior!

12 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Here are a few easy ways to upgrade your home’s curb appeal, making it more enjoyable in just a few hours. Of these dozen tips, only half require inexpensive purchases. The other half can be done with “elbow grease,” making a significant impact without spending a dime.

Implement one or more of these “in an afternoon” projects and see your home in a whole new light!

Modernize and Upgrade (With Small Purchases)

1. Replace an ugly or old exterior light fixture. Consider upgrading to an attractive and energy friendly option that will reduce your electric bill while improving your home’s appearance.

2. Replace weathered or dull house numbers. This is more than an aesthetic issue. If your house is easy to find, help may arrive faster if there’s ever an emergency.

3. Add a simple walkway. Paver stones are an easy and welcoming way to lead visitors to your front door. If you’re planning to use mulch or pea gravel, be sure to start with a layer of landscaping cloth, to reduce future weeding chores.

4. Give your front door a “pop” of color.  Feature a bold paint color on your front door to highlight this entrance. For maximum impact, paint the storm door too, but nothing else. Repeating an accent color too many places dilutes the effect, by prompting eyes to jump from one splash of color to another all over your house.

5. Freshen up the mulch. Your entire property will look nicer with fresh mulch around foundation plantings and in flower beds. Fill any bare spots and apply a thin layer throughout, for color consistency.

6. Replace an old mailbox with a prettier version. A lovely mailbox helps your house put its best foot forward.

Eliminate Eyesores (With Labor)

7. Empty and store plant containers. Once the first frost hits, seasonal displays have done their job. Pull the plants, scrub the pots’ exteriors, and tuck them away for spring.

8. Remove ugly, unused fixtures. If you canceled your satellite service, ditch the dish. If you no longer love your awnings, remove them (or give them a good scrubbing, if you want to keep them for energy efficiency purposes). Scan your home’s exterior and yard for other unneeded, unattractive items.

9. Eliminate weeds in the driveway, walkway, and edges of the yard. Even the prettiest yard is blemished when weeds creep in around the edges or gain ground where they aren’t wanted.

10. Repair fences or gates. Regular maintenance will keep these features pretty and squeak-free through the colder months and for years to come.

11. Wash (or power wash) the house. Sometimes a good scrubbing of the exterior walls, soffits, and gutters will improve your home’s appearance as much as a fresh coat of paint—and for a lot less money!

12. Trim hedges, trees, and other plants. After growing all summer, it’s probably time to prune unruly branches, shape up those shrubs, remove “volunteer” saplings, and thin out overgrown, crowded plantings.

No matter what your budget may be, you can improve how you feel about your home with these single-afternoon projects! Freshen your home’s appearance now, before cold weather hits so that you can enjoy it even more during the “stay-closer-to-home” season.