As we all know, the weather in Illinois can get pretty dramatic with extreme temperatures ranging from the brutal cold to unbearable humidity. Thankfully, your home is your sanctuary against the summer’s sweltering heat and the winter’s gloomy chill. But staying inside should not prevent you from sprucing up your home’s exterior and maintaining it. So how do you ensure that your house always looks bright and welcoming in every season?
Curb appeal is your chance at a first impression on the neighborhood, family, and guests. Taking good care of the exterior of your home shows people you’re proud to be a homeowner. According to a study conducted by Michigan State University, a home with landscaping and effort put into curb appeal can increase perceived home value up to 11%! That’s right, investing in curb appeal is worth the ROI and even helps your home sell faster.
Whether you are looking to sell or just ready to spruce things up a bit, here are 23 Legal’s tips to help you maximize curb appeal in each season of the year….
Curb Appeal Tips for Every Season
Setting Up For Spring and Summer
- Update Your Hardware: Harsh winters can damage your exterior hardware, giving it a dull and shabby appearance. One of the quickest ways to boost your curb appeal is by replacing your hardware. You can choose new door handles, knobs, and house numbers, and replace them yourself. You can even liven up your exterior by selecting contrasting accessories. For example, if your house has a classic look, incorporating a few modern-themed accessories can change the look of your house, giving it a sleek feel without costing too much. Simple upgrades like these are inexpensive, but can still significantly increase the value of your home.
- Invest in Landscaping: Spring and summer are the perfect chance for you to add well-planned landscaping flourishes to your house. Mowing the lawn, trimming the hedges, adding new plants, and removing pesky weeds will give your house’s curb appeal a dramatic upgrade. You can even add flowers and brightly colored pots on the porch to add a more cheerful and vibrant look. Landscaping is often the first thing people notice when they see your home, be sure to make a great first impression!
- Add Color: Your main door is not just the entryway for your house, but also the focal point of its curb appeal. Painting your door is inexpensive and can be a game-changer. A bright pop of color against the lighter exterior colors of your house will instantly uplift the mood of your home, making it a welcoming sight. You can also add colorful accessories on the porch, echoing the vibrancy and joy the season brings.
- Add Porch Seating: Enjoy warm days to the fullest by adding comfortable seating to your porch. A few chairs with cushions create the perfect reading nook for summer. It will also help you engage more with nature and the outdoors and make the most of the sunshine. Sitting on your porch can even help you meet new people in the neighborhood.
- Go Symmetrical: With clear driveways and a porch, you have ample space to make your entryway look inviting, well-maintained, and sharp. Whether you have flower beds on either side or pots, ensure symmetry around your doorway to give a neater and more organized look to your entrance. Consider adding bushes or shrubs along the path.
- Refresh the Mailbox: Nothing is quite as welcoming as a brightly colored mailbox! Welcome the summer with a mailbox that is painted in brighter colors such as red, blue, or yellow. Or, if your mailbox is rusted and dented, consider replacing it with a fresh one. Mailboxes are rather inexpensive, so you can upkeep it every year if need be.
Welcoming Fall and Winter
- Clear the Snow: While a fresh, white blanket of snow looks mesmerizing, if it’s left lying there too long, the appearance quickly turns sour. Prevent this white accessory from turning a yucky brown! Clear the snow around your porch, off the driveway, and away from the hedges. Landscaping efforts are not as rewarding in harsh winters, but a clear driveway can offer a neat and well-maintained look and show your neighbors that you care.
- Outdoor Lighting: With fall and winter come shorter days and longer nights, which means less light outside. It’s dark a lot earlier this time of year. That problem can be solved by investing in ample outdoor lighting. Lights installed along your driveway, on your porch, and around the flowerbeds can create a soft warm glow around your home that increases visibility at night. Plus outdoor lighting prevents crime!
- Install a Bird Feeder: Keeping the local nature fed is beneficial to everyone involved. Installing a bird feeder in the winter is something you can do to add curb appeal. Birds arriving at different times of the day will add color to the dreary winter landscape, making your house look more unique than the others on the block.
- Festive Decor: Fall and Winter are home to some of our favorite holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Eve to name a few. It’s a time for festivity, joy, and celebration! What better way to celebrate than by decorating the house in gorgeous decor? Wintry, festive tones such as gold and silver add elegance and glamor. Adding ornaments in the garden can enhance the look of your lawn. You can also add a Christmas tree on the porch with warm lights for the perfect holiday look.
- Evergreen Plants: All of your spring-summer plants may not survive the harsh winter, but some plants do. Evergreens and bush hedges add greenery to the landscape without withering away under the cold temperatures. Juniper, blue holly, and boxwood too can withstand extreme temperatures and stay green throughout the year. Find seasonal plants to give life to your home all year long!
Giving your home’s curb appeal a boost can be just what your property needs for a fresh feeling. As a homeowner, engaging in regular repairs and maintenance will increase the value of your home. Regular upkeep ensures that when the time comes to sell, you won’t have a lot of work on your hands and can instead focus on a smooth sale.
As you can see, many of these curb appeal tips are things you can DIY (do yourself) and won’t require hiring a professional. Plus it’s a great way to greet guests and show your neighbors you’re proud to live in the neighborhood.
If you are in the market to sell your home, having a reliable and expert real estate attorney by your side is a must. Someone as experienced as attorney Ben Weaver can help you find and negotiate the best offer for your home and assist with the closing. At 23 Legal, we pride ourselves in making real estate law simple for everyone.
Our attention to detail, excellent customer service, and friendliness are some of what make Ben Weaver the most trusted real estate lawyer in Chicagoland. If you’re looking for someone to consult on real estate planning or transactions, connect with us today to find out what we can do for you.
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23 Legal offers Real Estate and Estate Planning legal services to individuals, families, community associations and small business owners throughout Chicagoland. We know how intimidating “the law” can be. In fact, when most people think of law offices, they think of stuffy leather chairs, huge wooden desks and pompous lawyers who charge outrageous fees. That’s not us! We believe in 1-to-1; the same lawyer should work with you all the way through. Whether you have an estate planning issue, family trust concern, or you have a legal problem in regard to a new home, business, real estate or remodel, you need a lawyer who cares. That’s where Ben comes in! We are great listeners; more than that, we are lawyers who believe that our clients always come first.
