Improving Curb Appeal Essentials


Are you afraid that people who come to your home either want to leave before ringing the bell or judge you harshly from the sidewalk? Well, perhaps you have reason to worry and it is time to work on improving  your curb appeal for a warm and welcoming front entry.

My neighbor’s house is about 12’ from my house and we look at it every day, multiple times of day. We both agreed that improving curb appeal was essential and I was lucky enough to work on the project.

On the upside, the 1920 bungalow had a lot of potential. On the downside, there was much more work that had to be done then what met the eye. For example, the entire front porch had to be rebuilt since it was built out of “scraps” – probably from a neighbor’s home.  Scott Builders of Portsmouth did an amazing job throughout the project to improve curb appeal.

Here are the Key Design Elements to improve curb appeal while renovating this front porch into a warm and welcoming front entry:

The front door. The existing front door of this house was actually beautiful but extremely drafty. So we removed the door, stripped it, replaced the glass with new thermal beveled glass and, voilà – a reclaimed beautiful door true to the home’s history. Thank you Minutemen Painters!

Lighting. Make sure your light fixture works and the design blends with the architecture. A wonderful outdoor light fixture line is Northeast Lantern.

Paint. The color of the house is essential to wrapping up a good project. HINTS:

Too much contrast is too much. If you have a lot of roof visible, stay a few shades within your roof color on the house body.

Consider your neighbor’s house colors. You don’t want to match or clash your neighbor.

Paint samples on all sides of the house to make sure that you like it and give yourself about a month for this process. Minuteman Painters did a great job on this as well!

Stairs: Risers, Treads, Handrail and Newel Post. Material selections for the stairs is a very big (and expensive) decision – be prepared and educated. On this house, the risers are white and the treads (what you stand on) are mahogany then these finishes are repeated again in the handrail and newel post for cohesiveness.

Doorbell. I go to a lot of houses and I can’t tell you how many doorbells don’t work. It’s awkward to stand there and not know if you should knock or what? If your doorbell doesn’t work, remove it and add a doorknocker or get it fixed.

If you want advise on how to  improve your curb appeal by designing a warm and welcoming home entry or choosing your final material selections, just let me know and I’m happy to help! I can’t wait to come over and hear your doorbell ring!

 
 
 

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