Close entry 12/05/17 - Improve Your Kerb Appeal

Improve Your Kerb Appeal

There can be no doubt that a well maintained front door and surrounding area will make your house feel more welcoming to you and to visitors and will critically impact on the amount of ‘kerb appeal’ that is offered at the time that you come to sell your home.  Remember that buyers might be people who know the house and area, so make sure that your frontage always looks great!

1.  Take a long, hard look at your front door.  Ask yourself if it is time to paint or has that time long passed, and do you need to replace the whole thing?  There are some fantastic, low maintenance options available, so a little time and money spent today could represent a truly valuable investment in the longer term.  This is the time when you can think about improved security, adding additional light to your entrance area or hallway with some additional glazing and generally updating with a more modern design. 

2. Now put yourself in the place of the hard working delivery driver, working to a deadline, during the winter months.  Would s/he be able to see the number plate beside your door?  A delivery driver will tell you that just seeing the house numbers is the biggest challenge they face, especially in the winter, so make sure that you have a good sized, well placed number pate with a clear contrast between the digits and the background.  A simple, stylish design, well positioned and lit, will add to the ease of their job.

3. Equally, it’s helpful to visitors if the area around your front door is kept neat and tidy, and has additional lighting for the winter months.  Simple solar lights do this job perfectly and can be added to a walkway to help people find their way.  Encourage the family to put away bikes and toys and pick up and put away outdoor shoes so they are out of the way and out of the weather, ready to wear again the next day.

4. A front door mat, in good condition, makes an additional welcoming feature and helps to keep the hall or entryway, beyond the front door, a little bit cleaner.  There are lots of fun designs available and it is so easy to add this simple feature.

5. Finally you can dress up the surrounding area with well placed planters and pots.  If you know that you are not a keen gardener, consider opting for a low maintenance option such as an evergreen shrub or larger plant.  A well trained shrub or dramatic, architectural plant such as a Phormium, will continue to look great with minimal care.  Alternatively you could consider some seasonal planting, bearing in mind that it will need regular, possibly daily, care in the summer months, when watering and dead heading to keep it looking good, is essential.  Consider using pots and plants where the colours of flower and foliage pick up and enhance or provide a dramatic contrast to your front door and the surround.  You can also group smaller pots containing flowering plants for a pretty, cottage garden effect, and add smaller solar lights for continued interest after dark.  So go outside and imagine you are a visitor and think how you can improve your kerb appeal today, making your home more welcoming to one and all, and especially, to you.