What happens – or doesn’t – between the curb in front of your home and the home’s front door is known as curb appeal. It makes or breaks the potential buyer’s first impression.
It’s that important.
But, it’s the area around the front door that’s considered the focal point of the exterior of the home. While they may not be conscious of it, this area will be the potential buyers’ first impression.
Many homeowners are quite successful taking the DIY route to staging this area for maximum appeal. We’ve gathered some tips from the experts to help you get started.
Understanding landscape design is important
One of the principles of landscape design, according to the experts at Environmental Landscape Associates (ELA), a Doylestown, PA landscape architecture firm, is to ensure the landscaping near the entry area matches the home’s architecture.
For instance, while a free-flowing cottage garden in the home’s front yard may be the perfect choice for a Tudor cottage, when planted in front of a modern home it creates confusion and appears chaotic.
“Is your home a traditional colonial or a casual contemporary? The style of your home should trump your personal style preferences for the greatest curb appeal,” caution the pros at ELA.
Staging the exterior of the informal-style home
Informal-style homes, such as bungalow, ranch-style, Craftsman and cottage demand informal landscaping. Here, you can be creative in your use of hardscaping and plants. The aforementioned cottage garden works well.
Additional ideas to help you update the front of an informal-style home include:
- Line the walkway with flowers or evergreen plants to help draw the eye to the front door.
- Place lanterns near the front door.
- Add a coordinating door mat.
- Change the door hardware and house numbers to compliment the home’s architecture.
- Check all the lighting to ensure the covers are clean and the bulbs function.
Tips to spiff up the exterior of a formal-style home
Popular formal-style designs include colonial, Georgian and Greek revival. To coordinate and compliment the home’s exterior, landscaping should rely on organization and symmetry.
A good example of this is a carefully staged entryway with “two of everything,” according to the experts at betterhomesandgardens.com. Identical planters holding identical plants on either side of the door creates symmetry and balance.
Consider well-manicured boxwood shrubs, grown as a hedge, to line the walkway.
The key to success with a formal home is to avoid over-staging the exterior entry area. Keep it sophisticated and simple.
There is a lot to consider when it comes to increasing curb appeal. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about Rhode Island home’s curb appeal.
