Six Really Simple Steps To Add Kerb Appeal To Your Home (In Just a Day Or Two)

Step One: Give Your Front Door A Facelift

Often neglected, our front doors can sometimes be one of the last things we choose to update. A surprising fact, as they are the one of the first things that we and our guests notice! A dull, faded front door can really devalue the look of your home, but it’s one of the easiest (and cheapest) things to update. Simply applying a lick of paint can uplift your door in a matter of hours and it’s also worth paying attention to the colour you choose. Country Life magazine has found that estate agents rate blue as the door colour most likely to sell a house!

Symmetry also sells and can easily be achieved with the addition of carefully placed planters and well-kept plants at your front door. A matching door number, mailbox and other hardware in slate, wood or metal will also add extra polish. And if you need to replace…

Step Two: Effortlessly Create An Elegant Entranceway

Without doubt, few home renovations will create the instant and lasting impact afforded by a stone portico. As well as offering lots of practical benefits (a portico will not only shield you and your visitors from the elements, it will also protect your door from harmful UV rays), it will transform your property’s facade almost overnight. Chosen by some of the world’s most revered architects and designers, a portico can either be incorporated into a new build design, or easily retro-fitted onto almost any property. The benefits don’t stop there…

With Haddonstone, not only can you choose the ideal colour and material to match your property’s stone or brickwork, they can even custom make your very own unique design. So, whether you prefer octagonal, or rectangular designs, two, four, six or eight columns, or would even like to add a balcony above your porch, you have almost limitless choice!

Installation is usually very straightforward, taking around two days. What’s more, a portico is surprisingly affordable, with prices starting at £3000 on application.  A great investment as adding a portico can significantly increase the value of your property.

Step Three: Perfectly Positioned Plants

Well-kept front borders and gardens will help add instant kerb appeal to any property – but you don’t need to be an experienced garden enthusiast, or have bags of free time to make a real impact!

We love the simplicity of Buxus sempervirens, which look stylish when clipped into tidy pyramids and balls. Place in tall planters either side of your doorway for a quick, affordable and symmetrical update. Plus, these easy to care for evergreen shrubs will provide fresh, green colour all year round. Voila! A very simple and quick update.

Front gardens can benefit from a combination of structural, evergreen shrubs for year-round interest, with the colourful pop of flowering perennials. A classic English country garden look can be achieved with bright and beautiful lavender, roses, foxgloves and peonies. These plants will not only offer sensational colour, they will also attract pollinators and bring a heady perfumed scent right up to your front door.

Clean, crisp landscaping with stone, wood and textural planting is also a great option for contemporary homes and anyone who wants to achieve a simple, easy to maintain front garden.

Keep hedges tamed and your lawn in top-top condition with a regular mow and irrigate during the hot, summer months.

With just a little time and effort, you can create a smart front border to be proud of. Just remember to weed it regularly!

Step Four: Illuminate With Great Lighting

As the summer draws to a close, now could be a great time to install or update your outside lighting. Adding security lighting will help illuminate your driveway, porch or front door and offers reassurance when getting back home in the dark. It will also help deter intruders.

A simple pendant lamp looks effortlessly stylish positioned above a porch or doorway and with lots of styles to choose from, you will easily be able to find a design to match your style.

Outside lighting also adds a welcoming ambience to the outside of any home. Installing warm LED lights around the facade of your house, within your front border or lawn will create an inviting, magical glow in the cold winter. Carefully positioned uplighting can also be used to illuminate front garden fountains, statues and focal point trees such as colourful Acers.

With basic outdoor lighting starting in the region of £20, this could be one of the most valuable investments you make this year.

Step Five: Do Fix What’s Broken

A general tidy-up around the front of your property is one of the easiest and most effective things you can do to smarten up your home. Nothing will put potential buyers off more than unsightly broken gutters, gates and leaving your bins on display. Some quick front-of-house maintenance might include:

• Replace broken fences, gates and guttering
• Smarten up woodwork with a fresh coat of paint or wood varnish
• Sweep away fallen leaves and tidy up weeds
• Hide unsightly bins.

It’s always a good idea to hide unsightly bins, sweep away fallen leaves and tidy up any weeds from your pathway before visitors arrive. Speaking of which, a quick pressure-wash will usually bring neglected paving back to life, or you could consider revamping your pathway with smart, durable cast stone pavers and steps.

In just a couple of days, you can transform the front of your home with these really simple fixes.

Step Six: Add Some Personality

You’ve transformed your entranceway, tidied up your garden and added some mood lighting to your home. Why not add that extra little touch and inject your unique personality with a characterful stone animal or statue? We love these noble Jacquemart Hunting Dogs, which will guard your front door and are great talking point!

Or, if you have walls or gate piers in front of your home, why not finish them off with a stone finial – the perfect enhancement to walls, pillars and piers. Add your own unique style by topping them off with simple cast stone balls, majestic lions and eagles, or even a classic pineapple!