If you want your front yard to have those Pleasantville vibes, look no further. We have the best tips to up your home’s street appeal.
Whether you’re looking to sell or simply want an enviable street presence, there’s no time like the present to get cracking on facade improvements.
Follow these steps to get sparkling street appeal.
Lawn care
Most of us think a little mowing and watering is sufficient for a lush, green lawn. Wrong!
Proper lawn care requires fertilising and conditioning to thrive.
When your lawn looks this good… Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Lawn care specialists, Munns® Professional, have four products that can help get you a picture-perfect lawn.
If you have a patchy lawn that needs to be restored from Summer heat, Root Regenerator™ Soil Improver ‘reprograms’ the grass to grow and increase its root development making it more resilient and able to recover. If you want a more vibrant lawn, Green Dominator™ Lawn Fertiliser contains vital nutrients that will literally make it greener.
Meanwhile if you’re trying to grow a whole new lawn, Lift Off™ Lawn Fertiliser helps stimulate root growth and encourages new grass roots to spread on both laid and seeded lawn.
Finally, Smart Wetter™ can benefit most lawns as it helps retain moisture, reducing the need for more watering. This is particularly great for dry conditions – or basically anywhere in the Australian summer.
Fresh paint can provide an instant face lift for your home – just don’t forget to get a paint product that is suitable for outdoor conditions.
The colour choice is all yours. Picture: realestate.com.au/buy
Whether you’re painting the entire facade, or just freshening up certain features (gutters, window frames, the door), here’s an easy rule of thumb: pick a single colour.
If you go with grey, find complementary light, mid and dark tones in this hue. You can then use any combination of the three. For example, a mid-grey for the walls, a light grey for the gutters and frames, then a nice charcoal or glossy black door.
While colour is a personal choice, stick to neutrals if you want to sell in the near future. If you still can’t resist an opportunity to express your creativity, concentrate bold colour choices to your door or maybe even your letter box.
If you have a driveway or path, the first thing you should do is try to seal up or fix any cracks, chips or holes that are an issue.
Next, clear any weeds or overgrowth that make it look scruffy and unkempt.
Finally, give it a good clean. You can always hose it down and scrub with a broom, or you could rent a pressure cleaner to deep clean any tile grout or cracks and make it shine like new. Plus, it’s more fun!
While enlisting the help of a professional can be a great investment, if you want to go the DIY route, just do plenty of research and carefully consider your layout.
Keep front yard planting low-key unless you have the time for garden maintenance. Picture: Unsplash
The best starting point is the store assistant at your local hardware store or plant nursery. Ask them to make suggestions based on your gardening expertise, personal aesthetic and, most importantly, local climate and soil. If you don’t have much of a green thumb, find out which plants are native and will therefore require minimal care in order to thrive.
If you want a quick solution, go the potted plant route. Invest in a few mature bushes or trees to sit around your entryway or pathway for a more instant, polished look.
You don’t want to put all this effort into a perfectly manicured front yard only to have it obscured by an unsightly fence. In fact, nothing could be less appealing than a rickety, broken, chipped haunted house-style fence!
First, get to work on maintenance and repair. Patch up any loose panels or bricks and give it a fresh coat of paint if needed.
If it’s too far beyond repair, consider if it’s worth removing the fence altogether. On the flip side, if you don’t have a fence, adding one in can create a more formal and sophisticated facade.
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