Top Tips for Improving Curb Appeal and Staging Your Home This Fall
Nothing says welcome like a front porch. Greet guests and buyers with a great front porch. Your front entryway speaks volumes about your home—make it warm and welcoming with a few simple tips. Give your door a fresh coat of paint, update house numbers and lighting fixtures, and hang a fall wreath on the door. If your home has a covered porch or entry area, add a bench or other seating and dress them up with a cozy marshmallow or faux fur throw and outdoor pillows in warm fall leaf like hues with plaid or cooler weather designs. Add some outdoor lanterns to give the space ambiance and a feeling of warmth. Accessories such as a box of logs, a basket of faux apples and a big jar of pine cones will complete the cozy look. Place a couple of pumpkins on either side of the entry and include a stylish welcome mat in a fall theme to show buyers and guests that they are entering a warm and inviting space. If you would like to really spruce up your front porch area, adding some stone veneer is a great way to give it an appealing look. You can have the impression of stone or brick without the mortar and mess!
These gestures are easily the most important to your overall curb appeal and can make all the difference.
Make a good first impression. A prospective buyer’s first impression of a home is the exterior. Make sure to rake any leaves, trim bushes, clean gutters and use seasonal flowers, like mums to keep the exterior looking fresh. Remember, curb appeal is as important as the interior. It’s the first thing that your potential buyers will see.
Fall mulching. Use rubber mulch to beautify flowerbeds, shrubs or just about any outdoor area that would typically be covered with traditional mulch. Rubber Mulch will keep moisture where it needs, and prevent weeds from taking hold, while keeping soil temperature even for tender plants. With rubber mulch, you can also select from a variety of colors to design the aesthetic look of fall. In addition, it won’t blow away and is weather resistant so it will stay put and look good even once fall storm season hits. Storm season can cause damage in other areas of your home though, so it is recommended that you reach out to a storm damage contractor for any necessary repairs. In general, the longer you wait, the more damage will be done.
Plant evergreens and boxwoods. Plants that retain their green during winter add a freshness that’s hard to come by during the cold months. Plant hedges and bushes around your home and add pots to your front porch. And don’t forget to keep them neat and trimmed.
Paint away. A fresh coat of paint is a very cost effective way to freshen the interior of your home. Select rich shades of brown or cream, that provide a cozy and neutral backdrop. Use accessories like pillows and throws in warm fall like tones to add pops of color.
The smells of Fall. Find opportunities to use fall scents including pumpkin, cinnamon, and apple in your home. Candles can be an effective ways to fill your home with a fall scent, just be sure to burn them for a while before buyers get there and blow them out before you leave.
Light it up. As days start to get shorter in fall, the importance of well-lit rooms becomes paramount. Before any house showings, make sure to turn on ALL your lights, open the blinds, open the shutters, and push back the drapes on every window. If there are any rooms without windows, make sure to accessorize with lamps. If your home has an electric fireplace, turn that on as well to invite guests to relax and .imagine themselves living in the house.–It is fascinating what you can achieve when it comes to upgrading your indoor spaces and making your family and visitors feel comfortable. Not just by opening your windows but also by putting some customizable “clothes” on them, enhancing their appearance using luxurious timber plantation shutters. A personal touch you will never regret.
Add space. Natural or artificial light makes rooms look bright and big. Warm accents, like decorative pillows, glass vases, house plants, tend to make people relax. De-cluttering and organizing is crucial if you want to make the rooms in the home look more spacious.
Do a deep cleaning of the entire home. You’d be surprised at how closely prospective buyers will look at baseboards, cabinets, and sinks. Along these same lines, go through the house and declutter. Organize household items and keep them out of sight.
Make the fireplace a focal point. This is the time of year that potential buyers can most see themselves cuddled up on the couch with a good book. Consider staging a small sitting area around it.
Exterior maintenance. Attend to needed updates before the cold weather. It’s crucial to invest in needed structural updates to your home before winter hits. Not only does it keep up the value of your home, but it can stop further damage from being done. Power wash the exterior to clean up the vinyl and wood siding, repair any loose shingles, replace roofing that is leaking or damaged, clean gutters and downspouts, repair or replace old windows, and seal cracks with caulking. Remember that maintenance is important even if the updates are not visible by driving by your house – especially something like water damage caused by clogged gutters or drains. If you’re in need of having them cleared, Clean Pro Gutter Cleaning NJ and companies similar all have websites with information on how to clear them and avoid blockages in future.
Fix-up windows and trim—replace broken glass, fix the caulking, scrape and paint the trim, and clean the inside and outside of the windows until they shine. Brackets and decorative moldings can also really make your exterior pop and are easy to install. Add a couple of window boxes to offer a cottage-like, homey appeal.
Add outdoor lighting. Consider adding outdoor lighting that will add interest and warmth to your home during the colder, darker months when daylight is limited. The outside of your home may look dreary and dark, but updated wall mount lighting and hanging lanterns will give your home a much needed warm glow during this time. Think about adding lighting to the landscaping and walkway, a hanging pendant light to the front doorway and additional lighting near the garage.
Don’t forget about your driveway and sidewalks. Keep the driveway and sidewalks clear of leaves, branches and debris. Make sure your driveway and sidewalks look tidy, even if they’re not in their summer prime. Rake up the leavesand make sure all your summer décor is put away for the winter months, along with dead summer or fall plants and planters discarded vs. piled up waiting to be thrown. Before the cold weather fully sets in, fill in any cracks in your driveway to prevent further damage from the weather.
About Rhianna Miller:
Rhianna Miller is the House/Yard Improvement and Design Expert at https://rubbermulch.com/, the original and environmentally responsible mulch made from 100% recycled rubber used in gardens, playgrounds and sustainable landscaping. Rubber Mulch is weather resistant, durable, and the most cost effective mulch around and is specifically designed to protect children from falls on the playground.
Hello Heather W., this is really great advice! Our family is planning to rebuild the house, and is expected to be completed early next year. I am looking for some house decor, I like your helpful advice, it will definitely help my family. Great!
Hi Heather,
Thank you for the great tips! By doing these small changes, our homes are going to have such a nice and upgraded look. Which plants would you suggest we keep at the front porch? Would love to hear about that.
Thanks! It’s also interesting that you can be nominated for a free makeover. Your friends and family might be able to tell an inspiring story and make producers select your home for a makeover. Many non-profit organization have free home renovation programs. It’s worth a try, maybe 🙂
There are a lot of cool ways to improve your curb appeal! When it comes to painting your front door, there are a million colors to choose from but only one real option for the finish. Semigloss paint gives you a smoother surface than lower-sheen finishes and has a degree of shine, providing a visual contrast 🙂
Hey Heather! Thank you so much for writing this wonderful article. The tips you gave above are indeed very helpful and I’m sure by following them I can improve my house’s look. When it comes to improving the overall look of your place, the most important thing to focus is always exterior. A good choice of color and high quality paints can really add to the curb appeal I think.