5 Tips for Creating Curb Appeal on a Budget

We’ve all felt that calmness that settles in the house when the kids’ toys are put away, the dishes are done, the bed is made, and the laundry’s folded. The kind of harmony that occurs when everything is in its place.

Rarely do people create that same harmony with their home’s curb appeal. Great curb appeal ideas don’t need to break the bank, in fact, there are many ways to spruce up the outside of your house without making any major buys or taking on a redesign project.

Bring a sense of tidiness and character to your front door with these simple curb appeal ideas, DIYs, and yard projects that are budget-friendly and fun for the whole family.

Accent Your Entryway

If taking on a design rehaul of your front yard is not in the budget, there are simple ways to introduce landscaping elements to your home without pulling up grass and planting bushes. You can easily create front curb appeal with perfectly placed planters and your favorite houseplants.

There are so many plants at your disposal to use, take a look at your parks for inspiration, or pull ideas from around your neighborhood to find plants that you love. Create immediate curb appeal with matching, tall planters on either side of your front door to create a focal point and introduce some style to porches with limited space.

Using hanging pots for spider plants, lace ivy, and trailing succulents to create front curb appeal from any angle, and to keep plants out of reach of inquisitive little ones.

Play With Color

Once you’ve brightened up your entryway with some friendly, green plants, you can mix in even more color to the front of your house by repainting your front door. Take a walk around the community to get inspired, and look for recurring colors in your neighbor’s gardens and front yards.

Once you’ve gotten a sense of your community’s curb appeal aesthetic, it’ll be easier for you to settle on a shade that you and your neighbors will love. Place tape around handles, windows, and wood details to paint your door in sections, and sand down any rough spots to create an even coat.

With a small, angled brush, paint recessed or elevated details of the door first, following up with larger, flat surfaces. Apply a second or third coat and a touch up uneven sections.

Remove the tape once the paint is dry, step back, and marvel at how much curb appeal you can achieve with just a few coats of paint.

Clear a Path

Whether playing games, sharing stories, or enjoying a home cooked meal, few occasions are lovelier than evenings spent with family and friends. But what does game night have to do with front curb appeal, you might ask? One of the easiest and most budget-friendly front curb appeal ideas homeowners can make a reality is to simply create a clear path to the front door.

Illuminate a footway for guests with strategically placed lights, or lay stones and flowers to create a path from the driveway. Once you’ve defined a walkway, keep this area clear by periodically removing toys, sports equipment, or random gardening supplies that might accumulate over time.

Just as you would straighten pillows and dust shelves when guests come over, it’s important to consider tidying up any walkways or footpaths leading up to your front door. Once you create a habit of straightening up the front yard, whenever you do a weekly sweep of the house, your home’s curb appeal will noticeably increase without a serious blow to your budget.

Create Symmetry

While clearing a path is a great curb appeal idea for any budget, creating symmetry at your front door is a tried-and-true method for introducing elements of style without a remodel.

You can work with existing decor and simply rearrange these items until they create balance on your front porch. Or, if you’re ready for an upgrade, you can replace old porch lights with new, matching fixtures to bookend the front door, or install planters and DIY flower boxes to accentuate sunny windows.

Accentuate your front yard with your favorite plants evenly distributed on either side of your home’s front steps, or trim existing bushes to create uniformity and a focal point to your front door. Remember, creating symmetry does not mean throwing out the old and replacing it with two of something new, it just means striking a balance.

Care for Your Lawn

One of the best ways to improve and maintain your home’s front curb appeal is to invest time in lawn care. Research your area’s weather trends, understand the nutrition requirements of your lawn’s specific species of grass and designate time to aerating, trimming, watering, and weather prepping your lawn to improve its longevity.

Design projects and DIY curb appeal ideas are great for building your home’s personality, but even the nicest planters and updated lighting won’t hold a candle to a yard in obvious need of some TLC.

Creating curb appeal on a budget is a great way to elevate your home’s appearance and get your family involved in home improvement. You’ll achieve the design refresh of your dreams without touching a dime and develop some healthy habits along the way.