Yes, what’s on the inside counts—but when it comes to having an attractive home, what’s on the outside counts as well. Here are a few simple ways you can spruce up your home’s exterior and boost its curb appeal.
1. Replace Your Shed
By keeping everything from lawnmowers to trash bins to bicycles out of sight, a storage shed definitely improves the appearance of your yard… assuming that the shed itself isn’t an eyesore. Corrosion, dents, and punctures can transform your shed from an asset to a drawback. Often you can repair the damage yourself. But when you can’t, you should replace the shed. This is a golden opportunity to reevaluate how much storage, and how large a shed, you actually need, as well as to select a color or style that best compliments your house.
2. Add a Gazebo
A gazebo calls to mind the pleasures of a country cottage, even if you live in a suburb or a city. Just as important, it provides an inviting shady spot for dining outdoors and entertaining friends. Gazebos with curtains that can be opened or closed are especially versatile and will dress up any outdoor space. And when placed under a specially designed grill gazebo, your barbecuing equipment looks almost majestic (and the added shade makes grilling much more enjoyable).
3. Organize Your Firewood
Haphazard piles of firewood look sloppy. What’s more, it’s all too easy for logs to slip loose—and for someone to then trip over them. A firewood rack keeps your logs compact and tidy, and because it holds the wood above the ground, it minimizes rotting as well.
4. Declutter Your Porch and Patio
It’s all too easy for your patio or porch to become a dumping ground for everything from snow boots to paddleball racquets. Your outdoor shed is ideal for storing out-of-season gear, such as pool chemicals in winter. But come summer, you want those pool chemicals in easy reach, just as you want to be able to quickly grab your snowshoes in winter. A deck box lets you access those essentials in a flash while keeping them out of sight when they’re not in use.
5. Expand with a Solarium
Whether you call it a solarium, a sunroom, or a conservatory, this enclosed space with its walls of windows elevates the appearance of any home. It also enables you to savor the joys of outdoor living with the insect-free comfort of being indoors. If you opt for a wall solarium, which you anchor directly onto your house, and place it so that your back or side door opens directly into it, the solarium serves as an additional room, one you can enter without having to step foot outdoors. Not only will it look luxurious, but it will also add to the value of your home.
