Sprucing Up Your Exterior on a Budget

There are easy and inexpensive ways to give your home's exterior a lift. Perhaps after a long winter you have noticed that your home is looking a little drabber than you would like. It may have been exposed to days and weeks of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Of course, aside from installing storm windows and blinds, and going outside to shovel snow, there was probably little else that was done to care for the outside of the home itself.

If you are worried that it will take a second mortgage to be able to pay to redo the siding or pay for a brand new landscaping job, you can relax. Very often there much simpler, inexpensive ways to get your home looking nicer in no time at all. Before you rush to your nearest bank and apply for that loan, first take stock of what stands out as needing attention.

Areas of Improvement

Are there areas where clutter has taken up space outside the home? Maybe shovels or rakes are leaning against a porch next to a scattering of old planters or empty flower pots. Maybe recycle bins are becoming a growing eye sore. If there is an excess of clutter around the outside of your home simply cleaning things up can instantly spruce things up.

Of course, it could also be that while you go through the clutter or do your exterior cleaning up that you come up with ideas for better places to store essential items. Buying storage containers in sturdy weather proof materials can be a quick, inexpensive fix to help keep the clutter from returning. Choose containers that complement your exterior or simply make it a point to buy storage containers and put them in a shed or garage where they will be out of site, but where your essential tools and other items are easily accessible.

Throw anything away that honestly has not been used in six months or a year. There may be garden tools you have kept outside, despite the season, aiming to get around to using. If you still have not gotten around to using the item, simply throw it away or give it away. In short, decluttering the outside of your home is a very simple sprucing up technique.

Once you have done this, you can take the exterior improvement a step further by decorating it. You do not have to invest, yet, in a large, fancy landscaping job. For a quick lift, arrange potted plants or flowers appropriate for the season in areas such as porches or entryways. If you do not feel you have time to care for real plants and flowers, it is perfectly fine to buy artificial ones.

While you could also consider painting your home to freshen it up, if that seems like a little more than you would like to involve yourself with you could consider painting trims or doors. Adding a little color can transform the whole look and feel of the home. Even if you do something as simple as paint a garage door, it can make the entire home look as if it has been renovated.

A Weekend Project

You can always improve on the little changes you make later. But for now, just making the home more attractive will do a lot for your spirits and it actually can boost the homes value, too. Sprucing up your exterior on a budget in simple ways like these can also be done virtually in a weekend afternoon, so even the busiest person can find time to give their home a new lift.