When you arrive home after a long workday, the very first thing you see is not your comfy couch or expensive TV set but the path leading up to your front door. While you walk on that rugged path, you’ll see your garden, garage, or lawn, along with all the toys, outdoor furniture, and tools are strewn about.
However, since tomorrow is another workday, you won’t have time to fix everything up until the weekend comes. But when the weekend comes, you’ll probably be too busy catching up on some quality time with your family, sleeping in, or doing household chores to prepare for another week.
This leaves the outside of your home looking like a mess while you’re going out of your way to make sure that the inside is spotless. While there’s nothing wrong with this per se, leaving the exteriors of your house messy can be a sight for sore eyes, especially if you have friends or family coming over.
Although you won’t always have the time to pick up after your entire family, what you can do is make some improvements that will surely increase your house’s curb appeal. This way, you won’t have to keep worrying about the place being a complete mess when you’re not around. Here are four upgrades you can do:
Build a Patio
If you enjoy eating your breakfast in the open air so you can feel the morning sun on your face, you’ll benefit from having a patio built. This way, your outdoor furniture will have a permanent home instead of just being strewn about every which way because they aren’t under anything.
Besides, it’s fairly easy to build a patio. In fact, you can even take the DIY approach if you have a lot of time to spare. Of course, you’ll need an additional set of hands for this and a quick background on constructing patios, but once you have all that set, this will be a piece of cake.
You can also get awnings installed so you can protect yourself from the intense heat of the sun. With the retractable shades, you can also reduce the amount of sunlight entering your windows and doors, which can help you save on energy costs because you’ll be able to control the internal temperature much better.
Install Paving
A grassy path is all good during days with clear skies, but it’s an entirely different issue when it rains. That’s because, to get to your front door, you would have to walk on the grass, which means crossing water puddles and leaving mud tracks everywhere. That’s not only irritating but also hard to clean.
But if you have a paved path from the sidewalk up to your front door, you won’t have to worry about all that. You can easily walk to and from your front door without having to deal with mud. Plus, it can make your entire house look more appealing, even more so if you can install paving up to your garage as well.
Do Landscaping
There’s nothing worse than having an unruly lawn or yard because aside from it looking abandoned. It can also be the perfect place for pests to breed. Having tall grass, sloped land, or overgrown weeds can all cause different problems for your lawn, which is why you should at least do some basic landscaping.
Landscaping isn’t about getting the most expensive grass type in the market or forming animal figures on your bushes; it’s about keeping the place as neat as you can. So, don’t forget to turn on the sprinklers once or twice a week to keep your grass hydrated. And mow the grass every 15 days or less for good measure.
Set up Fencing
If you often have trouble keeping wild animals out or keeping your small children in, then you’ll benefit from building a fence around the perimeter of your house. Not only will the fencing increase your house’s curb appeal, but it can also deter any thieves or unwanted people from trespassing onto your property.
Plus, the fencing can help protect your small kids or pets because it can keep them from crossing the street when you aren’t looking. You can have professionals build your fence, but you can also DIY it if you have a lot of time on your hands. It can even be a good way to bond if you have any teenage kids.
Improving the appearance of your home doesn’t have to break your bank, especially if you can take alternative measures to achieve them. It also doesn’t take a whole village to increase your curb appeal if you know how to play your cards right. So, don’t waste another second looking at your messy lawn if you can do something about it.
