I’m an interior pro – 6 ways to add value to your home in a few hours – pay attention to your front door for starters
NOW the weather is warmer, many people are sprucing up their homes and gardens for summer.
According to experts, there are a number of ways you can easily add value to your house with a few simple tasks that take a matter of hours.
Camilla Lesser, interior expert at Essential Living, shared six tips on adding value to your home’s exterior, which shouldn’t cost you the earth.
1. Spruce up your front door
If you’re wanting to add value to the exterior of your home, a great starting point is to upgrade or update your front door to make it look more welcoming.
Before you start spending money on paints and paintbrushes, it’s worth giving your door a good clean to see if that helps its appearance.
Mix equal parts water with dish soap or vinegar and scrub your door lightly with a soft sponge or cloth.
It’s also beneficial to clean and tidy up your front garden and curb so that when potential buyers come over, the pathway to your front door looks neat, well-maintained and cared for.
Painting your front door doesn’t have to be an expensive job, in fact, it can work out a lot cheaper than having to purchase a new one.
When you’re deciding on what colour to go for, consider safe options such as; blacks, greys, blues, deep reds, navy blues and natural woods, as they have timeless appeal.
Having rich, deep colours can complement a variety of home styles and will make your home look more inviting, attracting more potential buyers.
In addition to cleaning and painting your door, take a look at your door knocker to see if that needs replacing too to fit the new style.
2. Paint your windows
Exposed to the elements, windows start to look a little worn and worse for wear after a long winter, so a fresh lick of paint is the perfect way to give them a new lease of life without having to shed a lot of money to replace them.
3. Install lighting
Installing lighting can really add value to your home, as well as improving safety and security.
Different lights can be placed in different areas depending on what your preferences are, for instance, spotlights on steps, lanterns on the porch or flood lights for lighting your driveways.
If you want your home to give off a luxurious and expensive look, make sure you steer clear of colourful, bright lights.
Softer, more subtle lighting for locations such as your garden can make the space more enjoyable and usable.
However, if you’re wanting to illuminate the entrance to your home for safety reasons, bright lights are beneficial in this case.
Outdoor lighting can also be very energy efficient thanks to LEDs.
Not only can you illuminate large areas, but they’re lower in utility bills, have reduced carbon emissions and the lower temperature means they’re much safer to handle.
4. Tidy and landscape your garden
Front gardens are hugely influential in welcoming your guests or potential buyers to your property.
Whether you choose to blend with the ‘look’ of your street, create a wildflower meadow or want to stick with something functional, it’s always good to consider what you would like to see if you were thinking of buying the house.
Kerb appeal is often about looking neat, well-maintained and cared about, so start by giving your patio a thorough clean and remove any weeds between the joints of your paving slabs, before washing it down with a hose or power wash.
To bring it all together, opt for neat maintained flower beds or shrub-lined pathways, leading your visitors directly to the front door.
Garden features that add the most value to a house
A well-kept garden can add anywhere between 5-20% to the value of a property.
Sellhousefast.uk carried out a study and consulted 36 estate agents, garden designers and property professionals from across the UK.
And the experts revealed the garden feature which adds the most value to a property is a shed.
- Shed – 82%
- Patio or paving – 76%
- Secure fencing, walls or gates – 72%
- Outdoor lighting – 66%
- Sturdy decking – 62%
- Water features eg. fountain or pond – 58%
- Modern garden furniture – 54%
- Artificial lawn/grass – 40%
5. Tidy up your balcony
If you live in a flat, cleaning up and tidying your balcony can be great for adding value to your home.
You should see your balcony garden as an extension of your living space, so selecting colours, plants and textures that tie in with the inside interior, will make the smallest of balconies look welcoming and homely.
Create some colourful patterns and designs with paint, jazz them up with decorations and accessories such as floor pillows, cushions and rugs and invest in some trendy lighting to really make your home look special.
6. Hide your wheelie bins
Wheelie bins can often feel like an unavoidable eyesore when facing the exterior of your property.
An everyday essential, they need to be accessible, but they needn’t tarnish your kerb appeal.
With a variety of solutions available, you can choose from standard wooden structures, screens, and bespoke units or you could go with more natural solutions such as plants and hedges.
To consider the kerb appeal of your property, we advise colour-matching the storage units to your window frames and front door, tying in the look of the exterior of your property.