12 Inexpensive Weekend Projects That Will Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal

If you own a home, it’s never a bad time to think about your curb appeal. It’s a no-brainer when it’s time to sell, but making a series of small improvements over time will leave you with less to worry about once it comes time to list, at which point you’ll likely focus more on interior renovations. In addition, you will be able to enjoy a prettier and better maintained exterior of your home every day.

Calculating the cost of improvements and their potential ROI is always complex, but it is less so when the upgrades are inexpensive to begin with. You can handle many projects yourself in a few hours on the weekend, and with modest budgets (often less than $100). Here are a dozen of the best ways to boost your home’s curb appeal without draining your bank account.

Add a coat of paint or stain to spruce up your front door

The front door of your home is one of the first things people see and it has a huge impact on the perceived value of the home. Installing a new front door can have a nearly 200% return on investment, but if the average cost of around $2,300 is a little too much for your blood, simply painting or staining the door can add thousands of dollars to the value of your home for a cost of less than $100 in materials and a few hours of your time.

Add an awning over the front door

Installing an awning over your front door or other entrances is not an expensive or difficult project, and it can add both beauty and practicality to the exterior of your home, protecting you from rain and drips from your roofline. It also makes your front door more welcoming to guests, who won’t have to stand out in the elements waiting for you to answer their door.

Repair and seal your driveway before small cracks become a big problem

Your driveway should be considered part of your landscaping because its condition is part of people’s first impression of your home. A cracked, crumbling and stained driveway says all the wrong things (and is a warning of a big repair bill coming sooner rather than later), so cleaning and sealing it will go a long way.

1. Sweep away dirt and debris

2. Clean thoroughly with a power wash (you can use dish soap and your garden hose in a pinch)

3. Fill the cracks with a quality asphalt or concrete crack filler.

4. Seal the concrete or asphalt with a suitable product.

The total cost will be around $300.

Hang Outdoor Art to Make Your Home Stand Out

A simple and affordable way to make the exterior of your home pop is to hang exterior wall art. For just a few dollars (this dog-themed piece is just $16, for example), you can give your home’s exterior a bit of your personality, eliminate boring empty spaces, and make your outdoor spaces more visually interesting. This will encourage guests or potential buyers to view these spaces as finished and invite them to imagine themselves using these spaces.

Plant Trees to Increase Your Property Value

A simple way to beautify the exterior of your home is to plant trees. Trees certainly add to the curb appeal and value of your property. Trees provide shade, which makes outdoor spaces more comfortable (and can even help keep your interior cooler by blocking some of the sun), and they give an outdoor space an organic, cozy feel. It can even be a $0 investment, as many cities and towns offer free tree programs, so if you’re willing to invest, the project doesn’t have to cost you anything.

Upgrade your mailbox

If your home has a mailbox on the edge of your property, there are many benefits to improving it. For one thing, a larger mailbox can accommodate packages, which means fewer crushed items and “we missed you” slips. And a stylish new mailbox will give a little boost to the home’s overall curb appeal.

While you’re at it, consider creating a mailbox garden, if there’s space for it. Building a simple raised garden bed around the mailbox and filling it with native flowers or spreading plants will enhance the mailbox and extend the influence of your landscaping.

Refresh your garage door with new hardware and paint

Your garage door is literally an important aspect of your home’s curb appeal – typically anywhere from 50 to several hundred square feet of outdoor space. If it looks a little gloomy, no amount of landscaping or other tricks will make your home look good. Fortunately, upgrading your garage door does not require costly replacement, provided the door is in good physical condition. A coat of good quality exterior paint can go a long way. And you can also make your garage door look more luxurious by adding faux hardware, whether permanently attached or using magnetic versions. Doing both will cost less than $100.

Add or replace your outdoor lighting

If your front door is a dark, gloomy place, adding some lighting (or replacing what’s there) will make your home much more welcoming. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars and hire an electrician either: you can get battery- or solar-powered outdoor lighting that installs with just a few screws. Not only will it make your outdoors a little nicer, but it also means not having to fiddle with your phone’s flashlight when you come home late and can’t really see your keys.

Replace your house numbers with something stylish

If your home address is hard to read, it may be difficult to find. And if your home’s address numbers are discolored or rusted, it won’t have an effect on the rest of the home’s curb appeal. Replacing these numbers is quite simple and you have an incredibly wide range of styles to choose from, so you can really match or increase the exterior style of your home. You can of course make personalized address plaques, but you can find address numbers that attach via screws or adhesive if you’re not in the mood to break out the power drill.

Install window planters to hide your outdated windows

Whether your windows are new or a little weathered, you can easily improve their appearance (and therefore the appearance of the entire house) with the addition of planters. They extend your landscaping across vertical space, creating a unified, cohesive look, and help frame your windows with color and architectural interest. You can simply place freestanding boxes on the ledge if there is room, or install something more permanent for a more upscale look.

Install Ornamental Shutters to Add Visual Interest

Just like wall art, shutters can fill empty space on your exterior walls and create visual interest. They also involve some whimsy (that’s a technical real estate term) that can make the entire house a little more expensive. But, secretly, it’s an inexpensive and easy upgrade: You can buy a pair of durable, paintable vinyl shutters for less than $100, and they install easily, instantly transforming your exterior appearance.

Paint your gutters to make them stand out

If your gutters are standard white, they are an opportunity to make the exterior of your home pop a little more, because you can paint your gutters as easily as anything else. Choose a strong accent color, choose an exterior paint that matches the material of your gutters (plastic or metal, usually), and transform them by spending a few hours painting (taking extra care if you’re on a ladder, of course).