10 Best Curb Appeal Before and After Makeovers
Updated: Jan. 30, 2024
Give your home a curb appeal makeover and get your neighbors thinking someone else moved in.
Repave a Driveway: Before
A well-maintained driveway keeps the front of your home looking good and is one of he first things guests and neighbors notice about your home. Weather beat on this driveway to the point that it deteriorated and needs repaving.
Repave a Driveway: After
Repaving your driveway is going to take the better part of a weekend but the good news is that it typically only costs around $100 to $150 to do it.
Before: Dull Exterior
Dullness is pervasive in suburbia but it can be dealt with by dressing up the exterior and creating new shapes.
After: A Place to Enjoy
This arched front porch gave new life to this home. The arches are graceful and make the home stand out in a square-shaped world.
Before: Standard Walkup
A home like this needs a little character and some angles to make it more interesting. See what we did to make the curb appeal more appealing.
After: Porch Paradise
A front porch can be a special place for people to gather, drink iced tea and catch up with neighbors. It’s an inviting space.
Before: Basic Concrete Steps
Rarely has anyone exclaimed over the sight of concrete steps. So adding some brick over them can liven things up.
After: Burgeoning Brownstone
Cover up concrete by using thin brick, which can be attached with some adhesive.
Entryway: Before
You’re home entryway doesn’t need to look like every other entryway on the block, well, unless you’re part of a homeowners association, then you might. But if you want some extra curb appeal that will make your home standout, then consider some updates to the entryway.
Entryway: After
Give the front of your home curb appeal by adding a trellis, arbor and low wall. These projects are all low-cost and easy enough to do yourself. This simple entryway face-lift will make your home more inviting and add value when it comes time to sell.
Before: Old, Broken Exterior Door
A new front door is a splashy way to improve your home’s curb appeal but it doesn’t always have to be a huge project. A coat of paint can do the job or just adding a storm door can do the trick. If someone were to just fix this door, the first place would be repairing the broken window screen.
After: Install a New Exterior Door
We decided to just get rid of the old door and replace it with a better-looking storm door. Storm doors can help improve your home’s energy efficiency and bring in more natural light.
Garden Edging: Before
If you’ve got a garden in your front yard, a simple edging project will add instant curb appeal. In this project we used brick pavers for a special touch that’s above and beyond typical edging projects in terms of aesthetics.
Garden Edging: After
Paver borders or a raised-bed border are great for the looks of your yard and also help prevent you from accidentally mowing over some of your flowers.
Outdoor Lighting: Before
Even beginners can add outdoor lighting to their home and we don’t mean those solar-powered lights you stick in the ground. Outdoor lights can highlight gardens and bring light to decks and patios.
Outdoor Lighting: After
You can buy complete outdoor lighting kits at home centers and you can create a breathtaking scene.
Before: No Color in the Front Yard
Adding a window flower box provides a simpler solution to adding curb appeal than a big landscaping project. Window boxes will bring a splash of color to the front of your home. Plant perky pansies or cascading flowers such as petunias.
After: Add a Wooden Flower Box
You can’t beat the look of a real wood window box on a home. Wood takes paint well, so you can tailor the box’s color scheme to complement your house. But ordinary wooden boxes rot out in just a few years, and plastic window boxes won’t rot but don’t look as nice as the traditional wood box.
Before: Crumbling and Cracked Brick
If your home has a brick exterior, an easy way to add curb appeal is to repair any cracks or worn mortar joints. Brick is one of the most prized exteriors for homes because it’s so attractive and easy to maintain. Yet over the years, water, ice and seasonal expansion and contraction all attack the solid mass of a brick wall at its most elastic (and weakest) point: the mortar joints.
After: Cleaned Up Brick Work
It’s a lot of work to clean up mortar joints but the renewed look pays off. You can usually repoint about 20 square feet of brick work a day.
