Several of my friends, including myself, have built new homes over the past few years. While the deals are absolutely amazing on entry level homes they can get costly with the higher end finishes. Adding custom cabinets to your kitchen instead of opting for builder grade options can add in upwards of $25,000 to the price. The cost of landscaping is even higher and the majority of the cost is for labor. So if you don’t mind a little sweat equity let’s start adding some new home curb appeal!
So this is what we started with. It was pretty much a blank slate. The neutral color palette is easy to work with, but, it’s quite boring and just blends in, AKA no curb appeal. Not to mention the lack of landscaping just isn’t welcoming at all. If you only have a few hundred dollars to work with I suggest adding landscaping to the front of the house so that when your guests are coming to see your new home it’s simply stunning & beautiful. Not to mention it’s welcoming to you every night you pull in from work!
I wanted to have a bold look. All the houses on this street are new and look pretty much alike. I like the contrast of dark and light colors together. Since this house was all light colors I decided to darken it up. The garage doors, shutters, front door, railing and the canopy at the front porch had to go darker. This not only add dimension to the home, but, it’s a great way to highlight the characteristics of the home.
Take note how you can hardly even see the beautiful railing on the front porch….
See how everything just pops now and comes together? The light fixtures and the house number got lost in the top picture, but, now they are noticeable. A few shrubs and a tree were planted out front and heavily mulched since this was a blank canvas. The homeowner also splurged and had sod laid {shout out to my Husband John and his crew!} so that the outside would be complete and polished! Now that’s some new home curb appeal!
Get This Look For Your New Home Curb Appeal:
The basecoat for the wood tone on the front door, handrails, shutters and garage doors is Sherwin Williams Deckscapes Exterior Acrylic Solid Deck Color in Cedar.
We stained the all of the pieces using Old Masters Gel Stain in Dark Walnut and sealed it with 2 coats of an Exterior Spar Urethane in satin to protect from sun and water damage.
*DIVA TIP: If you are working on large panels, add Tiki Torch oil into your stain using a ratio of 4 parts stain to 1 part Tiki Torch oil to avoid dry lines.
Take a look at the before and after pictures! Isn’t just amazing what a little sweat, paint and landscaping can do?
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