The landscape: Set your gardens with depth of field
Don’t jam all your planting right against the house. Start from the front of your home, work your way down towards the street, don’t be shy, and come out toward the sidewalk. Front-yard gardens provide a friendly buffer, colourful edging and visual interest to the pedestrians and drivers alike.
The front wall of the house: Change the architectural look by merely adjusting the proportion of materials
Who says that if a door is made of wood, you cannot carry that onto the adjacent wall? This is a fantastic trick to make the front entrance appear grander. The smaller the home, the bolder your move should be. The new material’s proportion should be in harmony with the other elements of your front wall, such as windows and porch roof.
These days you can choose from many finishes that can be applied even on top of the materials you have, making this a mid-budget renovation. For example, adding wood composite panels to a brick facade will instantly modernize the home and be much cheaper than removing the brick and replacing it with something else.
The front doors: Change the entrance door and while at it, consider a better garage door as well
Garage doors are often left out of the curb-appeal discussion, yet they take up substantial frontwall space, implicitly having a significant visual impact. This is an opportunity to really spruce up your curb-appeal by cleverly installing a more appealing door.
If you choose to do so, make sure the colour and style are integrated with the rest of the home’s front since, after all, you don’t want this to stand out in the wrong way.
Lights: Always have them… or at least one
Wall lights next to your front door can be attractive both in daylight and at night. Choose a piece that reads well through its shape and combination of materials. Consider how the light shines out from it and the shadows and light shapes that it will leave on the wall at night.
Decorate: Add outdoor furniture and planting but all within the style of the architecture.
If you have a front porch, for instance, add conversational seating. There is something so neighbourly about having two chairs on a porch. Especially now, having a friendly-looking front is pleasant, positive and embracing. With so much time at home, we might as well engage in curb-talk, and curb appeal is all about a breezy, friendly chatter.
Adriana is a multiple award-winning designer and founder of Dochia Interior Design in Toronto. She is known for her practical creativity and a unique talent that builds refined and beautiful connections between people and their surroundings. Contact her at: 416.492.7451×105
Photos: Chris Harrison
Design and Architecture by Dochia Interior Design