How To Beautify a Boring Exterior
Have you ever taken a look at your home and felt yourself at a loss as to how to add some character to it? Pinterest and Instagram are filled with beautiful and inspiring images, but where do you start when your home is much smaller, a bit dated (but not in a cute historical way), or lacks the articulation that the homes in those images have?
There is a home along my running route that is exactly that. I’m not saying these homeowner’s are neglectful, the house appears to be very well taken care of. It’s just very plain. Every time I run by this house I can’t help but think “If they just added some window trims…” or “A full width deck off the front would do so much for this house…”
So today I wanted to talk about a few things you can do to dress up a plain exterior without touching the original structure of the home.
Dress Up Those Windows
While replacing the existing windows with windows that have grilles would certainly help, that on it’s own doesn’t have as much of as impact as you think it might.
So before you run out and start getting quotes for new windows, I would suggest considering some window and door trims, flower boxes below the windows, or even incorporating some decorative shutters. These changes are so much more impactful and can easily be incorporated without breaking the bank.
Incorporate Some Accent Materials
While I was thinking about this post I realized that there is a lot that I could talk about when it comes to re-siding your home and incorporating accent materials. So rather then going into a lot of detail here, I’m going to keep it short and sweet and follow up with a whole other post about accent materials, what to think about before incorporating them, and the common mistakes I see people make.
In the meantime, below are two ideas I came up with which show how accent materials could be added to make this house a little more interesting.
Add A Deck
I am big fan of front decks. When I’m looking at sprucing up a home, (that doesn’t have a front attached garage) adding a front deck is the first place my mind goes. Not only are they super cute, they can be added without touching the main structure or much of the existing siding.
Cover The Entry Door
Even though I’m a firm believer in the power of a front deck, I know that not everyone shares my love of them. If a full or partial width deck isn’t for you, you can still add a ton of interest by building an extension off the main roofline that covers just the entry steps. You’ll still achieve that same welcoming feel that you would get with a front deck, but without all the extra shoveling in the winter ;)
Columns would likely be required to support any roof projection over 3’, but don’t let that scare you. They are a great way to add even more interest to your home!
Take It One Step Further
And if you really want to go all out, in my opinion adding a covered front deck is the best thing you could do to completely transform your exterior. Just like the covered entry above, a larger gable spanning the full width of the deck could be tied into the existing roof line. Combine that with some shakes and heavy columns and suddenly you’ve turned this plain exterior into a cute little Craftsman style home.
Don’t Forget About Landscaping
You can’t see it in the photo I’ve taken because of the 2’ of snow that’s on the ground (gotta love Edmonton winters), but the front yard in the home I’m using as an example for this post has only been sodded. Again, there is nothing wrong with that. I can certainly appreciate wanting a low-maintenance yard. But if the goal is to dress up the exterior, the front yard landscape really is the cherry on top.
Take a look at the three homes below. They are all relatively simple in shape, similar to the one I’m using as example, but they all include all of the changes I’ve mentioned here in this post. And while these homes are certainly beautiful on their own, the front yard landscapes really brings these homes to life.
Did you find this post helpful? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
BY EMILY RADKIE
