5 Ways to Enhance Your Home's Curb Appeal

Next time you pull into your driveway, pretend you’re doing so for the very first time. Try to look at your home and its surroundings from a stranger’s point of view, and ask yourself, “Do I like what I see?” Hopefully, you’ll answer “yes” with regard to the big picture—after all, it really is your home! However, if it’s been a while since you updated any of the exterior features, it’s likely that you’ll follow that “yes” with a “but,” as in “but there sure is room for improvement!” If you find that your curb appeal is, well, less than appealing, you may want to take a closer look at the following features.

GARAGE DOOR

Does your home have the original garage door that was installed when the house was built? If so, it may interest you to know that garage doors have, to borrow a phrase, “come a long way, baby!” “When people think of garage doors, they think of the traditional white steel doors,” says Randy Burris, senior vice president and co-owner of Overhead Door Company of the Capital City. “But these days, you can literally sketch your dream door on a napkin and we can make it for you.”

With garage doors generally accounting for 20 to 40 percent of the front exterior of a house, they can have a huge impact on the overall look. Why settle for a generic garage door when you can choose one that coordinates with your front door, shutters and house trim? “The possibilities are endless,” says Burris.

He points out that carriage house doors are all the rage now, noting, “[They] combine old world design with state-of-the-art technology to replicate beautiful, period-style doors that compliment both new construction and tasteful retrofit.” But if that style doesn’t suit your taste, don’t worry; there are many more options to choose from. Garage doors are now available in a variety of styles and a variety of price ranges. “There are so many choices out there and we can always find one to fit any budget,” says Burris. “We welcome the challenge to help our customers find the perfect door that fits their budget.” He cites stamped steel doors, which mimic the look of embossed wood, as being very affordable, yet offering quiet engineering and enhanced safety features.

(Photo courtesy of Overhead Door Company)

FRONT DOOR

Obviously, the garage door isn’t the only door with which you need to be concerned. “The front door is the portal to your home and should be the first thing your eye is drawn to when coming upon it,” says Eric Burkam, with The Door Store of America in Raleigh. “It should also make a statement about the home’s architecture by helping to define the stylelines and ambiance of the general landscaping features.” With that in mind, you need to ask yourself if your current door is doing its job. If not, maybe it’s time to shop around for a new one.

Keep in mind that doors are available in many different styles—contemporary, traditional, transitional and craftsman, to name a few. Which of these styles is most complimentary to the architecture of your home? Of course, a number of different materials are now used to make doors, and Burkam advises, “The addition of a wooden door to a home will bring years of warmth to the look, which could never be achieved with manmade materials such as steel and fiberglass.” And when it’s time to decide on a finish, you’ll find that you can select one that matches your exterior siding or brick—or just about anything else you choose!

With “bigger is better” being the attitude driving much of today’s home building, it’s no surprise that this trend has carried over to doors. “Big doors are in,” confirms Burkam, noting that double-arched-top doors and half-round doors (some with transoms) that are eight feet tall are popular now. Of course, if you’re interested in simply updating or upgrading your current door, by far the easiest and most cost effective way to do so will be to adhere to the size and shape constraints already in place. Another trend Burkam has noticed: “Doors with wrought iron grill attachments are very much in vogue and continue to be on the cutting edge for today’s homeowner.”

With so many styles, finishes and embellishments from which to choose, it ought to be easy for you to find a door that you simply adore!

(Photo Courtesy of The Door Store of America)

ROOF

A shingle is a shingle is a shingle, right? Not so, says Jackie Locklear, owner of Locklear Roofing, an Apex company that has been in business over 25 years. Locklear says that if you want to upgrade the look of your home, one sure way to do so is to add some pizzazz to the roof by investing in architectural shingles (also known as dimensional or laminated shingles).
 
Architectural shingles are more expensive than standard 3-tab shingles, but Locklear says they’re worth the extra cost. For starters, they are heavier and thicker than 3-tab shingles, meaning that, not only are they more durable, but they’re also better able to hide flaws in the roof. Also, they usually have at least a 30-year warranty, compared to a 20-year warranty for standard shingles.

But where architectural shingles really pay off is in the appearance department, says Locklear. Whereas 3-tab shingles don’t provide any definition, she notes, architectural shingles “give a house a more rich and detailed look.” They have a textured effect, thus adding visual interest. “It upgrades the appearance ten-fold,” insists Locklear. From a woman’s point of view, she adds, “It’s like putting an outfit together and topping it off with a good hairstyle.”

Architectural shingles come in many different styles and colors, and choosing the right ones for your home will help unify all of the other elements, such as shutters, doors and trim work, says Locklear. She is seeing more and more builders opt to use architectural shingles on new home construction, testifying to the shingles’ increasing popularity with homeowners.

Several different roofing options are available to enhance your curb appeal.  Depending on the needs of your home, replacement roofing adds an aesthetic value to your home. In addition to architectural shingles, wood shake and singles, tile, slate and metal roofing are also popular choices in roofing today.

Wood shingles are considered “natural roofing” and is made from cedar, redwood and occasionally southern pine.  Tile roofing is available in concrete or clay as well as a variety of colors and shapes. In the southwest rounded tile is the most popular and lasts over 50 years. Slate roofing is high-quality and low-maintenance and lasts hundreds of years. Metal roofing is lightweight and durable and is available in shingles or panels.

 
MAILBOX

One thing that often gets overlooked during the exterior makeover of a home is the mailbox. It’s just so darn functional, that we tend to forget it can have aesthetic qualities, as well. But, if you think about it, when trying to improve your home’s curb appeal, it certainly makes sense to address the one item that actually is on the curb!

“A decorative black, aluminum, high-quality mailbox does enhance the curb appeal,” says Maury Taylor, owner of Development Resource Group in Raleigh.

Taylor typically works with developers, builders and homeowners associations, providing them with decorative street signs and matching mailboxes to give neighborhoods a polished, upscale look. But his mailboxes are also available to individual homeowners who are welcome to visit his showroom. (While he provides developers and builders with a turnkey package—product and installation—he says individual homeowners usually hire a handyman to take care of their installations.)

Taylor personally designed the products he sells, guided by the fact that he wanted nice-looking, but very durable, mailboxes. For this reason, he chose a baked-on, powder-coated, cast aluminum finish that won’t scratch off or rust. He uses solid brass for all numbers and letters, and his mailboxes are available in three colors—black, verde green and antique rust—and several different styles.

Taylor’s mailboxes cost in the $400 to $500 range—higher than you’ll pay at a typical building supply store—but he insists that the extra cost will pay off when the mailbox retains its appearance year after year after year. Plus, he notes that this is a relatively small investment for something that will substantially upgrade a home’s curb appeal.

FRONT DOOR
 

You have, no doubt, taken great care with the lighting inside your home—choosing the perfect chandelier for the dining room or just the right lamp for a bedside table. But, have you taken that same care with your outdoor lighting?

Outdoor lighting, has, of course, always been important from a practical standpoint. Centuries ago, people relied on the outdoor lighting of their day—candles and oil lanterns—to usher friends and family safely inside their homes during the nighttime hours. But, times have changed, and there is now another aspect of outdoor lighting that is equally important. “Unlike long ago, we don’t only concern ourselves with task lighting,” says Dottie Diener, branch manager with CES Lighting Design and Showroom in Cary. “We affect the curb appeal of the house with the new sconces, chandeliers and fans that are beautiful, stylish and UL-listed for wet conditions.”

Just as Locklear compared a great roof to a great hairstyle, Diener notes that choosing the right outdoor lighting—which includes landscape lights, as well as decorative lighting that accentuates the architectural lines of the home—is “like putting on the earrings and completing the outfit.”

Finishes that require no maintenance, such as oil-rubbed bronze and black, are especially popular now, says Diener, as is textured glass, which helps soften the light produced by the lamp or bulb. The biggest trend she sees now is a move by lighting manufacturers to make energy efficient lights more readily available to their customers. “People do not have to compromise style and selection in order to be energy efficient,” she says, pointing out that it is now standard practice by most companies to offer both incandescent and fluorescent versions of their fixtures.

Naturally, you’ll want to select fixtures that look great in the daytime, but just remember—it’s at night that your outdoor lighting will really shine!

Kathy Grant Westbrook is a freelance writer