Need Instant Curb Appeal? Here's How You Can Get It In A Weekend

Ideally, homeowners have plenty of time to get their homes in good shape before putting them on the market. Fresh coats of paint and strategic upgrades are considered an important part of putting a property's best foot forward so it appeals to as many prospective buyers as possible. However, life doesn't always happen along a convenient timeline, and homeowners sometimes find themselves having to plant that For Sale sign in their front lawn before they've really had a chance to spruce the place up. 

You probably also know that curb appeal is one of the most important factors in successful home sales. Common elements of curb appeal include lush, green lawns, carefully tended perennial borders, and planters brimming with colorful blooming annuals. But what happens when you need to get some curb appeal together over the course of a weekend instead of taking weeks to cultivate a beautiful landscape? Fortunately, there are ways you can upgrade your home exterior in a hurry. Following are just three quick projects that shouldn't take longer than a typical weekend afternoon to complete. 

Create a Unique Entryway

The front entryway should serve as the focal point of the home exterior. Painting the door and the trim and adding a small seating area provides focus and takes attention away from the less desirable aspects of your home exterior, such as a brown lawn. 

Repair Walkways 

Filling in cracks and replacing stepping stones will do wonders for the overall curb appeal of your home exterior. Performing minor repairs on walkways leading up to the home or around the sides and through the backyard not only reduces safety hazards, but it also provides balance and provides a pulled-together, cared-for impression. If your walkways aren't in need of repair but are nonetheless dingy and drab in appearance, giving them a good power washing can make them look like new. 

Apply Mulch to Your Landscaping 

The best way to give your landscaping a quick, noticeable upgrade is to apply fresh mulch to the areas under your trees, under your shrubs, and in your flower and vegetable beds. Using organic mulch provides your plants with an extra boost of nutrition, and mulch itself discourages the growth of weeds by obstructing the germination process. As an added bonus, adding a new layer of mulch is something you can do at any time of the year unless you live in an area that has continual snow cover during the winter months.