When making home improvements, the exterior of your home is as crucial as the interior. The truth is when you have plans of selling your house, having a beautiful exterior design is essential to attract the most potential buyers. Whether it’s to increase your home’s curb appeal or to amaze guests, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t neglect outdoor improvements.
Unfortunately, most homeowners skip or pay less attention to outdoor renovations and improvements. Many assume that you’ll need to invest a lot of money to achieve a luxurious home. However, there are many easy, simple, and cheap ways to transform your home into an expensive-looking abode.
Table of Contents
1. Create a Plan
A backyard often ends up looking messy and chaotic without a proper plan. Before you do any changes, determine what you want to achieve. Consider how much space you’ll be using.
Think of the functions or the purpose of the outdoor yard. Have a clear image of what you want your backyard to look like. You can review professional designers’ works, and think about how you can use those elements. Once you’ve made a plan, it’ll be easier for you to start with renovations and improvements of any kind or size.
2. Use The Best Materials
When doing home renovations and improvements, most people like to save as much as possible. However, be careful not to compromise quality over price.
In the long run, more expensive materials may be worth it despite their higher cost. For instance, decking boards made from composite materials are more expensive than other deck options. But composites can last at least a decade longer than a typical wood deck.
It’s also low-maintenance and can be as natural-looking as real wood. If you want to make your home look expensive, it’s best not to skimp on the materials. Choose a healthy balance of affordability and quality.
3. Choose Your Colours Wisely
One of the most critical elements of exterior design is choosing the right colours, from the walls, furniture, accessories, and to the deck. When adding or expanding an outdoor space, you’ll want it to complement your home’s colour scheme.
To get a better idea, you can look at houses in home improvement magazines, shows, and articles. Take note of the styles that you want to imitate. Alternatively, you ask for suggestions from a professional.
4. Understand Proper Lighting
One of the most vital yet often neglected aspects of excellent design and landscaping is lighting. Even with minor changes in lighting, you can turn a simple home into an expensive-looking one.
To be able to use proper lighting, you’ll need to understand the difference between various kinds of lights. For instance, ambient lights are soft and diffused lights used to enhance calm and cosy spaces. It’s perfect for backyards made for relaxation.
Another type of lights is task lights, which are brighter and more focused, used to boost productivity and focus. They work best for areas in your yard where you’ll do work or activities. You’ll also need to understand how much light to use and when to use it.
5. Reuse, Repurpose, and Redecorate
There’s no reason to buy every time you wish to decorate your home’s exterior. Sometimes, all you need is sitting somewhere in your storage.
Always keep an eye out for opportunities to reuse or repurpose your old items. For instance, you can also freshen-up old furniture by redecorating them using paint or stains.
You can also customize them by adding accents and upgrading their removable parts. There are also various DIY guides on the internet which use household objects, such as bottles, cans, fabrics, and paper, to craft expensive-looking decorations.
6. Create Effective Focal Points
Have you ever felt that something is missing in your backyard? It’s likely that you don’t have a compelling focal point. In design, focal points serve as anchors of the eyes. All visual attention leads to that one spot.
An excellent focal point very well differentiates a simple home from an expensive-looking one. What can you use as focal points? You can use an elegant-looking fireplace or fire pit, unique and colourful flowers, or an eye-catching structure.
