Enhancing Your Home with Front Yard Ideas

Decorating your home can be an exciting adventure that showcases your creativity and tastes. The interior design can be tied together with a lavish backyard or a garden for the perfect theme. Most people, however, tend to dismiss the front yard. 

Your front yard is just as important as the rest of your home, if not more. Unlike your backyard, your front yard is the aspect that everyone, visitors and strangers, will see. Curb appeal, as it’s also called, can significantly impact your home’s aesthetic, and there are various ways to design it. 

Understanding Basic Curb Appeal

Home curb appeal can significantly benefit you from making your home easier to sell to only taking pride in a well-furnished home. The main question you have to ask yourself is if your front yard looks its best and if it enhances your neighborhood. 

Keep in mind that your backyard is your personal outdoor space, while your front yard is more of a public display. Because of this, there are certain etiquettes and rules for creating your front yard landscape. For starters, you won’t want to place any personalized or valuable items on your front lawn, nor would you want to showcase something that could be potentially offensive.  

A front yard should be pleasing to the eye while easy to navigate toward your entryway as well. If you use plants, it’s recommended you use those that are native or indigenous to the region and are well-maintained. You should be meticulous in your planning regarding plants and ensure that you can take care of them regularly. 

Additionally, city and residential rules are enforced on what you can and cannot do with your front yard. Before you begin making plans for your front yard landscaping project, check in with your local codes and regulations. Once you understand the foundation of curb appeal and feel confident about it, there is a range of various ideas that you can consider applying.

Utilize Your Green Thumb

Planting flowers and plants is the best way to add curb appeal; they can add life and color to your home if done well. You can start simple with elegant rose bushes lining your house or go bigger with lush hydrangea bushes — both with colors of your choice. 

If you want a variety of flowers and plants, grow an abundance of them together to make it look like the wild. And adding a stone pathway through the foliage can give your home a wildlife look that will be beautiful during warm days. Two essential tips to remember here are to pick out foliage that matches your home’s aesthetic and keeps them well-maintained so it doesn’t look like an overgrown mess.  

Another common way to add curb appeal to your house is to plant a tree. If you do proper research on the size and type of tree you want, it can be a top-notch investment to your front yard. If you wish to greenery but without a tree, consider going heavy on the evergreens. Shrubs such as these will give you color all-year-round, and you won’t have to worry about raking leaves each year. 

If you feel that your house itself is lacking color, try adding flower boxes for a burst of color. You can add them to the front porch railings and below the windows for a lively appearance. On a similar note, you can also place large potted plants on your porch. Adding pots that match your house can dramatically enhance the look of your home without too much effort. 

Regardless of how you want to proceed with front yard foliage, you’ll have to be careful in planning. Different plants can either grow well together, or they will compete for nutrients and space. You will also have to find landscaping ideas that work well with your climate for better and easier upkeep. 

Invest in a Little Yard Work

If you have a flowerbed and a lawn, add a flowerbed border for simple yet effective curb appeal. You can make your front yard look incredibly clean cut by placing a clear dividing line between your flowerbed and lawn. If you can afford a few extra steps, install retainers for the same reasons above and prevent soil erosion.

If you have a hose or any small yard tools visible from the front side of the house, consider building a small storage unit for it. You can create a wooden box that stores your hose or little other knick-knacks on the bottom, while the top of the box can be a flowerpot holder. It’s convenient while still adding to the appearance of your home. 

Installing a water feature like a pond or stream can do wonders too, and it isn’t as expensive as one would assume. With a little bit of money, a water feature will enhance any outdoor aesthetic. And it can be as simple as a small pond, or more eye-catching such as frog statues shooting out water.

Your front yard will, of course, still be there during nighttime, too, so lights are an excellent addition to your landscape. Adding lights is not only aesthetically pleasing at night, but it also increases safety by providing light for passing people after dark. You can place solar-powered lights that will turn on and off by itself accordingly, or you can drape soft Christmas lights around foliage you have.

If you’re running dry of ideas or are indecisive at the moment, try simply cleaning your walkway. Sometimes, all it takes is a good cleaning to have your walkway and sidewalk looking bright and new. By doing so, it’ll also lift up the rest of the home’s appearance immensely. Look into pressure washing your walkways. 

Upgrade Your House in Small Ways

If you’ve done your yard work and planting, and are still looking for other ways to increase your curb appeal, look into what you can do for your house. One small way to pick up your house’s aesthetic is to paint the front door. It can revive your home and add some brightness to it as well. Pick a color that is bold but still matches the rest of your house. 

If you’re a house owner with a porch, you can add curtains for a dramatic look while maintaining some privacy. It will look like an extension of the interior and provide a warm and welcoming vibe. Another option is to install a porch swing as well. It’s an extra spot to relax while also looking homier with pillows and cushions. 

Replace your mailbox if you find that it’s been many years since you’ve last upgraded it. It can be a cheap addition starting at around $20, and you can be creative in how you want your new mailbox to look. Before replacing your mailbox, however, you should ensure you’re following city regulations about it. 

Consider adding or replacing entryway lighting also. Similar to the points mentioned earlier, adding exterior lighting can create a stunning visual display and also help strangers or visitors find their way in the dark. First, ensure that both the style of your home and the lights’ function fit each other. It may save you time to look for light fixtures with the same mounting system as your current ones.