‘Fall’ Into Autumn With Great Curb Appeal

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Whether you’ve got your home on the market, are considering selling your home, or just want to find a few tips on how to spruce up for fall, you’ve come to the right place.

While we tend to think of landscaping and all things curb appeal in the warmer months of Spring and Summer, the market is still strong right now and many homeowners are putting their houses up for sale. As a seller, you want to make sure that your house puts its “best foot forward” to potential buyers. Even if you aren’t selling, your neighbors will appreciate your efforts to keep your house looking seasonally chic in Autumn!

So, what do you need to do? Here we’ll break it down for you into just a few easy steps:

#1 Clean up those leaves (or hire your neighbor’s kid to do it while you binge watch Only Murders In The Building. We won’t judge)

We get it. It’s annoying and time consuming to have to rake, blow, pile, bag, and dispose of all the falling leaves this time of year. However, if you want to make a great first impression, it really is important to clear your front walkways, yard, and driveway of leaves and branches as much as possible. Many landscaping companies offer contract services (similar to how they do with snow removal) and you can ‘set it and forget it’ and know that you’ll have a tidy yard all Fall long. Ambitious teenagers on your block might be willing to get their exercise and earn a few bucks by raking & bagging your leaves, too - it’s always worth an ask. Online parent groups are great resources for this kind of stuff as well.

#2 Light it up! No really, turn on some lights. It’s getting dark this time of year.

With the gorgeous colors and cooler weather of Fall, we also get shorter days. That means that outdoor lighting is more important not only for safety, but for curb appeal as well. Nothing says warm & inviting like a well-lit front porch with an ambient glow. Want to kick it up a notch a la Emeril? The ‘BAM!’ that you need is uplighting. Say it with me. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on custom color-change LED lighting packages, but even a few strategically placed solar lamps can make a big difference. Consider lining your sidewalk and driveway with solar lights, capping fence posts with illuminated caps, and installing brighter porch & garage lights. Make sure any bulbs that burn out are replaced right away.

#3 Put a ring on it… wait, no, a wreath. Put a wreath on it.

The easiest way to make your front door look cute and welcoming is to hang a festive wreath on it. There are plenty of DIY inspiration videos and posts out there to get the creative juices flowing - take a look on YouTube and Pinterest. Or, head to your local craft store and snag one that someone made already & save the hassle - and hot glue burns. Ouch! Looking for something unique and homemade? Scope out Etsy. Whatever you choose, you can’t go wrong with putting a quaint little wreath on your front door. Put out a fresh “Welcome” mat and you’re set! Want to take it a step further? Put out some pumpkins and a buffalo check sign and have your neighbors saying “Oh my gourd, how lovely!” at your front steps! Make sure you tidy up the space before you decorate because cobwebs are only cute if you’re going for that “haunted house” vibe!

#4 Speaking of Haunted Houses…

Look, we LOVE a good fright fest as much as the next person *but* We have heard through the grapevine that not everyone is as enamored with all things spooky as we are. So, may we gently suggest to tone it down just a skoch when decorating for Halloween this year? Unless, of course, you want to go to the extreme and be “those people”... You know who we mean, right? “Those people” - the ones who end up viral social media sensations because they turned their front yard into a recreation of Lafayette Cemetery # 1 or Bram Stoker’s Dracula...What’s that they say? There’s no such thing as bad press...Right. Yeah. That one.

#5 Get ‘Mum’ - ified. Ha ha. That’s a stitch!

Get it? Nah, ok, that was a pretty big stretch. Anyway..Chrysanthemums, more commonly known simply as mums, are one of the most prolific autumnal flowers in the Western Hemisphere. And with good reason. They are gorgeous, hardy, easy to grow, and come in a variety of colors. Plant some of these babies in an urn, large pot, or even in garden beds and watch your yard ‘come to life’ with the beauty of Fall..No mummies, we promise! Mums aren’t the only seasonal flower, but they sure do offer bang for your buck and we love the visual impact they provide.

All jokes aside, we hope that you found some useful information in what we’ve shared with you here. If you’d like to have a conversation about what selling your home could look like in today’s market, please reach out to us. It would be our pleasure to advise you. We may be reached at: [email protected], www.SpaniakTeam.com, or via phone at (847) 379-8813.

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