The calendar says it’s spring and, if you call somewhere with more than one season home, it’s likely that spring arrived just as you and your family were starting to experience some serious cabin fever. It’s the time of year for sunshine and cool breezes and fresh air outside with loved ones. It’s also the perfect time to consider curb appeal.
Most times, when people speak of curb appeal, they’re talking about how you can make the outside of your home more appealing to prospective buyers. And yes, if an upcoming PCS means your house is on the market (or expected to be on the market), that’s exactly what curb appeal is about. It’s about making your house look loved and cared for and, well, homey.
But it shouldn’t matter whether your house is on the market or not. After all, don’t you deserve to have a house that’s aesthetically pleasing too? Thinking about curb appeal means you can create an environment that makes you smile when you pull into your own driveway.
The Usual Projects
Should you do a quick search for DIY projects to spruce up your house, you’ll get the same recommendations time and again. You should paint your front door. You should fix or replace your mailbox. You should find a colorful and welcoming front door mat. You should consider fresh new house numbers. All of these are relatively quick and inexpensive fixes that yield positive results.
You should also tend to yard work that may not have had your attention during winter months. It’s a great time to pick up any fallen branches, sweep your porch and front walkway, weed if there’s already been growth with the changing weather, or finally put away those snow sleds that have been leaning against the side of your house for the past few months. You can do a quick walk around your property and assess anything that needs to be repaired or tended to, and your yard will look better for it.
But this should be an opportunity to do more than add another season’s worth of chores to your calendar. You can create something meaningful out of your DIY curb appeal project.
Bloom Where They’re Planted
As a military family, you’re expected to bloom where you’re planted. Then you’re expected to be flexible and accommodating and willing to be uprooted and planted somewhere else where you’ll try to blossom yet again. Over and over. Rinse and repeat. Why not make a weekend project of planting to beautify your home, improve your curb appeal, and spend some time with loved ones doing something that truly represents your family and this life? There are several different ways you can incorporate planting that will improve the outside of your home.
- Potted plants. You can add potted plants by the front porch or in any doorway. There are beautiful containers in a broad spectrum of colors and designs that you can choose from. You can even make a project of making the planters yourself, building them out of wood or clay or whatever other medium suits your fancy.
- Flower boxes are a beautiful addition to the outside of your home. You can install them along your porch railing or below your windows. Make an afternoon of going to your favorite home improvement or gardening center to pick seasonal flowers or plants that will thrive in your area.
- Plant a garden. You don’t need professional landscapers or an incredibly green thumb to put in a colorful patch of flowers around the borders of your home or wherever on your property has proper sunlight and good soil. Gardens make a front (or back) yard look very abundant and lush.
Plants, flowers, gardens will all bring life to your yard. And unless you’re planting perennials, which come back year after year, these choices are transitory—just like you and your military family.
But you can also choose something more long-lasting. You may not get to stay in this home forever, but you can leave permanent roots here. Plant a tree or bush, something that leaves your mark on this place long after your family has packed up your household goods and shipped them off to your next location. Your home and garden center will be a great resource for what will best grow, take root, and thrive. Just like you no matter where you’re planted.
