Outdoor Projects

Cozy Curb Appeal 4 Ways

4 Ways to Create Cozy Curb Appeal

Cozy Painted Brick House with Curb Appeal Rocking Chair and Sage Green Front Door
There’s not just one way to create curb appeal for your home! Here are 4 ways we’ve recently updated the curb appeal of 3 different houses featured on episodes of Today’s Homeowner.

Tear Down What Doesn’t Work

Sometimes you don’t need to add anything to update your home’s curb appeal. You just need to get rid of what’s not working for you anymore. This can be big or small! We worked on one house that had a sad and ugly fiberglass carport attached to the brick.

Old Worn Fiberglass Carport Awning

The worst part was that it leaked, so it really wasn’t offering that much protection. It was the first thing to go!

Create Curb Appeal by Tearing Down Old Structures

Tearing out old bushes, trimming overgrown ones, and cleaning out underbrush in your flower beds can make a big difference too!

Bushes in Need of Pruning and Shaping

Fresh mulch can make it look so polished!

Holly and Yews After Pruning and Brush Removal

We did some similar clean out and transplanting at this Chicago-area house!

Overgrown Bushes and Plants Overflowing onto Sidewalk

Flower Bed Along Front Walkway with Fresh Mulch

Paint What You Don’t Like

Again, this can be big or small! The shutters on this house were in great shape, but the color didn’t suit the homeowners anymore.

How to Paint Red Brown Shutters on Brick House in Place

So, we painted them in place with a dark brown exterior paint! (Espresso Beans from Behr)

Espresso Beans Brown Painted Shutters on Light Brick House

A much larger undertaking is to paint the entire exterior of a house. In the case of Greg and Morgan’s house, the red bricks weren’t anything special and they wanted something a little more modern.

Red Brick Industrial Age Small House with Porch

So we used an airless paint sprayer* to apply a masonry paint guaranteed for 20 years!

Tan Painted Brick House with Gel Stain Shutters and Green Front Door

You can see we also painted their front door! A project that only takes a couple hours and gives you a good feeling when you pull into the driveway!

Make It Look Like Wood

Inside or outside your home, wood tones bring warmth and cozy vibes! With the right technique you don’t have to have something made of wood to make it look like wood!

The shutters on the painted brick house were green when we started. So we first painted them with a tan spray paint. Then we brushed on a gel stain to get brush strokes that resemble wood.

Vinyl Shutters Painted with Spray Paint and Gel Stain

We did something very similar to the garage door and front door on this ranch home too.

Tan Painted Garage Door Before Makeover

Only instead of buying everything separately, we used a kit specifically made for this*! It came with a glove to use for the wood grain, but I found it easier to use a paint brush.

Garage Door Painted to Look Like Wood

Front door after:
Front Door Painted to Look Like Wood for Curb Appeal

Make Accents with Wood

So far these exterior updates have all been changes to existing features. But if you don’t already have features to change, you might need to add some! The Chicago-area home had a cute base to start with.

Simple Red Brick Cottage in Chicago Suburbs

We added simple window boxes with pressure-treated wood that we painted white.

DIY White Window Planter Box with Flowering Plants

Then above one window, we also added an arbor to fill up some of the brick expanse and to add a little cozy!

White Wood Arbor Shade Over Front Window

Before and Afters

Start with small changes to gain big appreciation for your home’s exterior! Click the titles below to watch the full transformations of each home featured on Today’s Homeowner!

Chicago Curb Appeal:
Simple Red Brick Cottage in Chicago SuburbsRed Brick House with Red Front Door in Chicago Illinois

Fairhope, AL Exterior Updates:
Ranch Brick Home with Red Shutters and Front DoorPainted Accents on Front of House Creates Curb Appeal

Greg and Morgan’s Brick House:
Red Brick Industrial Age Small House with PorchTan Painted Brick House with Gel Stain Shutters and Green Front Door

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

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