Curb Appeal Upgrade Ideas From Low to High Cost

When fall comes around everyone starts thinking about their front porch or their home’s curb appeal. They want to decorate for fall or Halloween, some are even thinking about Christmas. :-)

However, if you have some upgrades you’d like to make, decorating with wreaths, skeletons or some new potted plants might not be all it takes to get you to where you want to be.

I’ve worked on lots of different curb appeal upgrades in the past, ranging from low to high cost, and today I’m sharing some of them to help give you some ideas of where you might invest in an upgrade or two this fall.

Upgrade $ - A Can of Paint

Here’s a significant upgrade for very little cost that this homeowner made when their house had been on the market for awhile and hadn’t sold.

I was asked for my advice on some upgrades and the front porch was where I started. This teal colored paint was only on the front of the house, the rest of the trim on the house was white.

This is a cute neighborhood with some colorful, cottage style houses like this, so the yellow certainly fit the neighborhood.

Cottage style home with 2 bright colors on exterior.

The teal color trim is a little distracting and looks somewhat juvenile.

The teal color trim was not a good choice here. I told them to paint it back to white.

When you have a statement color on an exterior, like the yellow here, don’t mix in another bright color. Tone it down or go neutral.

I did the color selections on this home in the Heights section of Houston some years ago. We did a bright yellow here with white trim and SW Outer Space as a dark blue-gray accent. I would not have put a second bright color onto this house.

A former project with a bold color and more subdued, neutral accent colors. Designer: Carla Aston

In this instance, I thought it was best that they just keep all the trim the same and I love how it turned out.

Yellow cottage style house with white trim.

So cute, right? It’s so much better and has now been sold!

Upgrade $$ - A New Door

This home has a turret for the front entry, obviously a European style look home with stucco and stone on the exterior.

This question came in during my Instagram Subscriber Q&A for the foyer light fixture, but I saw that really, they also would benefit from a new front door.

I asked for a pic of the exterior and yes, it confirmed just what I thought this turret entry needed.

Before - A plain white door doesn’t do much for the curb appeal of this Mediterranean style home.

A wood front door that had glass panels to let some light into the home would be ideal.

I really didn’t want to go too curly iron Tuscan looking, but I do like this wood door with the X design grillwork on the front.

Proposed - A new wood door with glass would enhance the look of the exterior materials and the style of the style of the home.

Oh, and I added a plant and planter too. :-)

Upgrade $$$ - A Bigger Front Door Package

Here was another Q&A from an Instagram Subscriber. This concerned a leaded glass front door with sidelights and an arch. The homeowner wanted to know how to update it.

Before - Arched leaded glass windows in this front door, transom and sidelights feel a little dated and old.

I feel like these little sidelights and the arched transom are a bit dated these days. (Yes, I have these little sidelights too and I’d love to redo my front door at some point.) The builders put these in houses all over our neighborhoods here in the suburbs of Houston.

Basically this type of unit is all framed out as one piece. You can see the thin wood framing between each window and the door.

Therefore, it is a little easier to replace as a whole unit, doors and windows.

Usually, when I see the arched transom, I propose taller doors. This door is 6’-8” which is a standard size.

I would get taller arched double doors here to get a grander look. Using that whole space for two doors, instead of a single with two sidelights, is a cleaner look that is a definite upgrade.

The trim around the doors would definitely work with this style well.

This divided light look has a simpler and more modern style.

Get a pro locally to carefully measure and warranty the doors with installation for the best results.

Upgrade $$$$ - Paint the whole House

This before and after was done a few years ago and this house sold so fast. One of the contractors I worked with did a flip on it and I consulted with him on the exterior colors as well as the interior. More on that project here.

Obviously, this baby poop brown needed an update.

Baby poop brown is not cutting it on the exterior of this home.

The exterior colors we went with are SW Agreeable Gray (a very warm light gray) and SW Grizzle Gray on the trim and garage door.

A more neutral and high contrast look is an instant upgrade. carlaaston.com

Upgrade $$$$$ - Complete revamp

This upgrade is a big jump up from the previous sections, but this went along with more major upgrades being done. I was so happy to be asked to help select exterior finishes, door and lighting on this one.

This home had a substantial addition and matching the existing stone was difficult. The homeowners wanted a fresher and more modern look and were getting new windows, roof and front door as part of the remodel.

Before - This was the real estate photo and the house looks pretty good here, but it had muddy colors and really disappeared into the landscape. The stone, stucco and contrasting stucco trim rather chop up the facade.

The porch would be widened on the side and a new garage built, as the great room would be located in the old, existing garage at the back of the house.

They knew they wanted the stucco painted lighter, but really, the stone was dictating the color scheme here. Honestly, so many houses in the neighborhood had this warm toned look with stone like this, it just looked rather ordinary.

This home is quite set back from the street. So much so that with the earth tone colors, it rather disappeared into the landscape.

We remedied that and gave it a fresh, modern look by painting the stucco and the stone all one light color. The dark roof and windows have a crisp appeal and the new landscaping really enhances the home and makes it an inviting, appealing property.

You can actually see the home now and it has a nice presence on the property as you approach.

After - The single exterior color gives this home more prominence and the dark elements, the roof, windows and doors, add a modern appeal. carlaaston.com

More Exterior Transformations For Better Curb Appeal

I have a few more exteriors to peruse below, to get you in the mood to add some curb appeal to your home this fall!

This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.

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