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Prepping to Sell – Curb Appeal and Porch Updates

When it comes to selling a house, I feel like curb appeal is the most important thing. Buyers make snap judgements on houses just like they do on people (even if we don’t want to admit it, we do.) If you pull up to a house and it looks overgrown and uncared for, you’re going to decide (probably subconsciously) that the owners aren’t excited about owning it and you’re not excited about buying it. Once you get inside, any features you don’t like about the house are going to stand out even more, because you already decided, right when you pulled up, that you didn’t really like the house.

On the other side of the coin, if you pull up to a house that is clean and well maintained, you’re instantly going to have positive feelings about it. Any features you don’t like inside the house are going to be more easily overlooked or brushed off, because you already decided you liked the house the second you pulled up to it.

Now, this is all just a hypothesis from yours truly, but I’m pretty sure I’m right on the money.

When we first bought our house it had zero curb appeal. It actually had negative curb appeal, if that’s possible, and it sat on the market for a loooong time (years?) before we got our hands on it.

Then we set out to make it pretty…

before and after house shot

Looks so much better right? Like a house you might be excited to buy? Well unfortunately that picture was taken years ago, and since then we have let it fall apart a bit. The flagstone path was overgrown and slowly disappearing…

Overgrown Flagstone Path

The landscaping was either dying or taking over….

overgrown landscaping

And the rock border on the driveway? Practically gone, as all the grass had grown right over it and the rocks sunk into the ground. Rock borders kinda suck, come to find out…but it was free, so I’m not all that upset about it.

rock landscaping borders kinda suck

You know when you see something everyday, and after a while you just kinda stop noticing it? That was definitely what was going on with our front of our house. It’s looked terrible for a long time and I was kinda fine with it, but now looking at the before vs the after…it’s embarrassing. I wonder what the UPS man thinks of us.

So me, Adam, and my mom set out to make it right. We spent hours digging, weeding, trimming, and rock stacking, and I’m happy to say that I’m excited to pull up to my house again (which hopefully means other people (cough-buyerswithlotsofmoney-cough) will be too.

I mean just look at this path, how much better does it look? Why did we wait so long to fix it?

flagstone path

The landscaping was given a significant haircut, and the dying ones were replaced.

landscaping after

And the driveway? The difference is night and day.

rock driveway border

Then there is the actual porch. This porch has been through quite a lot in the 7 years we have owned it…it’s been a workshop and a storage facility, it’s been pretty at times and a mess most others. (If you want to see the many personalities of the porch, this post covers it quite nicely.) As of recently it was looking…medium. Certainly not the worst it has ever looked, but it wasn’t exactly inviting either.

needs some work

The pillows I made a few years ago were looking a little faded and gross. Also, why did I make so dang many? That’s a lot of pillows.

old outdoor pillows

Just look at what the years have done to my placemat pillows. Before…

placemat pillow

Now…

sunbleached pillow

The sun is a cruel, cruel lady.

So with a little elbow grease and a few new items, the porch is looking like it has owner that care.

large inviting front porch

outdoor seating

My favorite part is these new outdoor pillows. They are made by BHG and sold at Walmart, and I pretty much love them. How perfect are the colors? Also, they are only $9 a pop…I don’t care who you are, $9 for a nice outdoor pillow is a great deal.

watercolor outdoor pillow

I also picked up this lantern, also by BHG (this is the small one).

porch makeover

I stuck a plant in it for pictures because I couldn’t find a candle, and Adam dubbed it the “plantern”. I kinda love the term…10 points for the husband. He also spent a lot of time digging driveway rocks out with a pick axe and pressure washing the porch, so let’s just add 100 more points to that 10 so he doesn’t get grumpy.

add a little color and curb appeal

large front porch

Ranch House with a big front porch

A little bit of curb appeal goes a long way, and hopefully the updates will help it sell for more….or if not more, at least faster. I mean, you can’t tell me that path #2 wouldn’t lure you in more than path #1.

flagstone path before and after

And hey, if nothing else…I bet the UPS man will appreciate it.

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*This post was sponsored by the BHG Live Better Network. All opinions are 100% my own.

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12 Comments

  1. Love your posts! And the funniest line in this post:

    *I wonder what the UPS man thinks of us.*

    Ha!

  2. Oh! So much better and all the hard work has definitely paid off. I’d buy because your house looks so homey and inviting now!
    God bless…

  3. It looks so much better! What did you do for the flagstone path, just weeding? Added more gravel in between? We definitely need to add some paths around here, but for now we’re replacing all of the fabric under the pinestraw & mulch (who knew that would be such a big project?!)

    1. Replacing the fabric under the mulch actually sounds like a huge job! It one of those chores that you think will be done in a couple hours, and them a week later you still not finished. So for the path, we removed all the stones (one by one, so we didn’t have to figure out the pattern again), weeded, and added gravel to raise them up. Then we added more decomposed granite in all the cracks. It wasn’t really that difficult (weeding it was the worst part), I really should have done it years ago.

  4. So the awesome part about this post (other than the giveaway, of course), was that it linked to some stuff you posted before I started reading your site! I was actually scrolling down to ask if you had posted anything about how you did that path, and there it was, plus several more! Bonus! :)

    1. Sheila you need to take a few hours and look at all the things she has done! She’s awesome! And the very best thing about her is that she has no qualms about telling us when and how she messed things up! Like a REAL person! She’s so funny too. You’re gonna love all the projects you find on this blog!

  5. Your curb appeal is so great now! The before, after and now photos are wow! It’s amazing how nature tends to just take over of it’s own free will and how we can get so used to something. :)

  6. What a difference, and especially from the original before picture. I think you’re totally right about the curb appeal. People do make snap decisions, whether they realize it or not. Your home looks so much better, and I think it will definitely attract potential buyers. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

  7. You definitely upped the curb appeal! I need to do the same for my rock paths, ugh. I think your house will sell quickly, the market seems good right now in Texas – my niece sold her house in Nolanville (east of Fort Hood) in 11 days! I hope you get the price you want too :-) Thanks for the giveaway!

  8. I just found your blog and I absolutely adore everything you have to say on here! I was actually going back and reading about how you and your husband just bought this house and now you are selling it! Crazy how time flies. I just started blogging myself ;) I am am trying to figure out the works of the blogging world and I hope to achieve to your level! I will be looking out for your new blog posts!

    xo,
    Amanda

  9. It looks so much better! We sold our house last April. It took less than a month to get an offer that we excepted. We painted the entire inside of the house and cleaned up the backyard a ton. I think it made it seel quicker buy doing those little things.

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