Judging A Book By Its Cover (Curb Appeal)

We invite you to eavesdrop on and participate in our conversation on design and home updating ideas.  Please leave us your comments and any questions you may have.  We’d love to hear from you!

Laurie: Before we start, I want to do a little self-promotion. We had a great turnout and a great time a couple weeks ago at our Home Updating, Design & Staging Event.  Lots of good conversation, sharing of ideas.

Kelli:  Oh my gosh, it was so fun!  And we’ve been asked to do more and go more in depth in some specific areas of the home.

Laurie:  And because we’re such people pleasers [laughs], we have now scheduled another event.   It’ll be held Thursday, May 17^th, and we’re going to focus on kitchens and baths … Kelli’s specialty.  More info to follow next blog.

Kelli:  Well, with my work designing for HGTV I have designed well over 100 kitchen and baths, all with unique features and materials, and I can’t wait to share some of those ideas with our friends and clients on the 17^th.

Laurie:  Alright, onto our next topic. Even though it has been chilly – seriously!  snow on Monday? -- It is time to spruce up our yards and the exterior of our homes.  Let’s all think positive, warm, sunny Spring thoughts. 

Kelli:  I’m so with you on that one.  We have had a lot of questions about the exterior of homes, yard and landscaping ideas.

Laurie:  As realtors we talk curb appeal, curb appeal, curb appeal.  As a homeowner you want the first impression of your home to be a pleasant one.

Kelli:  Start simple.  Start with a blank canvas.  Take away all your furniture, planters, yard decorations.  Everything that’s not attached.  Then, make sure your windows are clean, porch is clear of cob webs, give everything a good cleaning.

Laurie: Fun, fun, fun!  Now, at this point, step back and take a good look.  We’ve talked about walking to the curb or end of your driveway and taking a good look at your home from different angles.   Does the trim need touching up?  How's your outdoor furniture look.  Do you need to spray paint your furniture?  Think about replacing or recovering cushions.

Kelli: Just like we’ve talked about with the interior, less is more.  If you want to draw attention to the front of the house, paint your front door a fun or classic color, depending on the style of your home.  Make sure it's a color that compliments the rest of the exterior of your home.

Laurie:  For some this can be a little tricky, but remember it’s only paint.   I know it’s time, but if you try one color and decide it just doesn’t work, paint it a different color. 

Kelli:  Make sure to decide what color you’re going to paint your door before you recover or buy new cushions.

Laurie:  Good point.  Start with touching up the trim, decide what color your door should be, move onto recovering cushions or painting furniture.   What if you don’t want to draw attention to the front?  Kelli, you told me to keep the door color same as the trim, and let the eye be drawn to something else.

Kelli:  Yes, stay neutral.  Planters, furniture, trim, door color -- all neutral.  Then plant some colorful flowers and that will draw the eye to the flowers.  This is especially appealing if you think the exterior structure of your home is not where you want the focus to be.

Laurie:  Another thing to look at is lighting.  The style of lighting can really add to the curb appeal of the home.

Kelli:   Definitely take a second look at your lighting.  Does it need to be updated.   There’s new carriage lighting, industrial lighting.  There’s so much more that is out there with different finishes.   If you paint your door black, think about getting lighting that is black to pull it all together.

Laurie:  There is some really nice, relatively inexpensive lighting available now.  Oh, and don’t neglect the sides of your house.  When you drive up, you usually can see the front and at least one side.  Apply the same principles to all sides of the house.

Kelli:  Remember to plants shrubs, flowers along the foundation, but keep them trimmed.

Laurie:  Wow! Lots of ideas. Let’s hope for sunny days so we can tackle these projects.  It really all can be done in one weekend.  We love seeing photos of your projects, so let us know how it goes!

…til next time.

[Kelli and Laurie met at the hockey rink when their sons, who are college-age now, were squirts playing for the Stillwater Youth Hockey Association.  Besides becoming good friends, they have collaborated on a variety of design and business ventures.

Kelli is a experienced designer and designs have been featured on HGTV and DIY networks for over 5 years.  You can contact Kelli at Kelli.Kaufer@gmail.com and at www.kellikaufer.com.

Laurie Dick is a Realtor^® here in Stillwater at Edina Realty.   You can contact Laurie at LaurieDick@edinarealty.com and at www.lauriedick.edinarealty.com.]