Curb Appeal: Part 1

I think every year we have lived in our home, I have tried to do something to make the front of the house look a little better. I love our home, but let's be honest, a white ranch home is not that eye catching from the road (technically we don't have a curb).

Things we have done so far:

• replaced the front door and storm door
• replaced all the front bushes and plants and added mulch
• lined the front plants with landscaping bricks
• built wooden steps and landing to replace the old concrete steps
• added landscaping lights
• painted shutters navy blue

So maybe it's my need to freshen up the front of the house for spring or maybe it's me watching too much Nate Berkus while on maternity leave. Either way, I did some painting to help out with curb appeal. 

I know it's a little unfair to take a picture when everything looks brown and dead, but it will make the final result look that much better. Before:

Note the white front door and the sad looking flower pot in the bottom left.

White front door from the inside.

I initially was thinking about a burnt orange color for the front door, but when looking at paint samples and coordinating with the navy blue shutters I finally went with "Antique Mahogany." I also gave the sad looking flower pot a fresh coat of paint. After:

Sorry about the glare on the front door, couldn't do anything about it.

Love the new color!

So far, so good. Here are a few more things I would like to do:

• obviously, add flowers to the flower pot
• add house numbers by the front door (our house has never had numbers on it)
• add a spring wreath the to front door, but I have to wait a few days for the paint to cure

Stay tuned...