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10 Cheap Ways to Boost a Builder-Grade’s Curb Appeal

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Hey y’all! How are you this fine day?  One of my most popular posts here on Home Made Modern is about adding class to a builder-grade home’s interior. We were “blessed” with a very blank box when we bought this house, as many of you know. In some ways, it’s been difficult because character-building upgrades like molding and built-ins take time and money. But it’s been fun, too. This week, I’ve decided to share my favorite ideas for adding some character to the exterior of a builder-grade home.  That is, how to add curb appeal!

Now, it’s been my experience that exterior upgrades generally cost a lot more. The cost of materials is higher, and the labor involved is oftentimes more than an average DIY-er could tackle, especially if we’re talking about siding or paint changes, new windows or doors, hardscaping, landscaping, or changing the elevation by adding a porch or something. We were fortunate to receive new siding last year after some pretty extensive hail damage. Here is the before and after:

We then decided to replace our crumbling blacktop driveway with concrete. (Yikes! Not cheap. Thank the Good Lord for tax returns.)

Obviously new siding and/or whole-house paint jobs aren’t always financially possible. However, we’ve recently added something that didn’t cost a lot at all, and it got me thinking about other ways to add a lot of curb appeal for NOT a lot of money. So I’ve rounded up 10 ideas for you. Hope you find something you can use!

Here’s the update we recently made for about 30 bucks:

1. Add Hardware to Your Garage Door

I came across a garage door hardware kit at Lowe’s, and just love what it has added to our garage door. Our home came with this random hayloft type-thing on the garage, so we decided to go with it and make the garage door look more barn-ish. Next, we’re adding a cupola to the roofline. Here are some other ideas…

2. Hang Old Glory


Front Porch Ideas and More

Front porches and American flags are just meant to be together. It’s so simple, but if you don’t have one already, find a spot to hang Old Glory and try to tell me it doesn’t automatically boost your curb appeal.

3. Paint the Front Door


Better Homes & Gardens

It bears repeating. Not nuts about your front door? Paint it! Exterior doors are hundreds of dollars but a quart of paint is do-able. You may not be able to change the color of your house, but sometimes just changing the color of the front door is enough.

4. Add Architectural Detail


The Family Handyman


Amarr Garage Doors via Vignette Design

Pergolas are easier and less expensive to build than porches, and you can train vines to grow over them for tons of impact.

5. Spruce Up Your Mailbox


Home Made Modern

If your mailbox is on the curb, it’s literally the first thing someone sees when they’re looking for your house. Make sure it’s not an eyesore!

6. Replace Outdoor Sconces


Cape 27

These don’t even have to be spectacular or expensive to be a huge improvement.

7. Remove or Replace Storm Door


320 Sycamore

This update is more expensive that my other suggestions, but it’s one of my biggest pet peeves…a storm door that covers half of the front door! If you need a storm door, get one that’s full-view. So much more inviting. They’re about $200, but it will make all the difference.

8. Edge and Mulch Your Beds


Creative Landscaping

If you’ve got flower beds, get out a shovel and edge those babies! Fill in with fresh mulch and you won’t believe the difference.

9. Go with Green


Garden Photos


Flower Garden Girl

Let’s face it, not all of us are gardeners, nor do we aspire to be. And perennials are expensive! So if you’re not sure which color flowers to choose, go green. It goes with everything. Some people might disparage hosta, but I love them. They come in a variety of shades of green, they’re inexpensive, they grow fast, they’re hard to kill, and you can divide them each spring and replant in other places. If you’re intimidated by all of the choices at garden centers and don’t have the budget for professional landscaping (who does?), buy several hosta, plant them in a somewhat shady spot, wait a year and two, and you’ll love how lush your home looks. Ferns are another good one. Hang a few, and your home instantly looks more home-y.

10. Plant One Vine


Studio G Blog


Nantucket Tie Chic


HGTV Gardens

Going along with the gardening theme, I think it’s incredibly intimidating to plan landscaping without prior expertise. Rather than make mistakes and waste money and time, go with green (as I said above) and choose one flowering vine as a showstopper. The above pictures say it all. You don’t have to have much else going on…one gorgeous vine can do a lot. Most of them require a sunny spot.

I hope there’s something on this list you haven’t seen or thought of before. A lot of the lists I’ve seen for adding curb appeal include things like building a porch, getting new windows, or installing a brick walkway, and I always think, “Well, yeah! I could change the look of my house pretty easily with stuff like that!” But I think several little changes can make a huge impact, too. Good luck!

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  4. This a great roundup of ideas! We're selling soon so Curb Appeal has been high on our to-do list. Now that we've completed some of it – I LOVE it. It will be some of the first things I tackle in our new home.
    – Lora @ Craftivity Designs

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  8. It's sad to give up those charming details, isn't it? I always referred to our new house as the Beige Box until we started working on it. Now it's starting to look like home. Thx for coming by!

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  11. Love all your ideas here! curb appeal makes a huge huge difference and you have listed practical and easy steps to achieve this. Come and visit my blog when you get a chance.

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  12. What great ideas! Breaking them down into little projects makes it seem so much more manageable. Where is the exterior light fixture from in your top image? I LURVE it, and haven't seen anything like it!

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  13. These are such good ideas! I love when little things can make such a big difference! Thanks for linking up at Whatever Goes Wednesday. This was the most viewed link last week, so we'll be highlighting it at tomorrow's party! We hope you'll come back and link up again 🙂

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  14. #truth, haha. These suggestions are right on point! I hope to implement some of these on my house next year. We don't have a builder-basic house, She's actually an old 50's ranch. But all the homes look very much the same in our neighborhood nonetheless. Pinning, OF COURSE!

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  15. I recently painted my door, mail box post and house numbers a very vibrant turquoise! Up against my dark grey house, it looks FANTASTIC!

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  19. Love your ideas. Many we have already done on our 70's red brick rancher with no landscape. the difference in unbelievable. Surrounded my many newer homes the neighbors have been amazed. Now more ideas! thanxX

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  20. I think your ideas are great. They are practical and mostly inexpensive. "it's one of my biggest pet peeves…a storm door that covers half of the front door! If you need a storm door, get one that's full-view." Unless you have active young children. My brother fell through a full glass storm door when he was a tyke and suffered many cuts that required stitches and left scars. Your pet peeve might be someone else's way of protecting their child.

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  21. Ah, you're right. I stand humbly corrected. Let me restate: "A storm door that covers half of your front door isn't as stylish, but if you have young children at home and are afraid of them falling through one that is full-view, it's a good idea to sacrifice on style until they're older." Thx for pointing that out!!

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