28 Ways to Add Curb Appeal for Less than $500

Adding curb appeal to your yard doesn’t need to cost a fortune! In fact, there are many ways to make the outside of your home more appealing for under $500.

1. Paint Your Front Door

An extremely cheap and easy way to upgrade the curb appeal of your home’s exterior is to paint your front door. Whether you’re giving it a fresh coat of its existing color or painting it with a new look, this is one of the easiest ways to do a quick spruce up.

2. Install Window Boxes

Window boxes aren’t just for charming European villages or Disney fairytale towns! Adding window boxes to your home’s exterior is an easy and perfect way to incorporate more foliage and greenery.

These can be added pretty cheaply, and it’s a relatively simple DIY project. After they’re installed, you can really have fun adding colorful blooms to them to ramp up your curb appeal in a big way.

3. Add Lighting

Consider adding lighting to your walkway for a nicer aesthetic and to make it easier to approach your house in the dark. It’s a win-win! You can source lights for pretty cheap, and it’s as easy as staking them in the ground. Go with a solar-powered option for something earth-friendly!

4. Install a Trellis

A trellis adds more dimension to your outdoor space, and this is less expensive to add than you may think. Go with a prefab option or even make your own. Then, allow ivy or any sort of flowering vine to grow up the trellis.

5. Pressure Wash the Outside

A simple pressure wash of the front of your home, front porch or steps, walkway, and driveway can go a long way. You’ll be surprised how freshened up your home will feel after doing this!

6. Update Your House Numbers

An easy way to make the outside of your home look updated and different is to swap out your house numbers. Maybe you’re looking for something more modern or just a refresh of what you already have, but this is a great way to add to your curb appeal on the cheap.

7. Coordinate Your Outdoor Hardware

Make sure that your door handle, mailbox, house numbers, and any other outdoor hardware items match well and look uniform for an instant curb appeal boost. This helps create a more polished look for your home’s exterior.

8. Update Your Lighting

We talked about adding in more lighting, but what about updating what you already have? New exterior light fixtures, whether they be those installed along your front door or on a new lamp post, makes the exterior of your home look safer and more welcoming.

These fixtures can run the gamut when it comes to pricing, but they start off on the low end around $25, making this an affordable upgrade. You can also get thrifty with this project, looking for vintage fixtures or for options at second-hand stores.

9. Attract Birds to Your Front Yard

Everyone loves seeing animals and nature around their yard, so adding a picturesque birdhouse, an effective bird feeder, or a bird bath is the perfect way to attract these beautiful creatures to your home. This will look great and it will be interesting to see what species of birds make their way to your yard to use the feature you install.

10. Add a Seating Area

If you have room along your walkway or on a front porch, add some seating for increased curb appeal as well as comfort. Adirondack chairs are a functional and stylish way to make the most out of your outdoor space.

Try making them even more attractive with a throw pillow or a rug under them on the porch to make your home’s exterior into a true outdoor oasis.

11. Hang a Wreath

A wreath on your front door is a welcoming addition and it also can really tie the look of your home together. Add something seasonal or even an initial wreath. These can be made of real, live materials or something faux to use time and time again, year after year.

12. Get a New Mailbox

Mailboxes tend to get worn out and even beat up thanks to repeated use, sitting in the sun, and elements like the weather. Get a fresh, shiny, new mailbox to up your home’s curb appeal with ease.

13. Add Shutters to Your Windows

Shutters are a great way to add curb appeal, and you can even build them yourself, paint them, and install them. If you already have shutters, consider taking them down and giving them a refresh with a new coat of paint.

Shutters can be decorative, functional, or both! They typically start around $50 each, or you can use wood pallets or reclaimed wood to make your own.

14. Declutter Your Front Yard

Decluttering isn’t only for the inside of your home! Keep your driveway, walkway, and lawn free of clutter for its best look. That means putting things like kids’ toys, yard tools, and even too many garden ornaments away for a cohesive and beautiful aesthetic.

15. Creatively Fill In with Rocks

The last thing you want in your yard is for your landscaping to look sparse. To add to it but not spend a ton or have to dedicate tons of time to planting and using your green thumb, try filling voids with rocks. Large boulders do a great job not only filling open spaces, but at looking nice and natural, too.

These can be pricey, so you may need to get thrifty to source them and meet your budget. Think about where you can get sizable rocks for free—for instance, from construction sites, Facebook Marketplace, or even second hand stores.

16. Wash Your Windows

While you undoubtedly put a lot of effort into keeping your home neat and tidy, your windows probably don’t get a ton of cleaning TLC on a regular basis. Change that and, in the process, you’ll upgrade the curb appeal of your house!

Windows have a tendency to get dirty and streaked, which negatively affects the look of your house. A thorough cleaning can really turn that around. Mix one part water with one part white vinegar in a large bucket, then use a large, soft sponge to wash windows.

Then wipe them dry with a cloth or squeegee. If your windows are particularly dirty, add a drop of liquid soap to the cleaning solution. This is definitely a budget friendly upgrade!

17. Clean Your Walkway

Your walkway should be well kept to ensure wonderful curb appeal in your front yard. Trim the edges of it and work on framing the sides with bricks or flowers. This small change will make a huge difference in the front appearance of your home.

18. Shine Your Hardware

Besides upgrading your hardware, you may want to ensure they’re all gleaming if you aren’t going to be getting new pieces. To do this, use a gentle abrasive such as Bar Keepers Friend along with a damp rag or even a toothbrush to remove dirt and other substances that bronze and copper fixtures tend to collect.

This is great to do on exterior light fixtures, the hardware of your doors, and your mailbox.

19. Make Your Entryway Welcoming

Part of having wonderful curb appeal associated with your home is making sure that it’s a welcoming place for guests. Ensuring your entryway does that is easy, it may just take some TLC.

Add plants and flowers to the sides of your door for dimension and drama to the area. You can also add a welcome mat along with seating to the side of the door if space allows. Something like a porch swing could be just the ticket!

20. Put Your Hose Away

A rogue, tangled hose in your front yard will definitely detract from its curb appeal and it’s also a tripping hazard, although a hose is obviously a useful item to have. Make sure that it has a home and is covered to really max out the attractiveness of your yard.

Whether you coil it up on a holder in your side yard or construct your own holder that doubles as a planter out of salvaged wood. Get creative in this update!

21. Make Things Symmetrical

Adding a sense of symmetry to your home’s exterior can be pleasing to the eye, thus ramping up the overall curb appeal. Walk across the street and look at the exterior of your home to get a good idea of what can be moved around or adjusted to create that highly craved symmetry.

It might mean adding planters to both sides or mirroring what’s on one side of the front door on the other side, too. Believe it or not, these small adjustments can make a big difference!

22. Add a Door Knocker

A door knocker may not be the most highly used item around, but it’s a really fun way to add a sense of style to your home’s exterior. Add one that compliments the look of your home and that suits your specific style.

For instance, if your home is near the beach, consider a sand dollar door knocker to go along with that theme. You can find excellent options for these at places besides the hardware store, too. Look on sites like Etsy for a vintage option that can add more character to your home.

23. Clean Your Gutters

Clogged gutters with leaves, twigs, and other debris can be unsightly. Plus, it’s bad to leave your gutters in that state. Thankfully, there’s a simple fix for this: cleaning them out.

Getting them cleared out may be a bit of an arduous task and probably one that’s quite dreaded, but you’ll feel so wonderful when it’s done, and your home will look and function better for it!

24. Front Furniture Makeover

If you already have outdoor furniture in your front yard, you don’t need to get all new pieces in order to upgrade your curb appeal. Instead, give the pieces you already have a makeover for an effective refresh. Add new upholstery to these pieces by getting fabric and using a staple gun. It’s as simple as that!

For wooden pieces, repaint them. Finally, to add some more flair, get outdoor throw pillows for couches or benches to make them look new with very little effort.

25. Give Your Driveway Attention

The driveway of your home likely gets a lot of use, and combined with the elements of nature, it probably gets pretty beat up. Make sure that you spruce up this space by ridding it of weeds, filling cracks, and ensuring it’s power washed to maximize curb appeal.

If your asphalt is looking cracked, you might want to reseal the surface for a smoother look.

26. Add Potted Plants

Plants can do a great job breathing new life into your outdoor space. Potted plants are particularly great because they’re pretty easy to add and can be moved around to suit the look that you’re going for. They can also be grouped together quite nicely in order to create a robust look in your yard.

Add plants of varying heights and complementary colors to different pots to create a gorgeous aesthetic. You may also want to use interesting planters that feature fun colors or patterns, or go with a neutral color palette for those depending on your preferences and the look you’re going for. Have fun with it!

27. Repair and Paint Your Fence

Your fence is a great asset in your yard, but make sure it’s well cared for in order for it to really shine. Examine it to make sure there are no sagging, rotting, or peeling areas. Fix them as needed by replacing boards that are warped or rotted.

Then, finish the job with a fresh coat of paint in the fence’s original color or something new. Remember that a freshly painted white picket fence is pretty iconic and irresistible, so that could be just what your yard needs!

28. Add New Mulch

Fresh mulch or pine bark in the natural areas of your yard not only looks great, but it does a stellar job killing weeds. This is the perfect way to give your yard and landscaping a finished feel, and besides doing that, it promotes healthier soil, which is a plus.

Updating your home’s curb appeal certainly doesn’t mean you have to break the bank! Have fun with it and you’ll love the results just as much as you love the price.