Here’s the good news: Small alterations can make a big difference. Better Homes and Gardens has assembled a great list of 20 simple, cost-effective improvements to help boost your property’s curb appeal. Even better: You won’t need to quote a team of contractors. These are DIY projects to help your place make a stunning first impression.

Among the projects you could knock out in one weekend:

• Replace old hardware. House numbers, the entry door lockset, a wall-mounted mailbox, and an overhead light fixture are all elements that can add style and interest to your home’s exterior. If they’re out of date or dingy, your home might not be conveying the aesthetic you think it is. These elements add the most appeal when they function collectively, rather than as mix-and-match pieces. Oiled-bronze finishes suit traditional homes, while brushed nickel suits more contemporary ones.
• Install outdoor lighting. Low-voltage landscape lighting makes a huge impact on your home’s curb appeal while also providing safety and security. Fixtures can add accent lighting to trees or the house or can illuminate a walking path. If you aren’t able to use lights that require wiring, install solar fixtures (but understand that their light levels are not as bright or as reliable).
• Install window boxes. Window boxes offer a fast, easy way to bring color and charm to your home exterior. Choose boxes made from copper or iron for a traditional look, or painted wood for a cottage feel. Mix and match flowers and plants to suit your lighting conditions and color scheme.

Of course, if you’ve been pulling into the same driveway for quite some time, it can be difficult to judge where your home may need improvements.

Lori Kim Polk, owner of Stage Right Design in Sacramento, Calif., writes about five questions a homeowner must ask before taking on a curb appeal project. Start by standing across the street from your home, then ask:

1. Can you see it? Trees and shrubs have their place, but how do they affect the visibility of your home from the street? Think of them as a frame – do they help or hurt the picture?
2. How is the paint? Neutral colors are safest when selling, but think of the front door and patio as the focal point for passersby. A fresh coat on the door or simply painting trim can do wonders.
3. How is the driveway? Think “clean and clear.” Try to get rid of any unpleasant oil stains and fill cracks where possible. Driveways say a lot about a home’s age. A clean, well-kept driveway can make a home look newer.
4. Is your walkway to the front door defined? If you have the patio space, create a sitting area. Consider a flower bed, brick or stone walkways and outdoor lighting. Visitors should feel drawn to your front door.
5. How is the landscaping? Lawn upkeep is critical. Make sure your grass is watered, mowed and edged. Use brightly colored flowers to make your yard feel alive. Potted plants are another great option if you don’t have the time or space to plant a flower bed.

How to kick up your home’s curb appeal is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

I am so excited about the weather and kicking back on the porch, I’ve broken a cardinal rule and invited Lucky and Angel, the resident dogs, in the house. They spent a good 15 minutes jumping from one piece of furniture to the next before settling in for an afternoon nap. It is funny how we humans spend so much time inside that we can’t wait to get outdoors, while Lucky and Angel have the whole farm to explore and they love to lay around on the couch.

I rely on potted plants to bring the garden onto the back porch. In winter it’s pots of little evergreen trees, junipers, arborvitae and so forth, but once the weather warms up I replace the evergreens with bay trees, citrus and sago palms. Last summer I was at a friend’s farm in Pennsylvania and he had lined his porch with a series of 14-inch clay pots of aspidistra (cast iron plant). What a great look! I plan to do the same on the porches at the retreat.

For now I am enjoying the porch before pollen season hits when everything will be covered in yellow dust.  Just a few weeks when I can truly blur the lines between inside and out.

Opening up to outdoors is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

• You’ve got some choices on green cleaners. Apartment Therapy recommends either a tea tree cleaner, white vinegar cleaner, citrus juice cleaner, hydrogen peroxide cleaner, or borax and vinegar cleaner.
• Clean after your shower–steam helps loosen any gunk on the walls.
• Let your chosen spray sit for a few minutes and then scrub with a stiff brush. And old toothbrush works well for getting in the grout.
• If you have a fan or a dehumidifier, run it to get rid of extra  moisture-causing mold in the bathroom.

And to prevent mold in the first place, check out Apartment Therapy’s post on that topic.

Photo courtesy of jfpeck on Flickr.

Showering Green is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

If you want to be absolutely sure what’s in your cleaning products, you can always make your own (check out our guide).

But if you want to go the quick route and buy something, Re-Nest offers a guide to how you can make good decisions on green cleaning products. Here are some high points:

• If it says poison or danger, take the label at its word: it’s poisonous and/or dangerous.
• Look at the ingredients. Avoid those that contain “chlor” (chlorinated chemical), “ene” or “ol” (indicates the presence of petroleum or coal-tar based ingredients).
• If it will irritate skin, there are most likely caustic chemicals in the mix.
• “Readily biodegradable” is a good phrase–it indicates that the ingredients will break down faster than simply biodegradable.

We would also say to simply ask yourself–do you really understand what is in the cleaning solution? If not, maybe keep looking until you know exactly what you will be spraying on your countertops or squirting in your tub. Check out the rest of Re-Nest’s post here.

Image courtesy of itto.be on Flickr.

Cleaning Green is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

Exterior siding and trim:

I love the look of real wood siding and trim, but in the long term, this choice will mean constant scraping and painting. Better choices are fiber cement siding. This siding looks like wood but does not rot, and with a factory finish applied, you can get up to a 15-year warranty on the paint. On the horizon is fiberglass siding. This material is tough and has a fused-finish coating that will never need painting. For the trim boards on your home, look for extruded PVC products from companies like Azek or Versatex. These boards also will not rot and have a smooth finished appearance; they hold paint very well and will look terrific for many years.

Deck and patio:

Again, remember I like real wood, but the synthetics that are out there now are just terrific. No splinters, no staining, no issue with bugs or rot. And additional design opportunities that are very difficult to achieve with wood. I will caution you not to think of these choices as maintenance-free. They are all low-maintenance. Meaning you do have to clean the deck each year since organic material can latch onto the decking or rails and start to grow. But it is night and day over the maintenance you need to do every few years with a wood deck.

As for your patio, the best choice in my mind are pavers. While this system does cost more it offers so much value and flexibility. And as far as maintenance you just need to keep it clean. If there is ever and issue with sinking, you just take up a few pavers add some sand and reset.  Try doing that with a concrete patio.

Paint:

If none of the above is in your budget this year for the outside of your home, there is always a fresh coat of paint. Just remember that 90 percent of a good paint job happens before the first brush stroke occurs. Whether you are hiring a contractor or doing it yourself, follow these tips: Wash the entire exterior with a mild detergent and pressure washer. Scrape all loose paint and sand smooth. Spot prime bare areas and fill in any holes with wood putty. Caulk around areas where gaps are present. Then apply two coats of a high-quality exterior paint.

Curb appeal: Outside should be for enjoyment, not maintenance is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

At Psychology Today:

Clutter is mentally exhausting.  In our less developed prehistory, we needed to continually survey our environment, to make sure that nothing that found us appetizing was approaching.  It’s easier to review a less cluttered environment, danger stands out more clearly.  …

Clutter is undesirable for another major reason.  We use the design of spaces we control and the objects we place in those spaces to communicate to ourselves and others who we feel we are — at least on our good days.  We are very good at reading our own environments and those of others — research has shown, for example, that we can pretty accurately assess a person through a quick review of places they control.  We can even estimate how well a space could communicate who we are — that’s why we can take a couple of steps into a perspective home and decide if it’s the space for us.

Now that you know a bit more about why it’s important, Home Renovation Guide has some good tips to share. Most notable: “Find something that motivates you to get started” and “Start out small.” Easier said than done, but check out the other tips to start wrapping your head around a game plan.

Those are strategic tips, helping you map out your approach. This article by Cecilia Williams offers some more specific tactical tips; it serves as a checklist to make sure you hit all of the household hot-spots that need some springtime cleaning attention.

And for fun, this piece offer some quick ideas for making your spring cleaning routine a bit more earth-friendly with the help of technology. You can shop smarter, use less energy and find ways to recycle items that are otherwise difficult to dispose of.

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Spring cleaning: Good for your home and your (mental) health is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

“Wine Infusion” Hardwood Flooring from Reclaimed Barrels
Luxury Housing Trends
“If you’re a wine enthusiast, why stop at drinking the stuff? You can remodel your home to enjoy hardwood floors made from reclaimed barrels and tanks.” Rich texture and tones, great rustic style from these slabs of repurposed wood.

5 Easy Ways to Go Green this Spring
Curbly
“This spring, forget DIY. It’s time to GIY!! Green building guru John D. Wagner shares with us 5 easy ways to Green It Yourself when faced with this season’s remodeling projects. Here’s the lineup…”

25 Kitchen & Bath Posts You Might Have Missed
Re-Nest
“We’re at the end of March, and that means the end of Kitchen & Bath month. But we’ve had a good run, and featured a ton of great product roundups, tips, and tricks — from the best Energy Star dishwashers to sustainable kitchen flooring, from our favorite bathroom colors to DIY toilet tank hacks and the best bathroom plants. Scroll through the list to see if you missed anything!”

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Link love: underground house, wine barrels as flooring, and more is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

• Check your exterior paint: Obviously, this is a huge part of making your house look good. Who wants chipped or fading paint? But outside paint problems can clue you in to if wood siding is rotting. So get out there and see what’s going on.
• Clean the gutters: trust us, it may not be the most fun job in the world, but it’s even worse if it rains. Now you’ve got soggy leaves to clean out, and might even be risking mold issues.
• Check the air conditioner: this way, by the time it’s ready to be used, it will be ready to go. Keeping your AC in top shape can lower your cooling bills. Don’t forget to change the filters!
• Inspect windows and doors: you’ll want to make sure that they aren’t drafty. Here’s some information on window replacement: Should you consider window replacement?
• While you’re on a home maintenance kick, Calfinder recommends you step inside and fix your tile’s grout.

With just a few simple tasks, you can keep your home looking fresh and clean for spring!

Five Tasks for the Spring is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

The first step in any fence-staining project is the surface preparation. Using a wood cleaner is a great way to clean the wood as well as bring the material back to life. Many of these products are concentrates, which means all you do is add water to make the mix. The best way to apply the cleaners is with a garden-type pump sprayer.

Apply the cleaner liberally on the fence with the sprayer; be sure to wet down any foliage or structures under or around the fence so you limit any damage to plants. Most of these cleaners are bleach-based, so keeping surrounding items wet or covered is a good idea. Let the cleaner sit for 10 to 15 minutes and then pressure wash the wood with a gas powered pressure-washer with a PSI rating of at least 2000.

After the cleaning, let the fence dry for at least 3 to 5 days. Be sure that it truly is dry, meaning no rain during those days. The moisture content of the wood needs to be no more than 15 percent at the time of the stain application. You can either buy or borrow a moisture meter from your paint store. Then you’re set to apply your stain.

I like oil-based products for outdoor staining. The oil absorbs deeply into the wood giving you even coverage and a long lasting finish. The best way to apply the stain is with a natural-bristled brush and good ol’ fashioned elbow grease. The key is to frequently stir the can during the finish application to ensure that all the colorant is consistent. Use the brush to work the stain into the wood brushing with the grain of the wood. Remember to never stain when rain is a possibility, in direct sunlight, or if the outside temperature is over 80 degrees.

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Fence cleaning and finishing basics is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style

The first thing you should do is wash your clothes thoroughly. Moths are attracted to the skin cells, oils, etc. that we leave behind. It’s best to wash clothes in hot water to kill moth eggs and larvae. Please remember that wool should be washed in cold water only to keep it from shrinking. The Laundress has a tutorial on how to properly hand-wash wool sweaters.

After your clothes are clean, prepare their resting place: vacuum and air out the closet and consider wiping out drawers. The best way to store clothing though, is in airtight containers. If you have the space, try freezing clothing!

Incorporate the old standby of cedar. You don’t need a whole closet; look for cedar balls or planks to keep the moths away.

As we head towards spring, hopefully these tips will help keep your seasonal clothing safely stored and moth-free!

Image courtesy of ehoyer on Flickr

Moth Prevention is a post from: MLuxe - Distinctive Home Style