When selling a home or purchasing a home one of the terms often used is curb appeal. The first impression of a home is the exterior and the home’s landscaping. Keeping the exterior of your home and its surroundings updated and fresh sets your home apart from others on the street. Here are five exterior updates that can boost your home’s curb appeal.

1. Show Your Style With Siding

Siding has become very popular, especially durable siding that has little upkeep. A new trend is using steel siding. Steel siding is strong and durable with a sustainable finish that offers tons of options to mix and match paint colors and other exterior materials.

“Using a combination of siding materials can help with the overall visual interest of a house,” says Mike Bouman, P.E., Vice President of Design and Engineering at Pioneer Construction in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “But make sure you look at how much maintenance your chosen material will need. Steel siding, for example, is really good in terms of durability and upkeep.”

“If you keep to one color for your siding, you may want to add interest by combining horizontal and vertical boards,” Bouman says. “Or, if you do introduce more than one siding material, try and use just two types or colors, and possibly either masonry or brick.”

2. Use Color to Add Personality

A house can look so much different with a new exterior color. Keep with your home’s style when selecting colors for paint, siding, trim, shutters, doors and other exterior details.

If you want a contrasting look from your landscape, go with a dark tone on your exterior. This will make the greens of the landscaping pop.

“We’re seeing darker colors such as dark brown and dark wood tones as a trend,” Bouman says, “which is where real wood, or siding that looks like wood, can really come into its own.”

A more fresh and sleek look would be to use white on your exterior with black accents. “The combination of white siding, white trim and black-framed windows is still a clean look which people want,” Bouman says.

3. Choose Your Trim

Trim not only protects the edges of your home’s roof, porch and other overhangs and windows but also gives the exterior a completed look. When choosing trim, make sure the style complements your home’s architecture.

“We see homeowners choosing trims and siding in a similar color or the same color,” Bouman says.

4. Invest in Your Outdoor Space

Make sure your porch, patio and outdoor living spaces are all up to date. An outdated living space or bland yard does not give off good curb appeal. Adding evergreen plants, ornamental grass and flowering perennials adds ambiance and color to your yard.

Add a maintenance-free ceiling that is constructed of durable aluminum to your outdoor porch or covered patio. The ceilings come in many colors and even a wood finish.

“It really makes a difference,” Bouman says of the aluminum under-porch and soffit products offered by Quality Edge. “Whether it’s a solid color that looks painted or a wood finish, the style really makes it look authentic without the maintenance.”

5. Go for New Gutters

A home can have new trim, a new roof, new exterior painting and great landscaping but if the gutters are dingy your curb appeal is ruined. Not only do you want your gutters to look nice, but you also want to make sure they are intact and standing up to the outdoor elements correctly.

“Matching it with your home’s trim color means that the gutter doesn’t have to stand out,” Bouman says. “There are lots of different options to choose from, so choose one that works with the architecture of your home. If you’re going for a more historical look, for example, you might want to select a specific profile or material to suit that style of house.”

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