At the curb is where your home's facade lift begins

By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer

BEFORE Photo by Eugene Tanner• The Honolulu Advertiser

AFTER Photo illustration by Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser

Improve your home's curb appeal A. Start with the entrance: Painting your front door can create a focal point, and a light fixture updates the look. B. Spruce things up: Open shutters, trimmed shrubs and window boxes give the home a welcome feel. C. Remove the clutter: The boxed air conditioner creates a barrier. Moving it gives the house a clean line. D. Start with the small stuff: Make-overs can start small, such as adding a new mailbox, house numbers or blooming flowers in low pots. E. Observe the rule of C's: Clean, clutter-free and color. The idea is to clean up the clutter, replace or repair what's broken, and use a color scheme that coordinates and creates depth where you need it. Source: Martha Webb, author of "Dress Your House for Success"

He lives on a quaint section of Vancouver Drive in Manoa, and he agreed to let us take a picture and ask the experts what they would do to improve his home's curb appeal.

The beauty of this fantasy scenario is you can imagine how to apply the tips to your own home before you decide how much real work you can handle.

The first step in sprucing up your home is to go outside, stand across the street, and take a picture, said Martha Webb, author of "Dress Your House for Success" (Three Rivers Press, $12).

Looking at your house from an outsider's perspective can help you identify the first impressions people get, and you can be more objective as you draw up a plan, she said. "You want the message you send out to be 'Welcome home.' "

That can be as simple as painting the front door, trimming the shrubs and planting some flowers.

Or, if you ask landscaping contractor Scott Jones, owner of Gardenscapes of Hawaii, it can be as complex as leveling the lawn, building a retaining wall, adding gardens, planting trees and installing a water feature.

"When you drive by, your eye gets caught by the clutter in the middle," he said. "The yard looks beat up."

Jones' plan, with contouring gardens around the perimeter, a leveled lawn, retaining walls and a shade tree, would cost about $10,000.

"It would be a major difference," said Jones, who has been in the landscaping industry for 25 years. "People don't realize how important landscaping is to the look of their house."

That's the thing about make overs. It's like deciding whether you can afford a haircut or a complete face-lift.

Lose the clutter

Here's an idea that doesn't cost anything: Pick up the clutter in the yard.

For Chu's house, that means putting away the hose and a stray concrete block and closing the garage door. It also means trimming or removing the shrubs so they don't create a barrier to the entry. And it means getting rid of distractions, such as the box in front of Chu's window on the right side.

For other houses, it means putting away lawn tools and toys, removing dead trees, and, uh, that rusty car that's up on blocks. Think about what's creating an eyesore for your neighbors, and get rid of it.

It may seem like common sense, but take a drive through Honolulu and look at how many people have loaded their carports with junk, Century 21 real-estate woman Jackie D'Orazio said. She stresses to would-be home sellers that little things really do matter.

"If you've got boxes stored in your carport for 30 years, get rid of it," she said. "Make it look like you'd want to come in. If the latch is missing, take the time to fix it. Get rid of all your trash. You can't take it with you."

Clean and repair

Which brings us to the next step, one that takes elbow grease: the cleaning and repairs.

That could mean power-washing the house to get rid of mildew or stains, cleaning the windows and paying attention to details such as removing the grime from the door knobs and doorbell.

Repairs could include patching loose concrete on walls and the driveway, and seeding or sodding the yard. Or maybe your house just needs a fresh coat of paint.

Add a little drama

Real-estate agents say softer-toned houses sell better than darker ones. Consultants such as Webb, the Minneapolis author, advocate deciding what you need to neutralize and what should stand out.

For example, Chu's white home is a neutral color, although a bit stark. Webb says she would consider painting the trim and the columns a warmer, neutral color to add depth and coordinate the color with the color of the shutters.

The experts say a good spot to focus on is the front door. Opening the shutters and painting Chu's door with a coordinating neutral color would add drama and focus, painting it would be inexpensive, and a thick new doormat would be inviting, Webb said.

Webb would add drama and elegance to Chu's walkway with flowering topiaries or sculpted evergreens set off from the walkway so they wouldn't interfere with the succulents. It would give the walk a wider feel, she says, and evergreens at the right height would play off the columns. She would add flowers in a soft color that would blend and lend a larger feeling to the property, put down a fresh layer of mulch to warm up the shrub area, and flank the first step with blooming flowers in pots.

Simple ideas such as placing house numbers above the door, adding window boxes, spotted urns and hanging flowers, installing light fixtures and replacing the mailbox can fit into most budgets.

Put in the time

If you want to spruce things up just before selling your home, those are the tried and true solutions for improving your home's curb appeal, our experts say.

"Once you get in the door, we're talking about something else," D'Orazio said.

But your yard is like the first impression on a first date. If it's bad, it's worse than a limp handshake.

Day to day, there are no good shortcuts for a foolproof lawn, said Elton Hara, general manager of Koolau Farmers, a garden center in Kailua.

"A lot of yards that look nice are just yards that are maintained well," he said. "If you don't maintain your yard, it's going to look ugly. You have to invest the time."

Reach Tanya Bricking at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8026.