Your driveway is an essential and valuable part of your home. Having one gives you somewhere relatively safe to park your vehicle and prevents you from dealing with the stress of finding parking on the street. In fact, a well maintained driveway can even add to the value of your home. Here’s how…
Unfortunately the cost of replacing your driveway can be huge, which why it is better to maintain the drive and improve the look of your front garden rather than investing in an expensive renovation. These tips will give you some ideas for making the front of your home look more appealing, and possibly increase the selling price of your home in the process. If you want to tidy up the front garden space, your DIY project will very much depend on the existing surface of your driveway. That said, all of these methods should help you to achieve the desired results:
ADD A BORDER
The first easy way to vastly improve the look of your driveway is to add a border to the edges. This could be gravel, block paving or virtually any other material you want. I particularly like the idea of pretty blue slate chips that you can buy from garden centres. The affect will be to draw the eye of a visitor up the driveway; making it look longer, wider and more impressive.
COAT IT
You may not have considered the idea of coating your driveway but it is possible! In short a good fluoropolymer coating will protect your driveway by sealing it. This type of epoxy resin sticks exceptionally well and it is also exceptionally strong, which will help your existing driveway to look like new and last for many more years. It’s not affected by rain, creates a non-slip surface and can be installed in a variety of colours.
PLANT IT
If you’re not ready to stretch to a coating and your driveway is in fairly good condition you can simply fill any holes and add a selection of large pots to the side of the drive. With careful planting these will instantly improve the look without increasing the amount of maintenance you need to do. Colourful, seasonal blooms will brighten up the front garden and add to the kerb appeal of your property. And evergreen foliage will ensure that it looks good all year round. Of course, you will need to check that there is enough room to park your vehicle on the drive after the pots are in place!
LIGHTING
Lights may not be much use during the daytime but it is likely that you often arrive home in the dark during the winter. Installing a good set of lights down the sides of your driveway will make it look a little like a runway. I love this effect! It will definitely look more impressive and means you can see properly when you’re getting out of your car at night. This option offers safety as well as improving the look, as it will make it much more difficult for any intruders to hide on your property because they’ll be illuminated!
GATES
Adding a set of gates is a difficult decision, and here’s why. On one hand, if they are set between two well designed posts then they can add a touch of grandeur to the house. Plus, they provide an extra level of security. However, they can also become a real chore if you have to constantly open and close them. You’ll need to consider the practicality of gates before you order them; there is little point spending the money to improve the look of your driveway and then just leaving the gates open all the time.
What do you think of these ideas? Do you have any other tips on improving your front garden to share? Please leave me a comment below to share your own renovation stories or advice, I’d love to hear from you.
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