Out front
Changing the colour of your front door is one of the quickest (and easiest!) ways of transforming the look of your home – with maximum impact! From something bright and cheery to classic glossy black, just choose a hard-wearing paint in a colour you love. For a timber door, lightly sand the surfaces to be painted. Wipe away dust, then apply quality painter’s tape to areas you don’t want to paint (such as glass panels). Apply 2-3 coats of paint. Let paint dry after each coat. While you’re out the front of the house, could your fence do with a lick of paint, too? Oh, and what about a new letterbox? Get to it!
Basket case
As guests arrive at your place, draw their eyes to magnificent colour, thanks to seasonal bloomers in a hanging basket. Choose a coconut fibre-lined basket that best suits the style of your home, then fill it with potting mix and plant it up with your favourite flowers of the season. You can suspend one or more from overhead beams or from wall-mounted brackets, as here.
Down the garden path
If the trail from one spot to another at your place is more like a patch of worn out turf, it’s time to install a pathway! Natural stones, pavers or stepping-stones are popular choices for this. Or perhaps you just need to show your existing track a little loving? Rid the path of weeds growing in the gaps, clean it down with a high-pressure washer and plant each side with rows of heavenly scented lavender. Just the trick for a gorgeous cottage garden scene!
Get potting!
A pot on each side of your front door, one at the end of the verandah or a trio in front of that blank garden wall – you’ll be amazed how potted plants can overhaul the look of areas around your home. Just pick pots you love and load them with plants that speak to the design style of your house and garden. Top tip: for added impact, choose plants that flower, and if using a trio of pots, consider staggering the size of each pot to create an intriguing vignette.
Out of the box
Take the facade of your home from drab to fab with window boxes. It’s easy! For best effect, select plants that have a tendency to cascade and spill over, such as a mix of spreading petunias and ivy. Psst… You can’t beat vibrantly coloured blooms for instant wow factor!
On the edge
Define the line where your lawn meets garden beds by installing neat edging. For this, you can use pavers or bricks laid end-to-end. Just make sure the finished height is in line with, or slightly below, the level of your lawn – this way you can just run the mower wheels along the pavers or bricks and avoid having to trim your edges. So neat!
A spot to chill!
Make your garden scene feel more inviting by setting up a place to sit back and relax with guests. To replicate this look, you’ll need a clear flat surface, an outdoor table and chairs, plus a large market umbrella, too. A quick tidy up of pathways, garden walls and garden beds will make your home sparkle!
