Street appealing or appalling?
Whether you realise it or not, every house you look at has some sort of street appeal, or lack of it! And landscaping of the front garden especially can have a HUGE effect. Street appeal is vital when you are putting a property on the market for sale but it can also make a massive difference should you be seeking a valuation of your property for investment purposes. Not to mention, more importantly, it is what you see and are welcomed by everyday you come home!
Where to start….
A good place to start when looking at street appeal is to take a leisurely stroll around the area you live and see what is attractive to you. What is the first thing you notice about a particular property? What new builds are taking place and what are the latest trends? What properties are for sale? You will soon fine tune what appeals to you at first glance and you can then take that back and see how it could apply to your home. What I notice, is that a property with great street appeal has a planned or designed garden. There are no random paths leading to no particular destinations, no miss mash of plantings all over grown and messy, there is a clear entrance to the property and it is inviting.
The Essentials
Below are a few points to consider when looking to improve the street appeal of your home.
- Create an entrance – The entrance to your property is what will welcome you, your family and friends to your home. This doesn’t mean go and install two large iron gates with your family crest and latin wording, you can be a bit more discreet than that! But do make it clear where to enter your property. Add an arbour or some feature planting either side of the entrance. Some simple lighting and a clear path to the front door will all highlight where to enter the property. The entrance to a property is a great location for a pause point. What I mean is when someone enters your property, there is a small area, pad or landing for the guest to stop, pause and take in where they are. Here, they will look for the direction of the door, but also look around and take in the sights of your front garden. After the first impression of your home from the street, this impression is one to truly capture you guest.
A clear, defined and welcoming entrance to this property. A pause point at the gate makes you unexpectedly stop and take in the rest of the garden.
- Garden layout – It is obvious whether a garden has been specifically designed or has just evolved over the last 40-50 years! These days, people have come to expect a landscaped garden. A design is essential to link all the traffic areas (Driveway, entrance path, side access etc) with out these paths dominating the garden space. This can be achieved by plantings as pictured above. These pleached Manchurian Pears lift your eyes up from the stepping stone path. This diversion of sight can also be achieved with focal points and vistas. These are techniques used to draw your eye towards them and away from other things. Water features are a good example as they visually attract you to them as well as the sound of running water will also draw your attention.
A central feature of sandstone boulders and feature planting was positioned in the centre of the turf area to draw your attention from all angles.
- The ‘Feel’ – The ‘Feel’ of your garden is best to link or connect with the back garden as well as the actual structure and interior of your home. People today are very educated thanks to the abundance of reality renovation shows over the last 10 years and can easily pick when things just don’t feel right. The ‘feel’ of your garden tends to say something about you, and so it should, its your home! Tropical, cottage, formal, Japanese themed, contemporary. What ever style you are looking to achieve, ensure it connects with the rest of your home.
This is a newly built contemporary home with garden to match. The clean lines of the home transfer outside into the garden space with the clipped buxus balls and simple paving shape.
- Outdoor living – In the past, front gardens consisted of a front brick wall or timber fence (If that!), predominantly lawn, a driveway and some plantings that have come to be known as granny plants! Times have changed and today it is all about outdoor living. Property prices continue to increase and owning a bit of land is now a luxury. So why waste this precious space and why not make it as usable as possible. Does your front garden get morning sun? Is your front garden private? Can it be made to be private? Don’t give in to your front garden being a waste of space that just exists, create another space of usable outdoor living.
Creating a welcoming and functional front garden is not difficult, it can just take some planning and the implementation of some simple design techniques.
Call to Action!
Take notice of what you find street appealing or street appalling and see how you can can implement (or remove) these things from your front!
Written by Nick Mason
Residential Design
