Where do I find curb appeal advice for my semi-detached home?

May 17, 2006 10:18 AM

Where can I find good resources/tips for how to improve the curb appeal of my semi-detached house?

My neighbour and I have very similar houses in both design and color. We share a driveway and have front-facing garages. On both our houses, the trim, front door, garage and imitation window shutters are all varying shades of dark green. This summer, I want to re-paint the washed out-looking garage door and the screened front door, the porch landing fence and install a stone walkway.

My problem is that most of the advice I’m finding on exterior design is for single, detached homes, whereas I have to consider how my house will look while attached to another house I have no control over. Where can I go to get some good, free advice?

posted by KathyK to home & garden (3 comments total)

A good local landscaper or interior designer will always be able to lend an eye. But remember it's out of your hands. You could paint your house varying shades of tan from Ralph Lauren's pallete and your neighbor might want to go all Cali on you next year.

I've seen stucco houses connected to old brick, and the only thing you tend to notice is the nicer looking one. Don't obsess too much about the other guy :-)
posted by omidius at 10:26 AM on May 17, 2006

I agree that the other place's condition will not negatively affect your place too much - in fact, it might make it look better still given the comparison.

Maybe come up with a plan and then present it to your neighbour, and see if they won't go in for some renovations too. Often people are too busy/indifferent to get something like that started, but if someone approaches them with an idea and plan they're much more amenable. Doing the job for both places might save some money vs. doing them separately, too.
posted by jimmythefish at 11:41 AM on May 17, 2006

A couple cheap fixes that worked wonders for us:

Plants - if the yard looks scrubby and bare, that's bad. Some cheap flowers stuck in the flowerbed change everything.

New house numbers - I was surprised what a difference it made at our old house to get big new numbers.

We live in a duplex, and the homeowners that we're attached to just painted, spruced up the lawn, and put on new numbers. Now our half looks dreary in comparison. We're getting it painted. I second jimmythefish's idea of seeing if your neighbor wants to go halves. If we'd owned our house when the painting started, we probably would have chipped in and done our side as well too.
posted by selfmedicating at 6:23 PM on May 17, 2006