10 Ways to Add Colorful Curb Appeal to a Home

Want to give your home a dash of curb appeal? Experts say to focus on colorful accents for the home exterior.

 "The outside of a house is an open palette, and there's so much opportunity to add curb appeal with colorful accents," says color expert Kate Smith, chief color maven with Sensational Color.

Here are 10 ways to give your house a colorful facelift.

1.      No matter what style your home is, the roof is a major aspect of its curb appeal -- sometimes as much as 40 percent of the view. So think about it first. Use free online resources like the new Top Down Color visualizer from DaVinci Roofscapes to quickly visualize how different colors and products will look on your home.

2.      Make landscaping decisions with color top-of-mind. Either go for a vibrant and natural look, or create a stylized look with patterns and designs.

3.      Replace the numbers on your house or clean the old ones. Brass will certainly stand out on most housing materials; however, you may prefer to use large colorful accent numbers to contrast with your home exterior.

4.      Forget about your bland, boring garage door. Use free online resources like HaasCreate, an online visualizer, to select one with color and distinction. Available from Haas Door at haascreate.com, the tool allows you to upload a photo of your home then select different garage door styles to see what will work best on your home.

5.      Give your mail carrier a warmer welcome. Spruce up your mailbox with a fresh coat of paint. Or, if it's rusty or splintered, replace it. There are many styles available, so consider selecting something with character.

6.      Add decorative glass windows for a distinctive accent to your home exterior. An assortment of square, geometric and oval shaped options are available in both fixed and operable styles from such brands as Hy-Lite. Certain windows feature black, satin or brass caming to offset beveled glass pieces and other privacy textured glass, while other windows boast silkscreened designs.

7.      Soft touches, such as adding new colorful pillows to a front porch swing, laying out a new welcome mat or hanging a flag, can give your home cozy, colorful curb appeal.

8.      Add color to shutters, door and window surrounds, and other trim pieces. Start with low maintenance polyurethane pieces that are moisture-, insect- and rot-resistant. Through the Classic Color Program available at Nu-Wood, you can have pieces pre-painted in any of 9,000 Sherwin-Williams paint colors and ready to install out of the box. The company includes a touch-up container of paint for convenience.

9.      For natural hues that accent and add contrast to siding, consider applying mortarless stone veneer as full accent walls on your home's exterior or as a half wall/wainscot application. Check out easy-to-install products, available at manufacturers like ClipStone. Colors of their Ledgestone and ProStack styles include Ash, Poinset, Sand and Tan.

10.  Pressure wash and repaint where necessary to restore your home to its original colorful splendor.

Using color strategically, you can make your home more valuable to potential buyers or just more personalized for your own tastes.