When you’re living in a suburbia, there’s always going to be that aspect of “keeping up with the Joneses”. You’re going to want that green grass and the perfect dog. You’re going to want to have a clean house and be able to invite your neighbors inside for lunch or dinner. Everyone wants to be the coveted house. Here are 4 simple tricks that you can do today that make your house seem fancier, more elegant, and cleaner.
1. Clean off the Counters
When someone walks into another person’s home, the first thing they usually look at are the counters. The counters in a kitchen show how well put together the held of the household is and how clean the home as a whole it. If the counters are covered with papers and crumbs with leftovers strewn across, the rest of the home is going to be incredibly underwhelming regardless of how perfectly clean the rest of the house is. If the counters sparkle and shine without a crumb or paper on the surface, then the guests will be impressed with the house no matter how unordered the rest of the place is. Feel free to throw away the junk mail and to hide the sugar that you left out to help with your keto flu. Take a wipe and get rid of any stains or unpleasant smells and polish the edges of the counters. The better the kitchen looks, the better the house looks.
2. Make Your Door Sparkle
What is the very first thing that your neighbors see when they come to your house? The door. Yet the door is often the last thing that we even consider to clean. We often leave faded “no soliciting” signs on the front and don’t mind the scuffs and bangs from where kids have bumped their bikes into. We let the weather fade the paint and the dust stick to it. The best way to make a good impression is to clean the front door. Give it a fresh new coat of paint or simply clean off the dirt that is caked around the edges. Remove any ugly “no soliciting” signs and make sure that the door looks welcoming to anyone who might come to knock on it.
3. Keep Your Lawn Clean and Cut
When someone drives by your home, they see the exterior. They look at the grass and the driveway. If there are ugly patches of brown, then that’s what they remember. If the driveway is cracked and old, then that’s what they think of whenever they imagine coming over to your house. What you can do to fix that is to take better care of the lawn. Look into hiring a lawn care specialist to keep the lawn green or think about repaving the driveway. The benefit about repaving the driveway is that you will get rid of any burrowing ant hills that come out every spring. That way, you get rid of any bugs in the front, and you get to have a great looking front yard.
4. Take Down Anything Unnecessary
When it comes to impressing your neighbors, minimalism is key. If you walk into a home that is overly decorated, it’s often overwhelming and all your mind can think is that it feel crowded. We automatically gravitate towards things that are more open and airy. Make your home reflect that idea. Take out or throw away anything that is simply there to clutter your home. Focus on making it feel welcoming and light. Open the blinds when people come over so that they feel as if the room is bright. If you have decorations outside, reconsider anything that is bulky or tacky. Your neighbors will think that your home looks more elegant and refined when the clutter has been removed.
Of course, the most important thing about your home is that you love it. Never make a change for the pure reason of having your neighbors like your house more--you have to like your house more as well. The changes that are suggested above are things that should improve how you feel about your house as well.
