Optimize Your Home’s Exterior for a Stunning Landscaping Backdrop

If you really want to have a beautiful lawn, you need to consider the home that lies behind it. Funny as this might sound, people all too often neglect the actual exterior of their houses when concentrating on landscaping and gardens.

In fact, you should think about these two things simultaneously. Even when in the process of picking out your garden items. To have an ideal looking lawn, you should focus on creating harmony between it, your home, and everything that surrounds it. In order to accomplish this, there are several critical components that you should think about before you start buying any particular seeds.

Windows are critical

Windows are the eye to the world. And they are also one of the first things that outsiders will notice about your house. Consciously or not, the quality and style of your home windows make a major impression on passersby and guests. So you want them to be as classy as possible.

To maintain windows with the perfect look, keep the following points in mind:

• Keep them clean! Make a point of cleaning the inside and outside of your windows on a regular basis. Even if they aren’t being splashed with mud, small amounts of dirt and debris can build up that gradually tarnish your windows’ appearance. Keep them sparkly at all times.
• Refresh your paint trim once in a while. The elements can be brutal on paint, even if yours is good quality. Make an effort to repaint your trim once in a while, and maybe even go bolder with your color choice.
• Add a window box. For first-floor windows, consider adding a nice little window box with seasonal flowers to add the perfect complement to your landscaping. Think about flowers that go with ones you plant in front of the house.
• Decorative trimming. Ever see those sweet little gingerbread cottages that people have in the countryside? If you’ve got the right style home for it, think about adding a nice little trim to your windows to give your exterior a nice homey touch.

In general, you want to integrate your window look with your overall landscaping to give it holistic appeal. Step back and think about looks that make a single statement to outside viewers.

Choose a color scheme that works

If people drive by your home and look at it in a flash, they are going to be left with a single impression. You want this impression to make a big statement. Therefore, it is worth your while to think about your home’s overall color scheme and how well it integrates with your landscaping.

Here are some general ideas that you can ponder:

• Analogous colors. While non-experts might not consciously think about coloring schemes in these terms, the reality is that there are particular combinations that work. Analogous colors are ones that are adjacent to each other on the color spectrum (green and yellow, black and grey, etc). Get even more subtle with particular shades, and you can create a winning look.
• The complementary look can also be spectacular in its own way. Complementary colors are ones that are opposite each other on the color spectrum (green and red, black and white, etc). The use of complementary colors creates a bolder appearance than analogous colors; it depends on your home’s style and what type of statement you want to make.
• Monochromatic color schemes are just what the name suggests: a color palette that uses a single color as its basis, but which uses trimmings that are slight variations of that color. The monochromatic can create a super classy artistic look (think deep reds with burgundy trimmings, for example) to complement your landscaping.

These are just a few examples, of course. But there are lots of color schemes that could go with your house and garden. Take into consideration your home’s style, the era in which it was built, and of course your personal preferences. And it wouldn’t hurt to think about the colors of the blooms you’ll be hosting on the front lawn!

Think about your neighborhood

Having a super classy post-modern house is great, but you should also keep your environment in mind. By that we mean the other houses on the block. If you live in a neighborhood of 19th-century Victorian classics, the post-mod look might not be ideal. You might also have specific building codes that prohibit too many changes.

When making exterior renovations, always keep in mind your overall neighborhood. While subtle (or, in fact, superior) changes might fit the look of your block, more drastic changes might be unwelcome. Not only might your fabulous exterior stick out in the eyes of your neighbors, it would look odd in general. And this could spoil your landscaping. Remember that being in tune with nature also means harmony with those around you.