Front Door Upgrade

Diane Woods
by Diane Woods
We think we may only be in this house another year or two, so we are slowly going through getting everything ready to sell. Whatever we do we want to get the most bang for the buck. Cosmetic changes are the cheapest, and a lot of buyers can't see past the paint if they don't like it. So our first priority is to have curb appeal and get the buyers interested in seeing what's inside.
The front of our house has old landscaping, blue shutters and doors (What were they thinking!?!?!) on red brick. I'll post more of the facelift later, but the first step was our front door. When perspective buyers are waiting for their agent to let them in the house, they have time to look around and see dated fixtures, spider webs, cracks in the steps, etc. We got them to the front door, now we want them anxious to get inside.
We removed the storm door (prior to picture) because it had seen better days being squeaky and rusted. A minimal expense for the new buyers to put one in if they want one. We opted not to replace it to save cost, it will show off the black shutters we are having installed, and because our door sits back in an alcove, so it's protected from weather.
Hubby power washed the whole front of the entrance, ceiling and all. We patched dings in the wood, sanded and painted the celing and trim white. The door outside got a coat of gloss black paint. I tried spraying first thinking I'd get a less streaked surface, but the coverage was blotchy. So I painted it with a brush and rolled it out with a small paint roller.
A new doorbell, new handle, new weatherstripping and a lot of elbow grease. Now instead of the entrance saying "Eh", it says "Come in to this classy, well kept home!"
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