10 Ways to Boost Your Home's Curb Appeal with Flowers

When you take a walk around your neighborhood, there are probably a few houses that always stand out to you as your favorites. Maybe they have a beautiful garden in front or an extra special front porch. If you’ve been wondering how you could make the front of your home look prettier too, we have ten ideas for you here. By making a few exterior enhancements, you can achieve fantastic curb appeal.

Selling your home? A study conducted by Michigan State University showed that putting in effort to enhance your home’s curb appeal can increase its perceived value by 5-11% to prospective buyers. It can also make your home sell faster. After all, first impressions make lasting impressions.

1. Add hanging baskets.

One of the simplest things you can do to boost your home’s curb appeal is to add hanging baskets to the front porch. They instantly make it feel friendlier, plus well-tended baskets show people you care about keeping up your home. The baskets pictured at this home are filled with sun loving Supertunia Mini Vista^® Pink Star petunias. You can also try our Container Garden Recipe Search tool to find a hanging basket recipe that will work with the colors of your home here.

2. Install window boxes.

The structure of this brick bungalow already has great curb appeal. Installing window boxes under the front windows draws your eye, gives the home a more cheerful look, and softens the hard lines of the windows. Purple tones were used in the window boxes and pots on top of the front pillars to complement the reds of the brick. Featured here are: Supertunia^® Bordeaux^™ petunia, Supertunia^® Royal Velvet^® petunia, Sweet Caroline Sweetheart Jet Black^™ sweet potato vine and Diamond Frost^® euphorbia.

3. Bring in matching planters and add unique hardware.

Matching planters have a more formal feel to them, especially when they contain plants that have a defined shape like these Pinpoint^® Blue false cypress. At this home, the shrubs remain in the porch pots year-round while the surrounding flowers are changed out seasonally. Find complete details about these four-season planters here. 

Unique hardware used at your front entrance, whether it is an iron grate on the door, a shiny brass kickplate, matching lanterns or new address numbers, will all help to boost your home’s street appeal.

4. Use oversized containers that fit the space well.

If your home is quite large, you’ll need equally large containers to fit the proportion of the space. The 26” urns that top these stone pillars would not have nearly the same presence if they were half as big. Oversized pots positioned to the right of the oversized front door are also in good proportion. An arriving guest would be able to admire the 6’ tall Vertigo^® fountain grass at eye level.

Another element that works well here is the purple fountain grass with arched plumes that sway in the breeze. They soften the hard feel of the stone while making the space feel elegant yet approachable. A comfy chair invites you to come and stay awhile.

5. Add structural elements.

Several things are working in tandem here to elevate this home’s curb appeal. Perhaps most noticeable are the structural elements including the stately columns, covered entrance and linear pathway. These structures bring a sense of order and cleanliness to the space, which is all very visually appealing from the road.

Flowers are used to enhance the structural elements. The front of the flowerbed bordering the pathway has a more formal feel because it uses single rows of the same flower type repeated instead of using multiple types and colors. High quality white ceramic self-watering AquaPots^® planters also elevate the look and feel of the space while bringing cheerful flowers right up to the front door.

6. Make a statement with your front door.

Take advantage of your home’s unique architecture or consider working with a professional to design a front entrance that makes a statement. The arching structures surrounding this door, coupled with the crosshatched sidelights and the impressive door itself, all work together to create a strong focal point for this home. Fluffy pots filled with fun foliage and flowers including the Rockin’ Out container recipe soften the space to make it feel more lived in.

7. Pay attention to the pavement or flooring.

Swapping out plain cement for decorative tile can really brighten a space quickly in climates where it is feasible. The home pictured here is located in California where ice and snow aren’t an issue. Since their front steps take up so much square footage near their door, it makes sense to apply a special treatment to them. White self-watering AquaPots^® planters complete the polished look. Imagine how drab this space would look with plain gray cement and no flowers. If decorative tile isn’t an option for you, consider using stamped cement or cut stone instead.

8. Create a welcoming front porch.

If you want your home to have a “door’s always open” feel to welcome in family and friends, spend some effort to create a welcoming front porch. Several things are working in tandem at the home pictured here to give it that feel.

Warm colors tend to draw people in. The buttery yellow paint, warm red brick, and coral-red furniture on this porch all say, “We’re glad you are here.” The bench, chairs and tables where friends can gather were all picked up at a local flea market and painted to match. A contrasting shade of bright blue on the door creates an extra pop of color from the street. Beachside Drive planters add the finishing touch to this friendly home.

9. Use strong lines softened with flowers.

The architecture of some homes is so amazing that they just exude curb appeal. That’s the case with this unique stone home in southern Illinois. However, the age of this home could make it feel outdated if it weren’t for a few special elements added to the surrounding garden.

First, notice the strong lines of the curved garden beds, stone walls and pathway leading up to the front door. These lines create order in the space and make it obvious to visitors where they should enter. Well-defined bed edges and a repetition of plantings in each bed give them a more formal feel.

Also, see how the brightly colored pink, purple and lime green flowers brighten up this otherwise neutral colored space. Overflowing pots of Supertunia^® petunias, pink geraniums and Snow Princess^® sweet alyssum greet people at the entrance while smooth hydrangeas like Incrediball^® brighten and soften the area behind the rock wall. The addition of these plants, coupled with the home’s unique architecture, is what makes its curb appeal so strong.

10. Paint your house.

It wasn’t an easy decision to go bold with this paint color, but it paid off in spades. Guess which house is the most eye-catching on this city block? If you are the daring type, a fresh coat of paint may be just what your home needs to give it a totally new look.

A few other elements are also working to boost this home’s curb appeal. The perfectly manicured front lawn and clean, straight path lead your eye up to the front porch which is lined in hot pink geraniums and Supertunia^® Bordeaux^™ petunias. From there, your eye moves upwards to take in the sparkling white pergola that runs along the front of the house. That structure creates definition, a bit of shade, and a place from which to hanging baskets of blooms. A pair of chairs invites a neighbor to come by to catch up on the day’s news. Lastly, a window box perched atop the half wall is the icing on the cake.

Looking for more ways to boost your home’s curb appeal? Try these:

• Pinterest board: Plant and Paint Pairings
• Search our window box recipes.
• Short on space on your front porch? Build this stair planter.
• Create your own mailbox garden design here and here.