Most people that want to live by the beach also want the look and feel of a beach-themed home. This extends out of the house in the way of curb appeal too. But what’s the best way to enhance the beachy curb appeal of your oceanfront home?
First off, are you selling your home or making it your dream home? Because these two things can definitely call for different landscaping. If you’re selling, you’ll need to look at your home through the eyes of a buyer. Is the front of the house look? Is there peeling paint? Overgrown bushes or shrubs? Tired mulch or dead flowers? These are immediate needs that will need to be tended to before deciding on a theme or a style. If you have grass make sure it is mowed, trimmed, and edged. You want to create a cohesive feel using different types of plants to go with the landscaping.
Try and stick to the landscaping of the area. If you have a beachfront home you’re probably not going to be creating an English garden or Japanese garden. If you’re selling your home people expect to the beach themed look with lots of rock, driftwood, rope accents and flowing grasses. Stick to a core set of similar plants so the landscaping doesn’t look as though it’s broken up.
Another way to enhance your beachfront home is to develop a sense of flow making certain visual markers along sight lines that draw the eye from one end of the home or yard to the other. You might do this by creating a path that transitions in the same place the yard does at slightly different elevations or for shaded areas open up into the sunny areas.
If you’re creating a space for yourself consider what you use the landscaping for. Do you prefer to entertain in the front or in the back? Are you looking for a space that you can relax, hangout, entertain or simply curl up with a good book? Create a setting not just a space. If you have a big front porch consider putting out a hammock for big, oversized chair. Set out a small table and if the area is covered consider putting a couple books on the table, perfect for curling up, watching the traffic or the people walk by and enjoying a good book.
Consider adding a rope fence either from the driveway or road to the home or in the back from the home to the beach. Have flowing grasses and variegated styles stretching over the path but make sure they don’t block too much of the path. A boardwalk is a great addition if you can spend a little money. This can be expensive but will certainly add a beach theme to the front or back of your home.
Beach themed homes are typically not cluttered or crowded so leave open space for the ocean air to sweep around the home and on the porch. There are certain flowers and roses that can grow up on lattices around door frames and windows that perfectly frame the door and love the ocean air.
If you’re planning on selling, talk to us about staging your home for today’s buyers. If you’re planning on creating a space for yourself, check out this great Pinterest page all about beach curb appeal.
Image by Josh Meek & Google Maps
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