How do your ensure the outside of your home makes a good impression?

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

It is often said how important first impressions are and often when hosting, the first thing your guest will see is the outside of your listing.

Do you spend much time thinking about how to make the outside of your home look inviting? Do are your tips for this? Perhaps you regularly paint the facade or plant flowers. Or alternatively, if you are unable to touch the front of your home, what do you do to help welcome your guests.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Rubén16]

@Lizzie  I plant corn around the Cottage and place sitting areas with table and chairs, and vintage/old style bikes for guests to ride.

[Lizzie]

Very nice @Rubén16 . Do you get a good crop of corn?

Do you plant the same thing there every year?

[Rubén16]

@Lizzie  Guests love to take pictures of themselves sitting in the bikes next to the corn field so I decided to keep planting it, not much of a corn crop maybe three to four bushels, ( it is mainly decorative and used as a country kodak moment for the guests ) 

Definition:

Kodak moment:  is a rare one time moment captured by a picture.

                                                Compared to 

Selfie: an image that includes oneself (often with another person or as part of a group) and is taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks 

[Ivana61]

I think that is excellent idea, have some interesting spot like check in for guests. 

[Susan1028]

spoken like a photographer @Reuben0

😉

[Julie143]

Yeah, this is one area I need to work on. I have a black thumb, unfortunately. 

I did get a new house number which is easier to see from the street and more attractive. Etsy has many custom options which are affordable.

I also leave the porch light on, in case it’s dark when they arrive. That way they can see the keypad and it makes the house look more inviting.

[Lizzie]

It's definitely nice to have a welcoming light when you arrive @Julie143 , it gives the impression of being cozy and looked after, I think. 

Do you have much control over your outdoor space to improve it?

[Julie143]

It’s a single family, detached house with a front yard. I do have control. It’s more a matter of will and skill.

We keep the grass cut and weeded and the leaves raked. Some people in town treat their lawns with various chemicals to keep them green and water the lawns with sprinklers during dry spells. I’m not willing to do it. It’s not a golf course!

Mainly, I think it’s a waste of resources.

Plus a tiny bit of laziness.   😉

I could probably manage some hanging floral baskets this spring. 

[Ivana61]

Sure, we have automatic light when they exit from car all way to the apartment. I think they appreciate that 😊

[Sally221]

My garden is my pride & joy & the hummingbirds I cohabit with make a great welcoming committee. I also make sure that paths are swept and everything is well lit at night. Sally

[Helen427]

@Sally87Do you have any photos of the Hummingbirds?
We don't have any that I'm aware of in New Zealand.

We used to have far more birds than we used to but someone keeps telling us any "introduced species " don't belong here and the "expert Arborists" keep cutting our birds homes (trees) down so they have disappeared.

They've also done the same with our delightful exotic flowers which were homes to all manner of insects and birds.

We must all do our bit to bring them back!

[Sally221]

Helen, I just saw this- I'll try and take a picture of my pal "Buzzer" when he/she is perched on a twig and proclaiming dominance over all the other Hummers in the garden. We have had rain in buckets, sheets and drizzle for many weeks  but the sun will come again & rain is better than fire & smoke!  I don't have the skills to catch an image of them in flight, they are incredibly fast and agile- hovering, going up down and backwards.  They aren't the least afraid of me, apparently flower recognition skills help with human face recognizing. We have had several generations of the "Big" green cut-throats and the smaller Anna's gracing our garden, they are curious, charming and iridescently exquisite. Hummingbirds are native to N & S America and the best thing about my garden. I don't use feeders but squeeze in as many salvias and other bloomers that appeal to them. Another "exotic" native we have are the skunks- they are adorable and fearless (with good reason) and I've had to grab a guest or 2 who wanted to make friends with one wandering down the street in the evening.- they are not found in other countries and getting sprayed by a skunk would Not be the highlight of anyone's trip, Sally

[Huma0]

@Lizzie

Although my house is quite large (there are two more floors above the green section shown in the photo and it's very deep too), the front garden is tiny as a previous owner sold a chunk of it to the next door neighbours. There is therefore no parking, which is a pain, but I've tried to make the most of it by filling the flowerbeds with lots of shrubs and flowers and also adding lots of flowerpots. I guess it's rather eccentric and passersby often stop and stare or even take photos.

Most people seem to love it, but one pair of guests really hated it, writing, "The outside of the house looks quite horrible." Okay, so the path maybe needs a little TLC, but I was shocked by this comment (which they repeated twice), especially as I have put quite a lot of effort into making something out of my skinny front yard!

I don't have a good photo really. This one was taken on a rather gloomy Autumn day, but I'm hoping the Airbnb photographer will come back in Spring or Summer (for my Superhost bonus) and capture the riot of colour at that time of year.

[Kevin940]

@Huma0 , your garden is beautiful, I so wish I was back living in the UK.  I am in Western Australia and it is hot and dry.  The weeds grow literally overnight it is an ongoing battle!