People tend to concentrate so much on renovating the interior of their homes that they tend to forget the exterior. However, your home’s exterior contributes the most when it comes to the overall aesthetics of your home. And completely ignoring it can impact the overall look of your home.
One major part of your home you use almost every day is the driveway. Improving your driveway is one way to elevate your home’s aesthetics of your home, making it look more attractive to visitors. Who knows, it might even increase your home’s overall value? With that said, here are four simple ways you can do that.
1. Cemented Driveway with Hedge Border
You know that renovations can cost you a lot of money on average. You won’t want to spend $13,000 on your driveway, so you can start simple and cheap. A lot of homeowners take their cemented driveway for granted. They think it’s too dull and renovate into more expensive alternatives. But cemented driveways can be simple and effective if you add a hedge border to make them shine.
Before you start applying cement into your driveway, you’re going to need to do a couple of things first. For this to work, you might need to contact your local excavation company. They can excavate some extra soil you won’t need for your cement driveway. Next, measure how much dirt you want to be removed from your driveway to ensure that the cement does not go too deep into the ground.
For your hedge border, try conifer or even large evergreen. Both are the staple species of hedging plants, and they are relatively cheap too. They will undoubtedly add a new layer of beauty to your cemented driveway.
2. Seashell Driveway
If you love the beach or being close to any body of water, you can imitate that feeling on your driveway. It’s another cheap option in beautifying your driveway and adding that crunch to every footstep you make while walking on it.
Seashell driveways are pretty popular in beach states like Florida. It brings that beach vibe everywhere. You can get this beach vibe by adapting this driveway design into your own.
The first step into having a seashell driveway is choosing between a cemented driveway or a soil-based one. If you like a strong feeling underneath your feet or car, you can go for a cemented driveway. But if you want that authentic beach feeling, going for soil is better.
Next up is to choose the seashell you’d like to spread in your driveway. The crushed clamshell is your cheapest option, costing you about $0.60 per square foot. There are alternatives to this if you have more budget, like oyster shells. Feel free to mix and match different shells together as well.
Remember to replace your shells once every year or two years. It’s as simple as shoveling up, throwing away, and replacing with a new batch of shells.
3. Cobblestone
Some homes in the countryside have a natural cobblestone design. You can imitate this in your home with minimal effort.
A driveway made of cobblestone adds a rustic look to your home. It’s excellent for aged dwellings, but it fits pretty modern homes as well. The best part about cobblestone driveways is that they are resilient and can stand the test of time. Compared to the other suggestions in this article, you won’t need to maintain your cobblestone path for quite some time.
If you have a soil driveway, it’s as simple as adding some cobblestone to the mix. It also works well with graveled and seashell paths. Just make sure they don’t end up covering the cobblestones you’ve placed.
While cobblestones can last a long time, they can be pretty expensive. And there are other things you must consider when getting this material. Sure enough, this is a worthy investment because they’ll be there until your grandchildren inherit the place.
4. Garden Driveway
Lastly, you can’t ignore a growing trend among some homeowners, and that’s placing a garden directly on top of their driveway. Don’t worry. This design is pretty much driveable, so you shouldn’t worry too much about the plants you place in them.
A garden driveway can catch everyone’s attention, but it does require you to get some professional help. A landscaper can help you do this, or if you’re experienced enough, you can do it yourself. It also requires some attention because you want to keep those plants trimmed so they don’t end up growing too big for the driveway.
So here are four ways you can beautify your driveway. These ideas will undoubtedly add a new layer to your home’s aesthetics. But don’t limit your creativity to just these four. Feel free to create your design based on these ideas.
