Don’t Let Keeping Up With The Joneses Become A Constant Battle

A lot of us will have felt it at some point or another. Looking at our own property from the outside then glancing over to a next-door neighbor’s, it’s pretty hard not to play the “keeping up with the Joneses” comparisons game. However, not all of us have the same time or inclination for getting out and putting all that work into our home’s façade. If you want to feel like you’re not falling too far behind your neighbors’ exteriors but you also don’t want to spend literally all day in your garden in the summer, here are a few impactful but short-term changes you could make.

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Give it a once over

You might be surprised to learn the kind of transformative power a little water has. We’re not talking about rain, either. Renting a power washer could help you utterly refresh your exterior, especially if you have any tiles or stone surfaces. The grime from all of the organic debris from your garden and surrounding gardens can bake into ceramics and stone over the years, and a power wash of these materials can have them looking brand sparkling new.

Get the lawn you deserve

Ever had the problem of having a problematic, patchy, and poor-looking lawn, while your next-door neighbor has theirs trimmed, tight, and totally beautiful looking? It’s not just a matter of getting the lawnmower out more often, sometimes you need to get more deep into the soil and a lawn fertilizing service can help you do just that. Professionals can take a look at your lawn and help you figure out whether the problem is moisture, weeds, moss, grubs or otherwise, and implement the right solutions to get rid of them so your lawn grows more beautifully.

Make a flower garden much easier to maintain

If you think your garden looks a little bare compared to the raised flower beds of your neighbors, but you don’t want to put in all the work of maintaining such elaborate landscaping (not to mention all the weeding) then there are solutions. Installing permanent planters can help you bring in fresh color and texture that breaks up a plain garden but they are significantly easier to maintain. Why work harder to grow some gorgeous flowers when you can work smarter instead and give yourself less maintenance to do?

Facelift the home itself

It’s not all about the garden or the driveway and other surroundings. Sometimes, the home itself might be showing its age a little, and taking the time to give it a facelift can really refresh it. Sometimes this might mean a lick of paint, sometimes it might mean replacing an older front door, but you might even consider installing a facade that totally changes the look, texture, and profile of the home.

In the long-term, the solution might simply be to be at peace with the exteriors you have and do what you can simply to maintain them. However, as long as that little bug of envy is bothering you, the tips above might help.

This is a contributed post.

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