A Great and Easy Idea to Make a Seller's Curb Appeal "Pop"!

     My wife and I met when we both worked together at a Savings and Loan in the mid to late 70's.  She was the secretary to the president of the S&L and processor for the mortgage loan department.  I was a mortgage officer, appraiser, and branch manager ... sort of a jack-of-all-trades.  Back then, especially in a small community, that was normal and expected.

    We ended-up getting married ... and besides taking my lovely bride to a NHL hockey game on our honeymoon (an obvious hint as to what marriage to me was going to truly be like), what else did we do?  Nooooo ... not that!  We went looking at homes!  We honeymooned in Atlanta, so lovely Peachtree Street made famous in "Gone With the Wind" beckoned us, along with other beautiful surrounding areas and towns.  The real estate bug had bitten us both pretty badly and it was cheap entertainment.   

     It should come as no surprise then, that some 33 years later ... we are still addicted to real estate and watch alot of HGTV, Do-It-Yourself Channel, and Better Homes & Garden shows.  Magazines of that ilk litter our coffee tables.  I'm sure many AR members do the same.

      Frequently, AR blogs are targeted at topics of curb appeal and "staging" outdoor spaces prior to listing of a home.  For buyers and agents, first impressions matter.  Updating and upgrading the entrance to a home and beautifying the landscaping can give a seller an edge when it comes to obtaining a sale.  It's obvious that most sellers want to perform tasks that visually make that difference, but don't want to spend an arm-and-a-leg doing so.

     My wife found an unique outdoor staging and decorative idea when viewing the "do it Yourself" website.  The framing for this gardening treatment can be made simply or found in a salvage shop .. something that would save time, save money, and make the task easier.  

     We both thought it might prove a great idea to pass on to those homeowners thinking of selling soon.  It definitely offers visual appeal to a home's landscaping and could be accomplished fairly inexpensively.  It also looks like a fun Spring project for anyone to consider in their yard! 

     The "Window Trellis" directions are found below. 

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WINDOW TRELLIS    (Courtesy of www.diyideas.com/outdoorideas)

Dress a cast-off window frame with a treatment of climbing vines, then sit back and enjoy the view!

Find a frame.  If you can't locate a vintage window frame (ours was salvaged from a church), substitute a vintage door frame.  You also can build the frame from scratch using assorted pieces of vintage decorate molding or new decorative trim pieces from a hardware store or home center; attach the pieces around a rectangular frame made of 1X3s or 1X4s.

Reinforce the frame.  Working on a level surface, attach 1X2 braces at the corners and any joints of the frame.  For a wobbly frame, you may need to nail 1X2s or 1X3s around the fame's perimeter.

Measure for the wire grid.  Using a pencil and tape measure, make a mark on the frame's top inner edge 6 inches from the corner.  Work around the entire frame, marking every 6 inches.  With a corless drill and a bit sized for screw eyes, make pilot holes for the screw eyes at each pencil mark.  Twist the screw eyes into place.

Wire up.  Loop wire through the top left screw eye.  Twist 6-8 inches of excess wire to secure it.  Extend the wire to the bottom left screw eye, pulling the wire taut.  Loop 6-8 inches of wire through the screw eye, clip, and twist.  Repeat this process until the grid's vertical wires are in place.  Create the grid's horizontal rows in the same manner, starting at the upper left screw eye and weaving the horizontal wires over and under the vertical wires.  Screw wire ends at opposite screw eyes.

Situate the trellis.  To place the trellis in the open, set two wood posts a couple of feet deep in concrete footings.  Screw the frame to the posts.  Another option is to place your trellis against a sturdy fence or building.  Use drywall screws to attach the trellis to its support.

Plant and Enjoy!!  Follow the planting instructions on your seed packet or plant container.  We chose fast-growing morning glories, but you can plant cardinal climber, cup and saucer vine, or hyacinth bean for an equally stunning effect.