Curb Appeal

How do you make a house look great in preparation for offering it for sale? One of the most important factors is that hard-to-define quality of "curb appeal." The changes don't need to be huge; just some judicious color and some handsome accents can change the potential buyer's first impression from "ho-hum" to "gotta have it!"
Here's an example of some subtle changes that add up to a great effect for this English cottage style garden:

before…
…and after
with the addition of some color
and a little style.

The best part is, these changes don't need to be expensive. The transformation above cost about $1000 in plants, mulch and labor; the sellers of this home at 2255 Cornell Street estimate it added about 5x that amount to the home's desirability.