Curb Appeal

Ideas to help you put your best facade forward.

Mar 4, 2008 Elizabeth Edwards

Todd Zawistowski, courtesy of manufacturers

1. A fresh paint combo packs a big design punch. Northern Home & Cottage art director Diane Kolak paired Guacamole and Fling Green from Pittsburgh Paints for this head-turner. Northwood Paint, Traverse City. 947-8522, northwoodpaint.com.

2. Nothing says cottage like a white picket garden gate. Imagine your home with the Archtop Picket Gate, $550 from pacificgateworks.com.

3. Thin stone is real stone, just sliced skinny so it goes up walls with no footings or wall ties - and for less money. Priced comparably to high-end cultured stone. Shown here: Chilton stone from Cherryland Cut Stone in Traverse City. 231-947-6096, cherrylandcutstone.com.

4. A vintage solid copper mailbox outfitted with nostalgic newspaper brackets turns fetching the daily into a beautiful morning ritual. $209. themetalpeddler.com.

5. Go native in your yard with a pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia). This eastern U.S. species flowers
in fat, white clusters. Like all true Northerners, the pagoda thrives around naturally wooded areas. We found ours at Crystal Gardens in Frankfort. 231-352-9321, crystalgardensm22.com.

Green Idea
Go native in your yard with these Northern plants.

Groundcover
Bearberry or Kinnickinick
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Needs: Sandy soil, no watering. Grows naturally in the dunes.

Flowering Shrub
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Needs: Well-drained soil, full sun.

Small Tree
Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
Needs: Not much - it's drought-tolerant and likes a variety of soils.

Elizabeth Edwards is managing editor at Traverse, Northern Michigan's Magazine.
lissa@traversemagazine.com

Note: This article was first published in May 2007 and was updated for the web February 2008.