After a long winter, thoughts naturally turn to getting outside and playing in the yard. And maybe when you finally venture outside into your possibly neglected yard, you feel like your exterior could use a little more pizazz. Perhaps it’s time for a gate makeover. Here are seven ways you can dress up your gate.
Climbing Plants
Flowering vines add a pretty, natural or even romantic touch to your familiar old gate. Clinging vines, such as ivies and trumpet vines, attach easily to gates without requiring additional support. But keep in mind that if you ever remove them, they may leave marks. Twining vines, such as honeysuckle and pink jasmine, will need a little support in the form of skinny poles or wires to cling to. Otherwise, these vines tend to wind up in knots. But it’s worth the extra work for that scent of jasmine or honeysuckle.
Gate of a contrasting material
Contrast the material of your gate and fence for a striking look. For example, pair a wood fence with a wrought iron gate. For a subtler style, use vertical wooden posts for the fence and horizontal for the gate, or stain the gate a different color.
Fence screens
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If you have a chain link or wrought iron gate, a screen can block wind and add privacy. We know, a lot of these look tacky, but there are a few better ones on the market. They come in many colors, so you could try an interesting contrasting look, if you dare.
Bold color
Speaking of color, how about painting that wooden gate purple? Fuchsia? Red? Or a more demure cornflower blue? Color can add oomph and change your look in about 20 minutes, or however long it takes you to paint a gate.
Rustic look
Are you a shabby chic aficionado? Do you purposely decorate your house with rusty old stuff? Then a rusty old gate might be just the look for your home.
Get artsy with everyday objects
If you live in a neighborhood governed by an HOA, you might not have seen this. But if you’ve wandered the streets of Portland, Oregon or Austin, Texas, you’ve surely noticed people who make their gates into art projects. Everyday metal objects are fair game, including tea kettles, garden tools and musical instruments. Welding required.
Special custom gate
Still not sure how your fence could spiff up your house? Give your friends at Buzz Custom Fence a call. As you can probably detect from our name, we love to do custom work. Our design consultants have a total of 40 years’ experience between them. They can help you work up a concept for a perfect gate, whether it’s made of iron, aluminum, wood, vinyl, shovels or tea kettles. We love to help our customers feel satisfied when they look around their yards.
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