17 Easy and Beautiful Landscaping Ideas for Your Home’s Exterior

By
Mia Ingui
Mia Ingui headshot
Mia Ingui
Mia is an Editor at MyDomaine and The Spruce. She previously covered home décor and luxury lifestyle as an editorial intern at Unique Homes Magazine.
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Updated on Apr 07, 2021
Exterior Spanish bungalow with colorful plants.

White Sands

The interior isn’t the only part of your home that’s allowed to have some fun. When designing your exterior, it’s all about fresh exterior paint colors, continuing your interior design outside, and investing in quality landscaping that is going to stand the test of time. 

If you’re ready to begin embellishing your home’s exterior, we have just the fix. We rounded up easy yet impactful landscaping ideas from our favorite designers and are sharing with you how to achieve a chic look outside your home—hello, curb appeal.

01 of 17

Keep it Green Year-Round

Modern farmhouse exterior with lots of greenery.

DESIGN: KATIE HACKWORTH; PHOTO: BELATHÉE PHOTOGRAPHY

Located in Washington, this exterior needed to employ smart and easy landscaping that will outlast the often gray forecast. The simple addition of evergreen shrubs ensures that this modern farmhouse will remain lush and bright all year round. 

02 of 17

Line It Up

Exterior home with line of short shrubbery leading to front door.

Pure Salt Interiors

Create an inviting pathway to your home by lining your entire walkway with short shrubbery. This look is cohesive, manicured, and super simple, as it only employs a few varieties of plants to achieve the final picture.

03 of 17

Go Evergreen

Cabin exterior with evergreen trees.

Michelle Berwick Design

Continuing with the evergreen theme, if you live in a cool climate that boasts a late-blooming season, evergreen trees will keep your exterior looking polished year-round. Though this cabin relies on the surrounding landscape to give it lots of character, the addition of evergreens and perennials are the perfect additions to the landscaping.

04 of 17

Brush With Bushes

White large house with small bushes on exterior.

Mindy Gayer Design

This stunning neutral home gets a dose of color with bushes and shrubbery in its landscape. The bushes are left naturalistic in shape, but because they are so neatly in line with each other, the look feels clean and fresh.

05 of 17

Make It Succulent

Lawn with succulents and cacti.

Design: Mindy Gayer; Photo: Lane Dittoe

We love this unique landscaping design by Mindy Gayer, which uses some real and artificial succulents to give a sweet look to the lawn.

If your thumb isn’t so green, both real and artificial succulents are perfect for you. The low-maintenance plant rarely needs watering, and a quality artificial version will avoid any need to touch up your exterior. 

06 of 17

Green-ify Your Walkway

White exterior home with large tile walkway.

Design: Mindy Gayer; Photo: Vanessa Lentine

An easy trick when it comes to landscaping is to keep things cohesive by laying walkway tile over existing greenery, as seen here. The pops of color give much more life and visual interest to a typical walkway.

07 of 17

Say Less With Shrubs

Simplistic shrubbery outside gray home.

Pure Salt Interiors

You can certainly continue a minimalistic theme indoors outside with subtle landscaping that makes a large impact, like these striking green shrubs against the charcoal gray exterior of this home. Two simple plant arrangements flank the doorway, and this combination provides visual interest through differences in style and height.

08 of 17

Tell Your Interior Story Outside

Exterior with desert style landscaping.

Calimia Home

Your exterior should continue to tell the story of your interior, and this home certainly does with its desert-inspired landscaping and Spanish bungalow-style design.

A few statement plants are all it takes to deck out your exterior and breathe life into your home. 

09 of 17

Embrace Your Natural Habitat

Desert inspired exterior with large leafy plants.

Blanco Bungalow

It is also important to consider what outdoor plants grow best in your area, and with some quick research, you can choose plants native to your home state and that thrive in your climate. This lush landscaping at the Blanco Bungalow thrives in the year-round California heat, and so choose your plants based on how they will survive in your landscaping.

10 of 17

Lead the Way

Cottage style home with walkway dotted with succulents.

Pure Salt Interiors

How adorable are these pint-sized succulent plants leading the way to the front door of this home? The contrast between the walkway and the taller, larger plants under the window gives a great, simple balance to this landscaping.

11 of 17

Less is More

Simplistic white house with minimal landscaping.

Julian Porcino

Go for a “less is more” approach to your landscaping for a simple look that is equally as chic as it is lower-maintenance. 

A clever hack for featuring more texture and visual interest in your yard is to keep some plants in pots, as seen here, and incorporate them into the landscaping design.

12 of 17

Invite Friends in Nature

Invite Friends in Nature

DESIGN: FINDING LOVELY, PHOTO: RUTH EILEEN PHOTOGRAPHY

We love the idea of making space for other friends in nature through landscaping, like the addition of this birdhouse to this lovely yard. It gives a charming look to the exterior design while also providing a safe space for local birdies—too cute.

13 of 17

Overflow Hydrangea Bushes

Exterior house with large white hydrangea bushes.

Hannah Tyler Designs

Hydrangeas are super stunners in the yard. They are large, bushy, and such a statement—they are sure to fill your landscaping with beauty. This flower is an easy pick for a front yard, as it is super inviting and blooms year after year.

14 of 17

Add a Pergola

White exterior house with pergola and hanging chair.

Julian Porcino

Landscaping goes beyond just plants and flowers—it encompasses the entire design of your exterior. Adding this pergola and amazing hanging chair gives a cool, relaxed look to this home’s exterior that only adds to the naturalistic landscaping choices.

15 of 17

Embellish Your Stairs

Tall exterior home with plants going up the stairs.

White Sands

There's no need for your landscaping to stay confined to the ground—bring it all the way up your staircase, as shown above. This adds drama to your entry, as well as brings the outdoors up and into the home's design.

16 of 17

Go for Potted Plants

Front porch of home with large potted plants.

Light and Dwell

Want to bring the plants to your porch? No problem. Continue your landscaping onto your front entrance with large, statement planters with trees and other perennial plants.

Choosing chic planters brings out any design personality and embellishes your outdoor space.

17 of 17

Play With Space and Color

Exterior Spanish bungalow with colorful plants.

White Sands

This Spanish bungalow exterior boasts tons of landscaping that is simple to recreate. The tiered look of the front gate is a great way to incorporate even more greenery on your exterior, and varying colors of plants give it an organic and coastal feel.

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