Home-enhancing driveways

Boost your property's kerb appeal with a well-designed, practical and stylish driveway. Here's how these homeowners have created a lasting first impression

- 

Getting your driveway design right will involve giving consideration to a number of different areas.

As well as making sure it looks good, it will also need to fulfil the requirements of the property and its inhabitants. But, in addition to materials, size and design, you'll also need to take into account whether you're looking to create a new driveway for a self-build – where planning permission may have required you to create off-road parking – or, if you're updating an existing driveway, whether it involves adhering to any Building Regulations.

In either scenario, with driveways generally used on a daily basis, giving careful consideration now to getting the design right is a sensible long-term investment that will add value to your home, and your experience of living there.

MATCH THE DRIVEWAY MATERIALS TO YOUR HOUSE

For your driveway to sit well alongside the style of your house and to actively enhance its features and architectural form, you need to consider the two together. Sometimes this can mean using driveway materials that mirror those used to clad your home, while on other occasions it can work better to ensure that the shape of the drive reflects that of the property it fronts.

Here, the very contemporary, crisp white rendered exterior of the house has been replicated within the driveway design to ensure that the whole look is one that is minimalist and fuss free.

UP SECURITY LEVELS WITH A GRAVEL DRIVEWAY

Home security is an essential part of any property design and a well-planned driveway certainly plays its part in this. Materials that are noisy to walk on, such as gravel or tumbled stone, are useful in alerting residents of unwanted guests, while outdoor wall lights with sensors are great for deterring intruders from afar.