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A Few Simple Tips for Sprucing Up a Carport

A carport is a great choice for any home without a garage, or you might add one to a barn or other outbuilding to protect your tractor, ATV, caravan, and the like. While a carport is usually considered very utilitarian, you might want to consider how to spruce it up if it's visible from the street and especially from your backyard or side yard. After all, you can't enjoy a barbecue with friends if you're staring at a drab and dull carport while on the patio! Note a few simple tips for sprucing up a carport and discuss these with a contractor if needed.

Adding walls

You can easily add walls to a carport by selecting planks of cedar or bamboo, staining or painting them and then covering them with a sealant, and placing them horizontally across the exposed sides of a carport, leaving the entrance open of course. These planks can be fastened to the posts of the carport with bolts so they stay in place; this usually just involves a slight bit of drilling through the wood planks and the posts themselves. Keep the planks slightly separated so you still have some light through the sides and your carport doesn't look claustrophobic.

Once you have walls, you can then also add some decorative hanging flower baskets inside or outside; inside, choose a wall that offers enough space for the baskets so they won't fall onto your car if they should come loose for any reason. Outside the carport, you can hang flower baskets or use the wall as an anchor for shrubbery or other landscaping.

Covering the posts

The posts of your carport may look very drab, so you can cover them and spruce up the space. Make a wood column to cover each post with wide planks you fasten together vertically to create a box around the column. You can then paint or stain it. If you're very creative or can work with a contractor, you can also cover the posts with a stack of rocks or bricks held together with mortar for a more natural look than plain metal posts.

For something even simpler, you might plant climbing ivy at the base of the posts and ensure it grows up the post itself; look for morning glories, a very colorful flower that bloom on a thick green vine and grows very quickly. You might even be able to plant tomatoes or grapevines for a simple but attractive look.


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