Kilmory House sets a dramatic scene inside a 1913 Arts and Crafts estate in Sydney, Australia, where designer Jillian Dinkel crafts an apartment devoted solely to entertaining. Reworking former bedrooms into a pilates studio, playroom, and art studio, she leans into English tradition with a modern gothic edge, creating a secondary home that treats staying in as an evening out.

Como Apartment sits high above Como, Italy, where Mingotti e Giordano reshape a 1970s Brutalist apartment into a lakeside interior. Large windows, a green modular sofa, and pop-inflected pieces catch shifting reflections from the water, pulling the view deep into daily life. The result is a layered home that folds lakeside light, retro flourishes, and custom furniture into one continuous, quietly theatrical sequence.

Gingham Dreams crowns a 25th-floor apartment in Mumbai, India, with a vivid sense of order and play. Conceived by MuseLAB for a three-generational family, the home replaces conventional luxury with gingham-patterned marble, saturated color, and a social core that draws people toward long views of the Arabian Sea. Every room carries the grid in a different register, turning daily rituals into small encounters with pattern and craft.

Private Villa stands on the hills above Castellina Marittima, Italy, where ANDstudio Architects guide the restoration of a historic house into a layered rural retreat. The project pairs renewed structure and a new pool with expressive interiors, folding contemporary art, saturated color, and generous volumes into the villa’s long, arched rooms. Visitors move through vaulted halls and bright salons that keep the building’s past in view while easing present-day country life.

METT Barcelona occupies the historic Gran Hotel La Florida above Barcelona, Spain, where Kokaistudios reworks interiors for a renewed hilltop hotel. The project turns a once-fragmented landmark into a Mediterranean-inflected retreat, balancing restored ceilings and balustrades with new wood-and-fabric elements across public rooms, wellness zones, and guestrooms. Old grandeur stays present, yet the atmosphere now leans toward calm hospitality suited to contemporary travelers.

Curb appeal can be a matter of personal taste, but some eye-catching exterior improvements clearly make your home look more attractive, cared for and welcoming. Whether you are hoping to boost your home’s value and attract potential buyers or you simply want to enjoy a more beautiful space, here are seven project ideas to add some wow factor to your exterior and recommendations for trusted contractors that can bring your vision to life.

Clay Rise sits in the village of West Hoathly in West Sussex, United Kingdom, as a new three-bedroom house by architecture and interior practice Templeton Ford. The project grows from the hillside next to Andre Templeton Ford’s childhood home, translating the brick cottages and clay tiles of the area into a contemporary dwelling shaped for shared and evolving family life. Its calm presence masks a highly tuned, flexible arrangement within.

Halcyon House is a family house in Singapore by Ming Architects, conceived as a bright retreat for daily life and generous entertaining. A raised double-height living room, feature staircase, and car porch lounge anchor the home, while carefully chosen materials keep the interiors mellow and calm. The result is a layered composition where light, shadow, and volume shape how the family and their friends gather and move.