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Last week I reached down into the depths of my soul and asked all of you fellow homeowners to please, please, never paint your house the color of a yellow highlighter.

I feel like now that I’ve permanently scarred your retinas with some very poor color choices I should balance the scales by showing you the Absolute Awesome that can be achieved on the exterior of your home with a little time and creativity.

Side Note: My recent obsession with house exteriors has nothing to do with the fact that I’m currently agonizing over the colors and materials to use on the addition I’ll be adding on to my house in, oh, a month or so.

On to business…

1.) Paint. Porch. Done.

One of my favorite oh-my-god-I-can’t-believe-it-used-to-look-like-that moments recently occurred when I was checking out a remodel over at Chezerbey. New colors and a refreshed porch turned this into a whole different house.

It takes a person with vision to see what that sea-green aluminum-clad beast could become. Cheers to these homeowners.

2.) Come on in!

The power of an entryway should never be underestimated, as evidenced by these B&A’s from RemodelingCenter.com

3.) It’s the Little Things

Even just a new garage door, some updated trim colors, and a little landscaping can transform a house.

4.) Rear Appeal

To quote Back to Front Exterior Design from across the big pond, “This house had nothing going for it in the rear…” It’s true of us all sometimes. Sigh. You have to admit though, a nice outdoor living space can transform the exterior of a house.

5.)Natural Neutrals

Proof that you don’t have to get fancy to have some curb appeal.

6.) Sea Foam Green, Not Always Wrong

Ironically, as good as the Chezerbey home looked sans sea-foam coloring, it makes quite a different impression on this HGTV home.

8.) Square, Not Always “Square”

I have a moral objection to big boxes with roofs, but for all of you big box owners out there this B&A from This Old House is proof that there is hope.

9.) Landscape Love

It’s not all about the house. Okay, don’t let the landscapers lie to you, it’s mostly about the house. But this landscaping makeover, courtesy of HGTV’s Curb Appeal is proof that plants do count for something other than oxygen. (Though that contribution should not be underestimated.)

10.) Banishing Blue

High-fives to the homeowners who did what I could never bring myself to do, and bought a house the color of a blue slushy. Their neighbors must have wept tears of joy when this makeover was complete, and the balance of peace and charm was restored to the universe once again.

If only all of the trials of homeownership could be solved with a little paint and landscaping. So tell me, what are some of your favorite exterior transformations?

You can’t tell me you don’t want to be a superhero, because I don’t care what anyone says, if someone offered you the ability to fly or shoot lasers out of your eyes you know you’d take it in a heartbeat.

I don’t know anything about eyeball lasers, but I just found out you can save the world and have goats live on your roof at the same time, and that has GOT to be the next best thing.  You think I jest, but no…

Goats on a roof.

I know, right? You just blinked at the screen fifteen times and went… huh.

Now, I’m the first in line to admit that people do stupid things to their houses, but occasionally people also do really weird things to their houses that — while they might make your eyebrows shoot up so far up that they end up on the back of your head– are actually both different and making a difference, and there’s something to be said for that.

1.) Green Roofs

Call me crazy but I’ve been talking about having a grass roof on our future garage for years.

Some of the most interesting grass-roof pictures I’ve seen (goats included) are here and more up-to date information can be found at Greenroofs.com.

2.) Beer Can Siding

I mean, I like a cold beer as much as the next person. And I can see how, halfway through a case a person might look at their house and go “Aluminum siding. Aluminum can. Idea!” And just imagine if all of these cans had gone in the garbage.

This guy knows the meaning of the word dedication. And he saved the world by drinking beer, which is almost as cool as the goats-on-roof thing. Experience the beer glory here.

3.) Invisible walkway lighting

Got trees near your sidewalk? Conserve electricity with solar powered lights that can be installed directly into a tree.

And they look cool too… this guy just needs to get from “good idea” to “on the market”.  And the lady down the street from me who has her Christmas lights on year round and 437 plastic garden gnomes in her front yard needs to never know these exist.

4.) Build Around a Tree

This guy probably has better oxygen in his house than the rest of us. Hey, maybe it has to do with the sixty foot tree taking up residence in his living room?

I agree, the tree was there first. And, hey, it’s a conversation starter.

6.) Insulate with Fungi

No joke, this stuff is made of rice hulls and fungus. You don’t manufacture it, you grow it. In dark places. So basically one day you’ll wake up and the insulation in your house will have crept out of the walls and set up shop in your basement.

Not really, it’s dead fungus. You’ve got to kind of wonder what it smells like though right? This article doesn’t say.

7.) Sort Socks While You… Uh, Nevermind

Okay, so this one is just weird. Do you know how many articles of my clothing would end up accidentally dunked in the toilet. One is too many, okay? And in this case it wouldn’t just be toilet water, but dirty laundry toilet water.

Something has to be said for saving the world with a commode. I’m just not sure what that something is, at the moment.

So, my fellow Superhero Homeowners, get those goats on your roof and keep on making a difference!