Your driveway is a pretty central part of your home’s exterior space. After all, it’s something that you probably use almost every day, so it needs to be practical and it needs to look presentable. Not just for yourself, but also for others - it’s estimated that a good driveway could add anything between 5% to 10% of your home’s total resale value. That’s probably thousands of pounds, so whether you’re thinking about changing your driveway for your own purposes, or for your potential buyer, one thing’s for certain - it’s always a smart investment!
The best part is that you don’t even need to spend a tonne of money to completely enhance the appearance and feel of your driveway, especially when you’ve used something from our solid range of Indian sandstone. Here are four of our favourite low-budget ideas.
Protect your Indian sandstone with dedicated drainage channels
Let’s be honest - here in the UK, rainfall is a daily reality for us for most of the year. That’s worthy of consideration when it comes to Indian paving slabs. You see, Indian sandstone is permeable, which means that it can be vulnerable to stains from liquid, bacteria or mould. Ideally, you won’t want too much rainfall collecting on it, so one practical way to avoid this is to install a water drainage channel along the sides of your driveway, especially if it’s on a slope. That way, water can be effectively diverted away from your paving slabs, helping to prevent stains or damage, while neatly defining the edges of your driveway.
While you’re considering measures against water ingress, it’s worth mentioning that we always recommend sealing your Indian sandstone with something like HG Impregnator, or Nexus Colour Enhancing Sealer. Not only do these protect your paving stones from damage, but they also help preserve its colours - particularly desirable for distinctive shades like Autumn Brown or Kota Black.
Get some light into your life
Incorporating lighting onto your driveway is another excellent idea that serves two purposes - the first of them practical, by helping you to manoeuvre into your space easily after dark, and the second aesthetic, by giving your driveway extra personality and visual appeal. Most popular designs involve setting them up as a perimeter at ground level - you can choose individual lights, possibly solar powered, and evenly space them along the borders of your driveway, or various types of string lights to provide an even more attractive and unique look. These can nicely offset the warmer shades of Autumn Brown or Golden Leaf Indian sandstone.
Alternatively, you can choose larger motion-activated or LED lights set into the front wall of your house or garage, casting a soft white light into your parking space. This can provide a more understated feel, which is the perfect complement to Indian paving stones like Kota Black or Kandla Grey.
Get in touch with nature
If you think your driveway might be looking a bit cold and featureless, decorating it with some plant life is a brilliant solution. Larger plants can provide a verdant, relaxed sort of feel, or if you’ve got space for flowerbeds, these can make great homes for smaller and more vibrant plants, allowing you to enhance your driveway with regular pops of colour.
But if you’ve not got the space, time or budget for a full flowerbed, just a few strategically placed flowerpots can do the job just fine. Just make sure not to graze them when you’re pulling out, or parking up!
Get creative with aggregates
Another great way to add some colour and texture to your driveway is through the use of aggregates like gravel. These can be versatile and highly sophisticated additions for the borders of your driveway, and can help give greater definition to the space where your drive’s paving stones meet your lawn. To install it you’ll need to ensure that you dig down the trenches to a few inches below ground level, and put down a weed barrier material to prevent weeds from growing through. One of the advantages of aggregates is that they tend to provide good drainage, so they can provide an excellent alternative to the drainage channels we’ve suggested above.
Those are just a few ideas to get you started - you may well have a lot more of your own! And if you’re thinking about completely refreshing the look of your driveway, or you think it needs a full renovation, you’re in exactly the right place. We’ve got a varied range of Indian sandstone to choose from here at Bridge Street Stone, so you’ve got no shortage of choice in terms of achieving your vision. All are sourced directly from India, and we’re able to offer free delivery to most areas. To make an order, feel free to give us a call today on 01282 860571.