Your driveway entrance—and, of course, your driveway itself—are among the first noted elements of your home. An aesthetic driveway entrance not only sets the initial mood for visitors, but can also capture the attention of potential buyers if you’re intending on selling your home. Here, we uncover a few tips for creating a Long Island driveway entrance that piques interest from the very first glance and leaves a lasting first impression.
The Right Material
When choosing the building materials for your driveway, you should take into account the architecture of your home, as well as the surrounding landscape. If you’re selecting concrete pavers for their durability and the design possibilities they offer, your color inspiration should draw from natural tones of your home’s environment. For more information on choosing colors for your paving stones, check out this page. If natural stone is more your style, consider flagstone or bluestone with warm hues to compliment Oyster Bay Cove’s warm autumnal reds, or a lighter Natural Stone like Unilock’s Sandstone in Indian Coast for a more Mediterranean feel. Natural Stone by Unilock comes in a wide range or colors to match just about any style of home.
Open It Up
A wide driveway entrance creates a welcoming, stately feel to your home. Even if the width of your actual driveway is limited because of space, drainage, plumbing, or vegetation, you can still fan out the entrance of your driveway to create a spacious and inviting first impression. A wide driveway entrance also increases accessibility from the road and prevents the edges of the driveway pavement from failing due to heavy traffic. Consider installing a driveway apron of concrete pavers even if the main driveway is regular blacktop. For more inspiration, check out the Unilock Driveways gallery here.
Driveway Pillars/Entrance Columns
A popular choice for creating a welcoming driveway entrance for Long Island homeowners is the installation of driveway pillars. Sometimes referred to as columns, pillars typically site on either side of the driveway entrance at the road side. For the Oyster Bay Cove, NY area, consider Unilock’s Rivenstone Wall for a natural, yet style-forward look. Driveway pillars can also be built using natural PA fieldstone, granite, and other natural stone selections from the NY region. Top off your driveway pillars with a bluestone pillar cap and an elegant light fixture that’s toed into the rest of the outdoor lighting system for your landscape. Finish off the look by including planting beds around each pillar.
Bordering
Creating a border to your drive in a different style paver may be just the key to bringing that final touch to your home’s exterior. Consider breaking the monotony of an asphalt or concrete driveway with a contrasting border paver like Unilock’s Courtstone, or if using concrete pavers for the entire driveway, include a border paver with a contrasting texture and color than that of the main paver. For more inspiration on creating driveway borders that pop, visit this page for inspiration. Also, be sure to get your copy of the Unilock Design Ideas Catalog.
Accents
While laying a concrete paver driveway, accents can be added to draw focus to certain areas or create more visual interest. Accents are specially cut pavers or natural stone of a contrasting color to the surrounding surface and can be laid into a particular pattern or design that stands out. While this sort of masonry requires advanced skill and may demand a higher price, your finished paver driveway will be a truly unique focal point for your Long Island home.
To create a truly special driveway, begin by contacting a Unilock Authorized Contractor in the Oyster Bay Cove, NY or surrounding Long Island area for a free estimate.
For more tips and articles on creating great landscapes in the Long Island area, visit the Unilock Blog!
