If you are planning to make some changes to the front of your house and to your front yard, here are some ideas that might help you to create a scene pretty enough to be in house and garden publications. 

Start with the House—Starting with changes that need to be made to your home just makes sense since it's something you can do before spring arrives and you can tackle your yard. As you assess what needs to be done to your house, pay attention to detail. For example, painting your front door might give a powerful boost to the facade of your house. Consider bold colors like brick red, turquoise, or yellow to add pizzaz. And don't forget the hardware on the door. Do you have a brass door knocker and door knob? If so, this is a great time to shine those up. If your entire house needs painting, you might get great deals on that service during the winter months. Adding decorative lights to the front of your house would also make it more attractive. Match the light fixtures to the hardware on your front door for a really unified look.

The Yard—Even though the winter isn't a great time for planting new shrubs and flowering plants, there is still a lot you can do for your yard. For example, if you have been wanting a new walkway, consider doing that until you can do your planting. Some good materials for a walkway are flagstone, brick, or concrete. In fact, if you choose concrete, you can have it faux painted to look like wood, pebble stone, tile, or marble. Buying statuary and installing lighting now is also a good idea. Even though you may not be planting yet, you can still plan to trim your trees. Pruning during dormancy is a great idea because the result will be bursts of new growth in the spring. Even though you can do light pruning at any time, it's still smart to wait until the coldest part of winter has passed to do major tree trimming. Contact a professional service like R. L. Elliott Enterprises, Inc. if you'd rather not do the job yourself.

Think about keeping a log as you proceed with your home beautification project so you can keep track of what has been done and what still needs work. Also, take pictures before you start working so that you can see how much you have done to improve the appearance of your home. This is a good time to plan your actual landscaping so that when spring does arrive you'll be ready to plant.