As the weather gets cold, home owners often find it difficult to keep their homes looking as beautiful as they do in the spring and summer. Particularly if you are trying to sell your home during the winter, it is important to make your home stand out. Here are five simple ideas to keep your home looking warm and inviting throughout the cold winter months.

1. Maintain Your Yard: Even though it's winter that does not mean you should let your regular yard maintenance go undone. Keep your landscaping looking neat and tidy by trimming your trees and bushes, raking leaves as they fall, and adding fresh mulch or some pine bark. Mulch should be refreshed several times each year to keep your landscaping beds looking nice.

2. Touch-Up Paint: Paint the trim or the front door of your house before the weather gets too cold. Just painting the trim alone can make a huge difference in the appearance of your home, and a brightly colored front door can add interest to your home year round. Additionally, new front door hardware is a nice touch and will freshen up the look of your home.

3. Add Greenery: Add a colorful, seasonal wreath to your front door, garage door, or to the front of your home. Install some planter boxes or flower pots in appropriate areas with winter greens or flowers added to them for a nice summer feel. If you are looking for a year round solution, holly bushes are a great evergreen shrub that will give you nice green leaves and bright red holly berries all year long. They also make a nice natural shelter for wild birds. Or consider adding some ornamental plume grass or tall shrubbery. These will tower above your landscape and any snow that may have accumulated on your lawn.

4. Install Lighting: Line your sidewalk with some solar lighting or arrange it decoratively throughout your landscaping. This will add a warm inviting look to your home and help it stand out from the rest of the homes in your neighborhood. Replacing your porch light or adding a pair of sconces can also do wonders to update the front of your home.

5. Include Decorative Touches: Adding sculptures, a bench, some yard ornaments or other decorative touches will help add some personality to your curb appeal. Perhaps you could add a basket full of pine cones to your front porch or install a US or seasonal flag to the front of your home for a splash of color. Just keep it tasteful and in tone with the look of your neighborhood. You may also have to check with your homeowners association to confirm what is and what is not acceptable under their bylaws.

Dwell360 is a residential real estate firm based in Boston and Newton Massachusetts. Dwell360 services the cities and suburbs of metro Boston. We are focused on our customers and our experience in the residential real estate market is extensive. Search for homes in Massachusetts and then give us a call.