It's easy to point out attractive yards and houses when you drive by them, but how do you decide what's right for your yard?

Janet Wickell, Home Buying and Selling Guide from About.com has this exercise to evaluate your home's curb appeal:

Curb Appeal Exercise
The next time you come home, stop across the street or far enough down the driveway to get a good view of the house and its surroundings. View the property from the same position as a someone who is driving by.

1. What would be your impression of the house and yard area if you were seeing it for the first time?

2. What are the best exterior features of the house or lot? Can you enhance them even more?

3. What are the worst exterior features of the house or lot? How can you minimize or improve them?

4. Park where a visitor would and walk towards the house, looking around you as if it were your first visit. Is the path clean and tidy?

5. Start making a list of your positive and negative feelings about the property's appearance.

6. Take photos of the home's exterior. If you have a digital camera, view the color versions first, then switch the photos to greyscale. Sometimes it's easier to see problems when color isn't present to affect our senses.

Janet has a few quick fixes that will improve most any house and yard:

* If you can budget it, a fresh paint job does wonders for a dingy house. Drive around to find color schemes that are appealing.

* How about a more attractive front door, maybe something with leaded glass inserts?

* If you can't justify the cost of a new door, consider replacing plain doorknob hardware with something more attractive.

* If new hardware is beyond your budget, how about repainting or staining the door and polishing the hardware?

Entryways

For many homes, the front door and entryway are the focal points. TLC's How2 Crew suggest installing new house numbers and mailbox to spruce up this eye-catching area.

"Using shiny metal ...adds a little flash to the house without being overwhelming," experts at the How2 Crew say. "Paint the base plate with the accent paint. After the paint has dried, screw the numbers onto the base plate. Then screw the base plate into the siding of the house."

Michael Love, president of Interior Options Inc., a New York interior design firm, says adding flowers around the front door may bring more than color to your home's curb appeal.

"Use flowers. If you have room, go for the traditional two large planters -- one on either side of the door or walkway, Michael says. Fill them to overflowing with flowers if it's spring or summer or evergreens in the cooler months, she says. This will create a focal point."

He also says mulching your flower beds can give the yard a more manicured look.

Another way to incorporate flowers into your yard is around mailboxes or light posts.

"Turn simple structures into visual centerpieces with an encircling parade of flowers from earliest to latest spring," according to experts at Bulb.com. "Plant: purple and gold crocus; dainty white snowdrops; pink-and-white narcissi; blue hyacinths; bright white anemone blanda (Greek wind flowers) and tulips of several colors. Position rocks or boulders around the posts, as well, to create added interest."

BEFORE FIGURE A

AFTER Figure B

Painting

A fresh coat of paint will do wonders for any house. Professional painters will probably do a better job, but gathering friends and family to help paint a house can be cheaper and a lot of fun. If you don't have the budget to paint the entire house, touch up places that really need it. If you aren't sure what color your existing paint is, take a chip to your local home improvement store, like Home Depot, and see if they can match it. Just touching up the problem areas will save you time and money, and you might not notice you don't have a all-over paint job.

Painting trim is another way to give instant curb appeal to your home. Trim paint is usually best in a white or a neural color. A bright white will really pop against a medium hue house color. In Figure A, the house is painted all over in a gray, medium hue. In Figure B, the awning has been removed, the front door painted red and the trim has been painted a bright white and interest and detail to the period home.

Decorating Outdoors

There is usually at least one house in every neighborhood that is so well decorated outdoors that you drive past slowly to get a good look. What makes these houses so special? A lot of the time it isn’t money. The key ingredient seems to be imagination. There are a few key points to remember when decorating your yard or the exterior of your house.

1. Consider your environment. Celebrate the climate you live in. One exciting example of this is the community of Kayenta in southern Utah. The houses must all fit in with the desert surroundings. No manicured lawns outside the fences and the stucco must be a shade that is found in the natural landscape. If you live in a lush green area, make the most of it. This also cuts down on maintenance time and money.

2. Consider the ages and interests of your family. Would a porch swing be more appropriate than a swing set or sandbox? Do you have a hobbyist in the household? Make full use of the talents of your family.

3. Use space wisely. Website's like HGTV has a section devoted to landscaping, . and village.com. They can help you plan usage and give you ideas for those fun do it yourself projects.

4. Dare to dream! Maybe you won’t have the perfect lawn, fountain, play area, tennis court by tomorrow or even next year but if you plan carefully and add an item at a time in a year or two yours will be the yard people slow down to take a second look at!