Decorating the exterior of your home for the Christmas holidays is an essential but criminally overlooked part Yule Tide plans if you have children or you are having guests over for a get-together at any point. the front of the house is the first thing people see when they arrive so setting the tone for fun and excitement from the very beginning will start things off with a real bang and ensure plenty of anticipatory grins before anyone has even stepped foot inside.

Despite the obvious extra safety precautions needed to fit exterior decorations, it is actually a much simpler and less fussy job than decorating the whole interior of a house. It is mainly just a lot of lighting….. and perhaps the odd six foot Santa! Before you head to the nearest garden or DIY centre, take a pen and pad outside your home and sketch a really basic outline of you home's façade. Pay special attention to its linear qualities or the edges of things like windows, the porch roof, the front etc as these are the areas where you will be hanging lights. Use a tape measure to gauge roughly how much lighting you will need. Although this is can be quite an ordeal in the cold weather, you will only ever have to do it once as you then have the measurements for future Christmases. Next, look around your garden for any other features you want to pick out- trees look especially magical with a cluster of lights entwined in them, you could also hang some waterproof baubles for a really pretty finish. If you have enough room, you will probably want a main feature for your front lawn. Blow up Santa's and snowmen are available but you might want to check the weather forecast before you buy, if snow is predicted it would be much better to create your very own feature, this is also a much more appealing and fun option for children.

It is wise to have a clear idea of a colour scheme for your lights before you arrive at the store. This will save you lots of time and make at least one shopping trip at this time of year stress free. A cohesive colour scheme of lights that picks out all of the main features of your house will look really professional and make your home the envy of the street. White or blue or a combination of the two works really well to create a winter wonderland theme, whereas red, gold or green will create a more traditional look.

If you plan on making a snow man with your children, a good idea is to keep a small roll of discount fabric at the ready. That way you can create a big scarf for your work of art then tie it into your scheme by creating bows of the same material for your trees, bushes and front door wreath.

It may be cold out there but I'm sure you will agree that a fun winter garden that really gets the festivities of to a flyer is certainly worth one two sniffles. You may even get an extra present or two for your efforts!