If you are one of the few brave individuals that is trying to sell your home during the holiday season, it can be challenging to find a balance between your holiday decorations and a beautifully staged home that buyers will love. Don’t take this as a deterrent from selling your home this time of year. It really can be a great time for your home to get more attention when there are frequently fewer homes on the market and the buyers that are looking are often more serious. With a little sacrifice on your side (depending on your usual decorating style), you can still have a festive home for the holidays while trying to sell your home. Where should you start?
If your holiday style swings more in the direction of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation than Martha Stewart, you will need to make some adjustments but you don’t have to skip decorating all together. Throughout the process, take a minimalist approach that will allow the natural beauty of your home to show through and not be hidden behind a dozen trinkets in every room. One or two pieces of stylish and simple décor per room should be the goal.
What should you do about your Christmas tree? You normally select the largest one that will fit in your house and it partially blocks the fireplace so the lights twinkle just right in your picture window for all the neighbors to see. This year, downsize your tree so your cozy fireplace can be seen (and have a lot fewer pine needles to vacuum up come January.)
If you usually go all out in the yard with multiple light displays and cords running in every direction, pick one or two items and place them in areas that won’t become hazards for buyers walking through the yard. If a buyer is really considering your home, they will likely want to walk through the yard as well and tripping over Santa on their way to the storage shed won’t leave them ready to make an offer. If decorations are outside, consider placing them in a flower bed or another area that isn’t likely to see any traffic.
Don’t feel like you must completely neglect the outside. An evergreen wreath with a bright bow or holly berries on the front door can improve curb appeal during an often drab season when most things outside are brown. Consider adding a large poinsettia to your dining room table. The color will be beautiful and festive.
For many home buyers, seeing your tree can evoke an emotional response that may be to your benefit. Use that emotion to your advantage to get them off the fence and writing an offer. The right decorating can do just that. Ultimately, let your focus be to make your home inviting and the right decorations can accomplish that no matter the season. Then, next year when you are in your new home, you can pull out all of the decorations and leave no spot unglittered.
