Making Your Listings Holiday Ready
Staging for the Holidays
“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”-Hamilton Wright Mabie
Tis’ the season for family, friends and all-around holiday cheer—and real estate! While calendars are packed and budgets are strained, there are still those dedicated home buyers searching for their next home this holiday season.
Show potential buyers why your listing is the perfect home to celebrate the holidays and bring in the New Year in with these holiday staging tips.
Clean & organize
Before you begin the process of holiday-fying your listing, first make sure the home is de-cluttered and organized. It won’t matter how gorgeous your holiday decorations are if they are lost in a sea of clutter.
Speak with the home sellers about the importance of organizing their home before you begin the decorating process.
Complement your palette
When it’s time to decorate, choose holiday decorations that stay true to the interior of the home. You don’t want to take away from the overall feel of the home.
If your listing has a breezy, beachy feel, stay away from thick, wintery garland and heavy holiday decorations. And if the listing has more of a historical presence, you will want to steer clear of overtly modern decorations.
Your holiday decorations become a part of the overall home and should be treated like the rest of the interior. Your decorations should blend in inconspicuously with your listing’s interior, not clash or take away from it.
Go for neutrals
When selecting the perfect holiday décor for your listings, it’s a good idea to always go for neutrals. It’s important to avoid religiously charged decorations. You don’t want to alienate a population of potential home-buyers.
Instead, choose a simple, neutral decoration such as a wreath or candle.
Christmas trees can also work as long as they’re decorated simple and classy and placed in an unobtrusive spot that does not conceal or mask features of the home.
Cater to the nose
Smells are a great selling tool during the holiday season. Unlike during other times of the year, you can actually get away with playing around with scents and smells during the holidays.
We all have distinctive smells that we associate with the holidays—be it the smell of mom’s famous apple pies or the smell of wood cackling in the fireplace.
You can capture these smells to make your listing appear more inviting.
So, think outside the box when pondering what smells to incorporate in your listing. Don’t just resort to buying a holiday scented air freshener. Go for more authentic smells. Bake a batch of fresh cookies, bring in a beautiful wreath of fresh garland or even purchase a bouquet of lovely flowers.
Draw the line
Holiday decorations are a great way to make potential home buyers feel welcomed. It allows them to imagine how it would be to celebrate future holidays in the home.
But be careful— there is a thin line between welcoming decorations and tacky decorations. You want your holiday decorations to add to your listing, not overwhelm or take away from it.
So just continue on past the aisle with the inflatable Santas and snowmen. Less is more when it comes to holiday decorations for your listings.
The holidays are fun! It’s a time for laughter, cheer and love. You can reflect that in your listings with simple gestures such as a holiday wreath or freshly baked cookies.
Take advantage of the holidays to showcase how your listing is not just a house, but a home.
Just don’t go overboard and turn your listing into the Griswold house.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. 1989: Warner Bros., Hughes Entertainment.