Let me start this one by stating that I love to decorate my home for the holidays. Both Halloween and Christmas I go all out. I do it for my children to try and help get them in the spirit of the season. That being said, if I were to try and sell my house, I would stop and think “Should I decorate for the holidays”? The answer is yes, but limited and with consideration. It is not so much about the holidays and more about the decorations. Let me explain…
When trying to sell your house you want to make it easy for those visiting to imagine themselves living in the house. If they do not celebrate the same holidays as you then by decorating it may make it a little more difficult. If you tastefully decorate and don’t go overboard, many people may easily look past the limited decorations you have put out. A few decorations are definitely OK.
That being said, please give some consideration to the decorations you are putting out. Christmas decorations are not such a big deal, but Halloween on the other hand can be. I am meeting more and more people who do not celebrate Halloween and view it as “the devil’s night”. Sure they can look past a few pumpkins or children’s decoration (who doesn’t love Snoopy as the flying ace?) but some modern decorations are really crossing that line. Oh and by the way, if you have a jumping spider or other decoration that jumps, makes noise, or generally aims at scaring an unsuspecting passerby, please just take it down (or better yet , do not put it up). If you are asking “should I decorate for the holidays” then you already understand that there are perhaps some negative reactions to your décor and fear is perhaps the worst reaction you could get. Hard to believe I have to write that but the 10 year old me is still giggling at the thought of scaring a visitor to the home.
One of the main points a home stager considers when preparing a home is the amount of clutter. A house should not be cluttered but instead more open to make it seem larger, let in more light, and to make it easier for visitors to imagine their furniture and belongings in the home. This applies to the outside of the home as well as the inside. So do not clutter a room or your yard with decorations. Really try to limit it to the fewest most essential decorations you can. I know at our house at Christmas we put up the tree and so many decorations that as the holiday approaches they FILL the room with merriment and cheer. Problem is that it is more for us to enjoy, probably not so much for others. I don’t think they would enjoying having to step over silly decorations, where as for me it makes me smile with fond memories. If this is you as well, give real consideration to the decorations you choose. For those of you disciplined enough, for every one thing you put into the room, take one thing out.
If you find that you are selling your house at a time when you have to ask “should I decorate for the holidays”, just remember that your first goal is to sell your home. If it is not, then perhaps you should wait until the season passes and you can make it the number one priority again.
Go ahead and decorate, but do not go crazy. If you want to see examples of people doing a great job of decorating their homes for Christmas, then please check out the Christmas Decoration Contest that is going on here in Burlington. If you think you have the best decorations on the street then please enter. There are prizes to be won, but keep in mind that the whole point is to spread Holiday Spirit. The prizes just help a little. For more information please visit Burlington Christmas Contest
Happy Holidays!
