It is, as they say, the most wonderful time of the year: but if you’re trying to sell your home over the festive period, should you make any changes to ho-ho-how (sorry) you decorate your space for Christmas? As estate agents, we feel like a modicum of caution is the best approach here – you certainly needn’t be bah humbug and simply ignore the whole season if you’d otherwise love to decorate, but equally, a sense of moderation can be wise, both to avoid over-cluttering your house and also to respect that not everyone celebrates this particular date. However, it’s still definitely a great idea to add some extra magic and sparkle into your home at this dark time of year, not to mention a good excuse to have a little styling fun!
[Image credit] A sophisticated Christmas scheme can still be playful, as shown here in this pretty set-up by retailer Lights4Fun
It is, as they say, the most wonderful time of the year: but if you’re trying to sell your home over the festive period, should you make any changes to ho-ho-how (sorry) you decorate your space for Christmas? As estate agents, we feel like a modicum of caution is the best approach here – you certainly needn’t be bah humbug and simply ignore the whole season if you’d otherwise love to decorate, but equally, a sense of moderation can be wise, both to avoid over-cluttering your house and also to respect that not everyone celebrates this particular date. However, it’s still definitely a great idea to add some extra magic and sparkle into your home at this dark time of year, not to mention a good excuse to have a little styling fun!
Our resident writer, Joanna Thornhill, has styled dozens of Christmas photoshoots in her time for brands and magazines – here, she’s created a few basic rules to follow if you want to bring some festive glitz into your home this yuletide, but don’t want to scare off any buyers with your predilection for multicoloured tinsel and Buble on repeat…
[Image credit] A corner which doesn’t otherwise need to be accessed, such as this one between a wall and the end of a sofa, is a good option for a house that’s going to be hosting viewings. Image credit: Carpetright
1. Tone down your tree
While generally speaking, Christmas décor schemes are always more meaningful if you weave in those favourite haphazard hand-painted baubles from Auntie Margaret, or proudly display the wonky toilet roll fairy tree topper your little one made at nursery, perhaps leave those quietly in the loft this year and opt for a more tasteful, understated scheme with a slightly less personal feel: just as you might try to create a somewhat blanker canvas when preparing your home for house viewings by strimming down family photos and kiddie masterpieces, the same rules apply to your tree. Stick to a simple scheme of neutral silvers and golds, or add in some red for a Nordic feel, and ensure you’ve got plenty of warm white LED lights wrapped around its branches for that glowing, twinkly feel.
Be realistic, too, about what size tree you can fit into your space without it blocking prospective buyers from being able to access the full room: while you might personally be happy to fill your whole bay window with a floor-to-ceiling whopper of a tree, this could not only block out the light but also prevent buyers from getting a clear idea of how the space would work for them on a day-to-day basis. If space is tight, opt for a smaller tree raised up on a side table, or confine it to a less conspicuous corner (or even a different room where there’s more space) this year. If you’re looking at purchasing a new faux tree, consider a more slimline style to avoid taking up too much floor space.
[Image credit] LED candles – like these, from Lights4Fun – are a great option for viewings safety-wise: simply switch them on then leave prospective buyers to mooch unattended
2. Add in some twinkle
Not all of your prospective buyers will celebrate Christmas – though it’s pretty safe to assume that everyone appreciates some warm, twinkly lights at this dark time of year. Try toning down the overly Christmassey elements and instead, think of it more like a celebration of midwinter and go to town with lighting and candles.
Micro fairy lights – strings of LED lights with tiny bulbs embedded into a slim cable – are a great way to instantly add some ambient sparkle, and have become hugely popular in recent years. Usually battery powered, this means you can pretty much place them anywhere – try weaving some across a mantlepiece, nestle a string among books and ornaments on shelving, or run a set across window ledges, for a pretty glow.
Candles, too, feel very apt and welcoming at this time of year – consider grouping several simple pillar styles together (stylist’s tip: work with odd numbers, and keep the heights varied, for visual interest). If you’re worried about safety, LED candles have come on leaps and bounds style-wise in recent years, and are often almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
Finally, try to layer in a few lamps to avoid the harsh glow of the ceiling light, especially during daytime viewings if it’s a gloomy day. Retailers have really upped their game when it comes to cordless lamps – consider investing in a few to add extra pockets of light to any otherwise hard-to-access corners.
[Image credit] Sticking to a consistent colour palette between your interior décor and any festive accents will help any seasonal additions blend in more seamlessly, as seen here in this shot from Pooky (featuring their stunning wall and floor lights)
3. Curtail Christmas clutter
It can be all too easy to suddenly find all your shelves are stuffed with Christmas cards, or additional festive favourite ornaments have been hastily crammed onto already-busy spaces, resulting in a look that’s closer to chaos than charm.
Consider ways you can mitigate this, without having to simply forego your favourite items – when it comes to cards, try hanging them vertically by clipping them to lengths of ribbon in less conspicuous corners, instead of standing them up: by grouping them all together in one place, they will read visually as ‘one’ item rather than multiple disparate pieces. And when it comes to favourite festive ornaments, try a ‘one in, one out’ approach: if you’re adorning your fireplace with festive figurines and lush garlands, for every item you add, temporarily remove any existing display items and store away in a box until the time comes to take down the festive items.
4. Tree-ternatives
Often in period properties, while the footprint might not be huge, the ceiling heights are generally pretty generous. Therefore (just for this year!), it could be worth considering foregoing the traditional tree altogether and instead, focus on smaller-scale, inventive ways to bring in the Christmas cheer, instead.
If you enjoy getting a little crafty, try creating a 2D ‘wall tree’: you could use decorative Washi tape to create a triangle outline directly to your wall, and fill it in with very lightweight baubles (again, using Washi tape to fix them via their strings). Heralding from Japan, Washi is a type of masking tape you can find it in many stationery and gift shops, and it comes in a multitude of colours and patterns, and usually peels off totally damage-free. Or you could even pin some favourite baubles to a blank artist’s canvas, as an alternative display idea, and hang in place of your usual living room artwork
Wreaths, too, needn’t just be for the front door: if you have a picture rail, consider clustering several of them together along a key interior wall, for a quirky festive nod. Or use garlands to decorate the tops of cupboards and shelving (which will draw buyers’ attention to your ceiling height, too).
Is a successful home sale number one on your Christmas list this year? Give us a call if so and see if we can help you with that, too! You can call us on 020 8539 9544 or email us on hello@eeleven.co.uk, we'd love to hear from you.
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