Comments on: Will Santa Take Over Your Home Staging for the Holidays?

By: Vicki Olson

Vicki Olson — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:22:12 +0000

This is a touchy subject, but one that can be tactfully addressed with the sellers. I would comment on how beautiful it looked, but suggest how it would be distracting to a potential buyer to really see the bones of the home and difficult for someone to imagine their own things arranged in the space. I would offer ways to keep some of the Christmas spirit on a very simple level and suggest placement of a few items to compliment the decor.
And never take listing pictures at this time of year, as it dates how long the home has been on the market and turns off potential clients that don’t do Christmas.

By: Home Stagers: Don't let Santa upstage your decorating projects this month | Home Staging Business Report

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:23:47 +0000

[...] In a home staging business dilemma I posted last month, I tried to get you thinking about what you would do if you were asked to stage a house that was completely taken over by Christmas décor. A special thanks to those of you who contributed to the discussion by posting your own advice to the story (If you would like to read that original post and comments, click here). [...]

By: Nicolet Groen

Nicolet Groen — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:48:06 +0000

In the Netherlands, Christmas season started today and we have the same problem overhere but the decoration is not so overwhelming as in the US. Never the less I always advise my clients to keep the decoration simple with only the tree and some pieces on the table.

When a home is listed in this period I always avoid any form of decoration in the pictures. (I’m also a professional interior photographer) Simply because you loose every form of negotiation when the house is still on the market in July with the remains of Christmas in the photo’s. In my blog http://www.foutehuizen.nl I posted last seasons decorations which I spotted in November…. A complete no-go for the homes that I stage en take pictures of!

(I’m sorry for possible mistakes I made, English is not my native language!)

By: Mixing Home Staging and Christmas | Staging Diva Dispatch

Mixing Home Staging and Christmas | Staging Diva Dispatch — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:38:32 +0000

[...] > Read the rest of the story and add your thoughts Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]

By: Kathleen Lordbock

Kathleen Lordbock — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:29:12 +0000

As both the listing agent and the home stager, I send out to all my clients instructions on Holiday decor before the season. I would not take a property out for the season and not show it -the goal is to sell it!!! My listings need to be ready to be shown on a 2 hour notice with very few exceptions. A smaller tree with white lights, fresh greenery, presents with coordinating colors, some outdoor white lights and topiary at the entrance, a wreath on the door – all acceptable. Tasteful and minimal but not over the top. They comply because they know listing with me is an adventure , we go over everything from the start. I only take motivated clients and my listings sell.
Yes, staging does set listings apart from the competition.

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 02:08:41 +0000

I would try to turn it down a notch and just use candles, white lights, and possibly welcome candles in the windows. Some nice fresh greens, magnolias, and berries. This would be more specific for a “holiday” rather than a christmas to appeal to a wider variety of buyers. I would play up the mantle if there was one and add colorful luxurious pillows and throws to the couch or chairs. I believe the inflatables would pose a “distraction” which is not what a seller would want. Any photos taken that display “holiday” decor also date the listing and let potential buyers know just how long the home has been on the market! I’ve seen some beautiful million dollar homes that are decorated over the top for the holidays. I felt like the photos on line were a waste because you could not appreciate the details of the home because you were so distracted by the numerous decorations.

By: Heather Cook

Heather Cook — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:53:56 +0000

We have addressed the issue of overdecorating during the holidays several times – and because its not just xmas time when people decorate (we dealt with one client who LOVED Valentine’s day and had metallic hearts everywhere when we visited last February) its all about communicating the K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Staging) system. If we are called in before decorating season begins then we always tactfully ask what the plan is for the decorations and stress that keeping things to a minimum is best when trying to sell during the holidays. We even go so far as to say one decoration elemet per space i.e ONLY the xmas tree in the family room (mantle and walls modern and simple) or ONLY a simple table centerpiece (glass hurricane filled with co-ordinating ornaments and a candle). That way those elements really shine and add great touches which still allow buyers to admire the space not the stuff. We do encourage our sellers to enjoy the holiday season outside by doing nice dressy urns with lights and berries and wreaths with rich colours and textures.

If the family does not want to deviate from their decorating style of having xmas decorations everywhere then we recommend putting off listing the home and staging once all the decorations are packed away after xmas.

By: linda thompson

linda thompson — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:05:06 +0000

Wow. This can be a delicate situation. People who go all out decorating for Christmas usually find it a great source of fun and joy, ie. my daughter, who tries to emulate Chevy Chase and Tim Allen(Family Christmas Vacation and Home Improvement.) Now that she’s married and has a house of her own to decorate my husband and I are scaling down the decorating.

I would agree with the other comments that I’d encourage the sellers to wait until after the holidays to put their home on the market. If that was not possible however, I’d use this opportunity to suggest that before they deck the halls they declutter the walls, and while they’re at it the floors, bookcases, closets, etc. Many people put their seasonal decorations up and simply add them to their regular decor making the whole place more cluttered.I would make sure that no decorations were blocking the windows or traffic paterns inside or outside the house.

Personally, I don’t like the blow up lawn items, but the families children might be attached to them and since Christmas comes only once a year and childhood is so fleeting I might relent and let them stay, but make sure the landscaping and other outdoor effects, like paint, repairs are done.

By: Donna McBrier

Donna McBrier — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:19:19 +0000

I’m about to start a new staging project; one of the first things out of my mouth during the intial phone call was ” how do you plan to decorate for the holidays?”
Thankfully the homeowner said she could keep it simple and so we went with a simple tree- tastefully decorated, 2 live potted 4′ trees on her really nice front porch (an added “bonus” area) and white lights on those trees and the small (about 4′ evergreen on the right side of the attached garage) to pull it together.
And most important of all I’ve asked that everything be taken down and packed away for the move right after New Years at the VERY latest!

If the homeseller is a Christmas decorating maniac, I would suggest ” for every hoilday decoration you add to your home, that’s one more reason to keep a prospective buyer from buying your home because they can’t really see your home through the distractions, lovely as they may be”

Good luck to all of us!

By: Antonia Banewicz

Antonia Banewicz — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:55:04 +0000

What a great question! Yikes!

I think (as stated above) that I would strongly encourage the home owner and the agent to postpone showing the house until after the holidays are over. The “Christmas theme” and any religious theme might offend several buyers and I (particularly where I live in NJ) would strongly suggest that the house not be shown in this condition. When a house looks like Santa threw up in there, nobody will be able to see the bones of the house, the purpose of the rooms, etc. anyway. As Jill states, at the very least the decorations would need to be minimal and extremely tasteful. However, for staging purposes, most likely I would have to say that my staging services would be better suited to enhancing the home after the holidays. However since I do offer holiday decorating as part of my services, I would tactfully see if the homeowners could use my help in creating a more tasteful holiday decor. I would then offer my staging services immediately after the holidays are over. I don’t know how you could even stage a home that is drenched in the Christmas theme! Here’s to keeping it simple…

Happy Holidays to one and all!