Present2Sell - By The Dart Dec 2009
Dress it up!
Embrace the festivities
Although Christmas isn't necessarily a great time to transact the purchase of a house with so many of the necessary professionals on their holidays, that shouldn't be confused with the viewing of a house. The festive season actually offers a great opportunity to stage your home with as much drama and creativity as you're up for, showing off its potential to stage any number of sociable formats - grown-up dining; children's party space; intimate family get-togethers or fancy dress buffet.
Colour crackers
The usual principles of colour apply - related background, signature and accent colours - but at this time of the year, the colours can be more dramatic, higher contrast with larger areas of the accent colour - all related to the festive theme of your choice. Christmas-themed objects in bold colours mean it's relatively less important to relate to the background colour. This gives more freedom, but you should still choose decorative objects from your chosen palette to avoid a fragmented result.
Cold Turkey
If you know you'll be moving soon, wouldn't it be better to clear out all those under-used and unwanted things before Christmas? Breaking up is hard to do, I know, but if you can convince your inner self that boxing up those things is just for Christmas, chances are that come the new year, you'll be happy enough to leave them there. Christmas is also a great time of year for charitable donations; you may find things that have never been used, because they just weren't you, but would make a perfect gift for someone else. And before you get used to having them, box away the gifts you received so when you unpack in your new home, it'll be Christmas all over again.
The key thing is de-clutter first and then add Christmas décor. Missing that essential first step will make for a confused and confusing look, and a lost opportunity to wow your viewers.
Focal point fairy
When staging a property, I don't usually recommend that the dining table be dressed but at Christmas, an exception can be made. This tablescape is a wonderful blend of minimalist monochrome, natural objects and the classic Christmas colours of red and green but used sparingly. To create the lighting, you just need two glass containers, one fitting inside the other with about 6cms to spare, a church candle and a wreath of tightly packed berries of the same depth, that fits into the resulting circular space.
Star of light
Talking about lighting, Christmas is absolutely the best time of year to use candles and fairy lights to create instant warmth and ambient interest in the home. Bear in mind that when showing visitors around, they will expect the lights to be on - you won't want to give the impression of hiding unsightlies behind a bohemian fantasy look. Have fairy lights and lamps on - they will create pools of light to lift the flattening effect of ceiling lights - but only for decorative effect. Whether or not your candles are lit (not advisable if you're expecting children among your visitors), they need to look smart. Avoid the blackened, drooping look at all costs.
Jingle Bells
Whatever you do, make sure the entrance to your property is clearly visible and that you can hear your doorbell from inside your property. There are few things more likely to turn the warm fluffy feelings of your potential buyer into a total prickle of resentment than getting drenched and frozen while hammering on your door with increasing desperation, no matter how appealing your holly wreath and welcome mat may be!
