As cold gusts settle in over the Cape, homeowners looking to sell their properties often wonder whether they will be frozen out of the market.
A notoriously difficult time of the year to shine the best light on one’s house often gets passed over in favor of warmer months.
That’s where Madeleine Bickert comes in.
After 20 years of working in corporate marketing, Bickert decided she had had enough of the constant travel involved in her work and just wanted to settle into a job she loved.
So, after completing a two-year certificate program in decorative arts at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, she turned her attention to home staging and interior design.
12 tips for holiday home staging
- Unless you have a spacious living room, don’t put up a full-size Christmas tree. Use garlands or a tabletop tree. Fill several large glass bowls with ornaments that coordinate with the overall décor. Candles can add an attractive scent.
- Avoid homemade decorations. Each holiday item should be elegant and complement the room’s color palette.
- Don’t overdo outdoor lights, particularly icicle lights. Though the lights might look attractive at night, most property showings are during the day, when messy electrical wires and cords are visible.
- Don’t think in terms of one holiday. Potential buyers may observe a different one.
- Remove family photos in favor of ones that depict your home’s exterior during the warmer months, when plants and trees were in bloom.
- Create a welcoming look with a festive wreath on your door. Place winter berries and evergreens in outside flower pots.
- If you’re going to be away, arrange to have a landscaper or neighbor remove any snow, ice or fallen branches from your walkway.
- If you’re entertaining overnight guests, have your agent postpone showings until your guests depart.
- Scent, or smell, is important. Fresh-baked cookies or hot mulled drinks can add a seasonal aroma to an open house.
- Remove and replace any natural plant décor when it begins to wilt.
- Remove holiday décor immediately after December.
Source: Décor Rx
The owner and principal designer of Décor Rx, Bickert helps homeowners in two areas: home staging, using professional decorating techniques including furniture re-arranging, de-cluttering and re-painting to highlight a property’s best-selling points; and redecorating homes for people who want to stay but reinvent their style.
Based largely in Brewster, the business also has an office in Charlestown.
Her key advice for homeowners looking to sell their property at this time of year, or any other, is to keep things “clean and uncluttered.”
Adding holiday décor is OK, she says, and “can add seasonal warmth and charm,” but less is more. For each holiday element added to a room, a year-round decorative item should be removed. Sellers do not want to distract attention from a house’s architectural features or from key points that add to its aesthetic appeal, such as a great view from a window.
(Published: December 23, 2006)
