I’m all for decorating during the holidays. In fact, I have boxes and boxes in my attic of Halloween and Christmas decorations. However, should I put my home on the market during the holidays, I’d use about a fraction of what I have. There’s a reason behind it. When I decorate, I “add” to what’s already out. In other words, I’m not packing, I’m adding more things.

Now as much as I’d hate to call my holiday decor “clutter”, the simple truth is that it is. And as we all know, clutter eats up real estate. Not good when selling.

My advice – if you bring a holiday decorative item in, replace it with something that is already out.

My second piece of advice – Use accessories that follow the season, as oppose to the holiday.

Here’s an example of the accessories we chose to showcase the living room in a vacant home we staged in Atlanta last week. As you can see, we have used the Autumn colors (brown and orange) and not a single witch or pumpkin.

Stores are loaded with fall-like decor so use them to carry you through October and November.

My third piece of advice – use holiday decor sparingly.

In this home, staged for an Atlanta investor who had flipped this property, we added a touch of Christmas by bringing in these metal boxes of presents. These presents were the only holiday decorative item used and can be easily replaced with napkins after Christmas.

In summary, here are the three tips on how to prepare you home for sale during the holidays:

If you bring a holiday decorative item in, replace it with something that is already out.
Use accessories that follow the season, as oppose to the holiday. 
Use holiday decor sparingly