Being a Realtor® in Kelowna with Nyrose and Associates, I have the pleasure of viewing some amazing homes and it is a lot fun to see them decorated for the holidays. Let’s face it, for most of us, our homes do not look like a page out of Martha Stewart Living, or a monochromatic design studio, especially during the holidays. So please talk to your Realtor® for advice on how to decorate and be aware when you are trying to sell your home, going overboard can limit the audience that your home appeals to. Buyers want to be able to envision their belongings in your home and the less distractions, the easier this is for them. As great as you may think it looks you don’t want your home to end up here!

Holiday decorating to sell your home:

- keep the 10 ft. tree for next year, go for a 4 ft. or table top version
- stack wrapped presents in a corner or in a closet
- use more splashes of red as this is an emotionally appealing color
- use natural decorations such as garland, cranberries, pine cones and sticks
- Never leave candles burning unattended
- set a plate of cookies on the counter with festive napkins or display
- be careful with over scenting the home with air fresheners as buyers may think you are trying to hide offensive smells.
- Outdoor lights should be kept to a minimum, please no blow up snow men!
- Limit any religious symbols as buyers come with their own set of biases and backgrounds.
- make sure you have shoveled your sidewalks and driveways at all times and not only on days when you have a showing, because many potential buyers will drive by you home beforehand.

So when I am not busying making real estate dreams come true I find myself getting caught up in the excitement of the holiday season; it is one of my favorite times of the year! Nothing beats waking up to a morning snowfall turning all of Kelowna into a winter wonderland. However I am also one of those people who would gladly see the snow disappear a couple weeks after Christmas and have our beautiful sunny Okanagan summer weather return.

We all have fond holiday memories of decorating the house with the scents and sites of the holidays that give you that warm fuzzy feeling inside. As I have grown up, I have to admit that I am a home decor junkie and stop at every interior design and decorator store to see there amazing displays, teeming with jealousy over how creative they are! Viewing wonderfully decorated homes for sale in Kelowna has only added to this addiction. My latest guilty pleasure is a website called Pintrest, if you know what it is then you understand, if you don’t then I am sorry in advance for ruining your afternoon.

So here are a few of my tips, tricks and things that help make my Okanagan holiday season sparkle, but please if you have your home on the market don’t go overboard!

It Smells like Christmas
Holiday mornings in my house were filled with the smell of coffee percolating on the stove, the warmth of a wood fireplace and the sight of bacon, eggs and pancakes welcoming the start of my day. I also have a vivid memory of the first time my mother introduced me to Chai tea and I told her it tasted like Christmas and she explained that it was my association was with the wonderful spices and aromas that come along with the holiday seasons. The smell of cinnamon, cloves and other spices floating in the air brings back nostalgic family memories. Sadly I can’t give you advice on how to get someone to cook you breakfast or how to get a wood fireplace in your home but I can help with adding a little spice to your holiday season!

Individually wrapped Christmas oranges were a huge hit in my house!
- Clove Covered Oranges will make your whole house smell amazing – puncture orange with cloves in any design you like or cover the entire thing and tie ribbon around it like a present and voila you have a centre piece or tree ornament. These also look beautiful when you make several and display them in a hurricane vase.
-If you want your house to smell heavenly, boil some orange peels with a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon on Medium heat.
Simmer away your holiday blues with your crock pot! Mix water + cinnamon sticks+ vanilla + pumpkin spice + almond extract + oil or cinnamon + apples, let the ingredients simmered on low and delight your senses.
Rub the top of light bulbs with your favorite scented oil – mint or cinnamon are great choices, and lavender works great to help the little ones sleep!

DIY Decorations

- Dress up your mantle Christmas lights by wrapping in garland; this also helps prevent tangling in storage.
- Place a stocking holder on each end of your mantle and a curtain rod between them, this is a simple way to hang multiple stockings or hang decorations.
- Christmas trees – rolled up poster paper + candle stick holders + decorations and your imagination.
- Go for a walk and pick up branches then spray paint some or all branches white, place in vase and hang with decorations
- Place pine cones and lights in a bucket or hurricane vase
- Ball ornaments that won’t break: air inflated water balloon or foam ball + scrap fabric + rubber band + ribbon
- A Wreath made of cotton balls or coffee filters (yes this actually works and looks great)
- Baby’s breath: cover foam ball to make a hanging snow ball or as a tree filler (I have never forgotten my neighbour doing this when I was a child, it was one of the most beautiful trees I have ever seen)
- Sparkly candle holders: cover jars in mod podge and roll in Epsom salts – makes a snowy candle holder

Wrap me up in your love!
I adore receiving well wrapped presents, not only has the person taken the time to find something special for me but they have wrapped it with love and they look great under the tree!

So here are some inspirations for you (Tip – glue guns are great!):

- Brown butcher paper can be dressed up with just about anything and it is cheap!
- Fabric cut into strips or old holiday sweaters work great in replace of ribbon or can be tired into bows.
- Accent your gift with some buttons, a sparkly ornament, dried flowers, pine cone, sea shells, candy cane, single earring or their favorite Christmas decorations, the possibilities are endless!
- No bows? No problem! Grab some ribbon and Google “how to make a bow”, trust me it is easier than you would think!
- Not sure what to do with all those left over greeting cards? Make beautiful name tags out of them and attach with a ribbon or by layering them and attach with a ribbon.
- Instead of using name tags, print out a photo and attach it to the gift.
- Put all of your photos to use scan/photo copy and print off your own wrapping paper with black and white holiday photos or Lyrics of your favorite holiday songs…. scan/photo copy, print one of a kind wrapping paper
- The best way to have hassle free and economical wrapping experience is to save items for next year and wrap your presents with items you can re-use, scarves, towels, burlap, decorated storage tins (works great for storing decorations later), and bows!

You may think that decorating out your home like this and having it on the holiday lighting tour may be a good idea for exposure for your home, however this will only make your neighbours want you to move out faster and will deter the average home buyer. So save yourself some trouble this season and keep your home modest and classic, this will be more appealing to buyers and will also save you endless hours of holiday decorating. If your not quite sure if your home is suitable for the holiday selling season, please contact Nyrose and Associates for a free consultation.

Happy Holidays!

Tiffany