You don't have to take your home off of the market during the holidays if you use these 10 tips on how to decorate and showcase your home when selling during the holidays. You never know, you might wake up on Christmas and have your wish come true. A sold house.

1. Don't put up those big decorations. You want to keep the floor space free for home buyers to be able to walk around and get a sense of the space available for their furniture. 
2. Use greenery that is season: A wreath that has pine branches and pine cones is a great addition on your front door. It's familiar. 
3. Don’t over decorate outside.  Don't put up those big blow up Christmas decorations. This year, give up the competition with the neighbours.
4. Don't over decorate your tree. When your tree is cluttered it makes people feel like the rest of the room is cluttered. 
5. Bigger is not better: If your space is smaller, make sure you put up a smaller tree. Give people a sense they will have room for visitors to come to their home over the holidays.  
6. Scented Candles: Make sure the candle doesn't have an overwhelming scent. You don't want a potential buyer to leave your home because the scent is bothering them. 
7. Some decorative lights are fine. Try to stick to white lights. Coloured lights are distracting. If you have to have extension cords running around the room, don't put them up. If a buyer sees so many extension cords they may think they need to do electrical work to add more.
8. Put away any religious symbols. Keep those out of the living space this one time. You don't want to distract potential buyers.
9. Put away those holiday cards: Don't display those holidays cards, they take up too much space. 
10. Curb Appeal is key. When a buyer comes to your home they don't want to think about how hard it's going to be to shovel the drive or walkway. Make sure your driveway is shovled and they can get to your front door easily. 

The holidays are a fun time of year and there's a lot of events happening in Ottawa for you and  your family to enjoy together. So don't miss the holiday decorations you need to store away right now while your selling your home. Get out and enjoy the holiday spirit at some of these events.