If you’re preparing to sell your home this season, it can be particularly challenging to stage your house to feel warm and cozy. Take the next couple of weeks to add simple decorating touches to your home to make it extra cozy and welcoming for you, your family and your visitors. Our tips will help you and your REALTOR® create a warm and welcoming space for prospective buyers at your next open house or showing.
Add a Throw Blanket
Nubby knits are an ideal for temporarily adding seasonal pattern and color to your home. Plus they’re the perfect companions for chilly nights at home with a movie.
Pile Up Pillows
Paired with a warm blanket, pillows can add a pop of color and texture to your home’s living room. Look for pillows with a lot of texture, then pile them on the sofa. Think about investing in or making larger ones for the floor.
Gather Around the Hearth
Having a fire lit during your open house shows prospective buyers that your hearth is functioning correctly, plus a warm fire naturally draws people into a home—so accommodate that with extra seating around your hearth.
Tip: For the fall and winter months, rearrange your furniture to shift your conversation area to the fireplace.
Pull Out Your Quilts
Quilts have always looked great on a bed, but consider using them as décor this fall. Frame pieced squares and hang in a grid, or hang an entire quilt on the wall. If you have an out-of-the-way table, try placing a small quilt on it as a tablecloth.
Line Tables with Fabric
Bare tables, while perfect for breezy summers, are too stark for fall. Cover them up with seasonally appropriate runners.
Get Cozy: Tablecloths are expected, but a runner is an even easier way to dress up a table. Get creative and use a long scarf, a fabric remnant or a thin blanket as a runner.
Carve Out a Reading Nook
Fall is the time to pull out your favorite tomes or find a new favorite and lose yourself for hours in a good book. Pick a well-lit corner of your home, with either natural light or a lamp, and arrange a comfy armchair in it to invite guests to stop and sit. Place a table or small bookshelf nearby, stocked with your favorite books. (If you read on a tablet, consider a spot near an outlet for easy charging.)
Try an Area Rug
Nothing heralds the pending arrival of winter quite like a cold floor on stocking feet. Fend off icy toes by placing area rugs in well-traveled spots in the home. Or layer area rugs for even more coziness.
Hang Heavier Drapes
Heavy drapes keep out drafts and lend an opulence to your home, especially if you let them pool an inch or so onto the ground. Plan to switch out summer sheers for patterned drapes in a heavier fabric prior to your fall and winter open house showings.
Seasonal Patterns
Employ cozy patterns, such as plaid, herringbone and tweed, in small doses. Look for patterns that work with your home’s existing scheme. For example, if you have navy blue accents in your living room, incorporate a plaid throw with navy in the design for added warmth.
Warm and Fuzzy
Drape sheepskins over chairs and sofas for instant comfort. The texture is inviting and irresistibly elegant.
Skirt a Table
Cover bare table legs and create an entirely new shape in your room by draping a cloth over a table, hanging down to the floor.
Bonus: You can stash boxes of paperwork and clutter beneath the skirt for quick tidying.
Layer Bedding
Introduce cozy extras to your bedroom for the fall and winter months. Layer in additional pillow pairs and place a decorative throw in a seasonal color or pattern across the foot of the bed.
Warm Up with Gold
Although not soft and fuzzy, gold accents still have a warming effect and bring an elegant touch to your home. Hang a series of gold-framed mirrors in a hallway, foyer or on any bare wall space that needs a little lift. If you can’t find the perfect gold accessories, head to the crafts store, pick up some gold spray paint and add the Midas touch to candlesticks, figurines and more. (Be sure to buy the right spray paint for the material you’ll be updating.)
Switch Out Accessories
Trade in brightly colored area rugs, towels and other affordable accessories in your home for muted tones and seasonal textures.
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens. Used with permission. © Meredith Corporation. http://www.meredith.com. All rights reserved.