Staging your Snowy Exterior

by Kim Dingwall | curb appeal, First Impressions, Gardening, property staging

My last post was about decorating your house when you are selling it during the holidays. This blog post is about how to best dress the exterior of your house after the holiday season but still during the white and cold wintery months.

I always like the lifestyle method of staging. In most of Canada that’s a gift at this time of year because our climate is especially wonderful for winter activities. Of course we love our warmth after those activities and you can definitely play up that ambience when staging your interior. We want to have people to feel that your home or their precious home-to-be provides that warmth to combat the coolness but those staging “how-tos” will be for a future blog.

You should not overlook your exterior as a great place to showcase a lifestyle your home can provide even if it was not used that way by you. Staging or showcasing is marketing. Every home can be a winter wonderland to show potential buyers that they can have it too. Show off the areas around the house namely the back, front and side yards with hints of lifestyle potential.

Start by clearing away snow in larger areas, not just a small walking path but clear the deck and areas where two people can walk beside each other. Pathways can lead to inviting destinations like a sitting area surrounding a portable fire place or under a nice pergola. Even if you have your metal canopy frame still up from the hotter months it does provide architecture and looks interesting with snow on it or lined with lights. Add bird feeders and attractions for squirrels to your yard. Light these destinations with patio lights. Yes hanging white Christmas lights on a pergola is great but don’t have the house trimmed with Christmas lights as those should be removed by now. Flood lights work really well to highlight a beautiful tree in the back yard or pointing to that charming destination area after dark.

Create glimpses of what your location has available nearby. Do you have access to skiing or a toboggan area? Skis against a wall of the house or by a back or side door, or a beautiful wooden toboggan leaned up against the deck are great ideas to convey this lifestyle and local attractions. These subtle visions create emotional responses or triggers. These are the things I’d turn to to plant emotional thoughts. Have benches or Adirondack chairs around the portable fire place. How nice it will look to those potential buyers? Well the first thing they will think is that it is an added bonus for the property to have all that area usable during the cold months.

Add some whimsy! I’ve seen pictures of winter clothing stuffed with snow and think it is brilliant! And what fun that would be to make!

For the front, keep it very simple. Clear walking paths to the front door, two people wide with nice neat edges are aesthetically pleasing. How about a snow man strategically placed on the front lawn? Light it up for the dark evenings. A new and larger exterior door mat for each of your entries is a great touch. A wintery wreath for the front door is great but don’t hang onto that Christmas one as its time is over now. I’d hide away any shovels and salt as they aren’t so nice to have greet visitors at the door.

Gardens can add much texture during winter. Tall grasses, left high and not removed, shrubbery and garden accessories can really add interest to that stark white covering.  Consider leaving some things in place for when the snow comes.

Other must dos:

• At dusk, turn on the exterior lights and keep them on until midnight. Potential buyers will drive by to scout things out until late into the evening; you want your house to be seen easily and to stand out from the others.
• Re-photograph your exterior pictures as the season changes. If you had pictures taken at Christmas time for marketing purposes, it’s time to refresh those with new ones after creating this new environment.  Don’t skip this, it’s very important.
• After shoveling steps, etc. take a stiff-bristled broom to the surfaces as this will uncover the beauty of your walkway and entrance.  These are all selling features and worth working to your advantage especially during our snowy times!
• Clean and neatly shoveled driveways are a must.  Make it so that it is easy to drive and walk on and not a slushy or icy mess.  Can visitors walk by a parked car easily?  We don’t want it to be difficult. Nice, clear and clean looking is key.

Finally, walk around the neighbourhood and seek out ideas and judge your curb appeal against others. Look at your house from across the street and from both the left and the right sides. Are your lights bright enough? What if you put the upper interior lights on? Ask these questions, be objective and know that this stuff works when you are selling your biggest asset.