Brighten Up Your Home This Winter

The winter is a difficult time to sell a home, with the weather creating a barren and uninviting atmosphere. Intermittent fog, cloud, snow and ice make the world outside seem depressing and harsh, while inside, the house feels cold and stuffy. In order to make your home appealing to buyers, you need to make it a cheerful place to be.

The yard definitely takes the hardest hit over the winter months, so to improve the look of your landscape, make sure to rake up all leaves and branches, and tidy up any tools or toys that are strewn about the yard. Even though things are soggy and brown, you can keep the space looking organized and well-kept.

One of the best ways to improve the look of the yard is to plant winter blooming plants and shrubs. Bursts of color and greenery will go a long way in adding cheeriness and warmth to your landscape.

Hardy winter shrubs that are suitable for cooler zones include Winter Honeysuckle, the Yew, and Winter Jasmine. Japanese pieris is another beautiful shrub for your winter garden, and features white, red, or pink blossoms.

Hellebores are perennial plants that are able to bloom even in very cold temperatures. They blossom from February to April, and are available in a variety of gorgeous shades including red, yellow, pink, or white.

Glory of the Snow is a low growing plant that thrives in cooler temperatures, and features strikingly bold colored flowers.

For bird lovers, planting Flowering Quince will give your feathered friends a sweet treat in the cooler months, as will planting Winterberry. These gorgeous red berries offer sustenance to local birds, and a bright splash of color to your garden. Prospective buyers will be impressed by the rich colors and bright foliage in your garden, and be enticed to check out the inside of the house.

Indoors, it's very important to keep the air fresh and pleasant smelling. Using an air purifier or a humidifier will help to rid the space of musty, stagnant odors that can build up over the winter. Burn candles to not only clean the air, but to also add to the cozy ambience. If you have a fireplace, make sure it's lit when buyers are over, so they can see what a welcoming environment you have. The flames' crackle and glow can do wonders to warm a person's soul.

Add red or brown throw blankets to chairs and sofas to add a sense of warmth comfort to the area, and add an area rug to heat up chilly toes. If you're able to, give the inside walls a coat of pain to freshen up the space, and have lots of houseplants or bouquets blossoming around the house.

Hyacinths are one of the most popular indoor winter plants because they're pretty to look at, and they fill the room with sweet perfume. Cyclamen, Azaleas, and Cymbidium are other choices for indoor greenery. All have pretty blossoms that last throughout the winter.

Make sure you have adequate lighting in each room of the house. With little natural sunlight pouring in, your house can look dull and depressing. Have two or three light fixtures in each room so your buyers can see every feature and detail of the house.

With just a few of these adjustments, you can turn your home into a cheerful oasis in the winter months, one that'll attract buyers in this challenging season.