What a year of terrific houses and real estate stories in House to Home! If you want to hear about my favorites, click right here.

One of my faves discussed a horse farm for sale and Phyllis Turner and Sandra Jarecki gave us a galloping tour. Here are links to all of our stories in this week’s House to Home:

• » Add fresh holiday ideas
  » Deck the halls — and everything else — in style
  » Make a honey of an arrangement
  » Add nature, drama to décor
  » Make guests feel welcome with easy tips
  » Understanding green cookware
  » Fabric adds life to rooms

All of us at House to Home extend our thanks to readers for sharing homes and gardens with us.

I personally want to thank all of our local writers — Sue Scholz, Sabrina Fischer, Sarah Sheppard, Maria Minnaugh and Marie Feltz for giving us interesting ideas we can find on a regional level.

Thanks to all the Realtors who support us and the wonderful folks at the Erie Times-News who help put this publication and our GoErie.com website together every week: Christine Yamrick, Marnie Mead, Holly Waychoff, Kevin Cuneo, Sherry Rieder, Joan Benson Cacchione, Dave Papesch, Sandra Hartel, MaryBeth Ford, Rob Frank, Jason Kisielewski, Mike Regal and all our ad people, printers and newspaper carriers who bring it on home. Happy Holidays!

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step-grandmom to one.

Sarah Sheppard and Sabrina Fischer, of the Sassy Peacock in Erie, tell people how to decorate — stage — their homes for sale. They’ve done it for quite a few people and practice what they preach. Sabrina and her husband, Ron, benefited from an objective look at the house, thanks to Sarah. The Fischer home sold in a day. Read Sarah’s article about staging here in House to Home.

The difference in changing up your decor when your home is for sale is in depersonalizing and de-cluttering. I visit hundreds of homes for sale every year, and staging makes a difference in what buyers see.

If buyers see what they want, they’ll buy it. If they don’t see what they want, they’ll move on to the next house.

The best way to keep buyers interested in your home is to show off clean rooms with no clutter and just enough furniture to make it interesting. You want buyers to see the room, not all your stuff. In the dining room above, Sarah and Sabrina removed three pieces of furniture and a rug to show off the floors and walls. It was effective. The home sold the day after it listed. For more tips on how to de-clutter and prepare for an open house — read this article in House to Home.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa.