I love bright colors. If you walk into my house, you would assume some madwoman had been let loose with too much paint. To me, painting a wall beige or taupe screams, “I don’t care.” It is like dressing only in black or always wearing sensible shoes. As a result, my dining room is mango, my living room is bright red, and my kitchen is blue. Oh, and then there are the murals that have been painted everywhere. For some people, it’s a bit much. But what do I care? It’s my house, and I can do what I want!
Except that it’s getting time to downsize. We have too much house for two people. My son is married and owns his own house. My daughter is nearly out of college, and it seems unlikely she will be moving back. Plus, my knees hurt from going up and down the stairs, and to be honest, I am tired of staring into my neighbor’s kitchen every morning. Carey and I have started dreaming about finding an ugly old ranch to renovate on a little bit of property (not enough that would require a riding mower!). Here’s the deal, though. In order to sell the house, we need to take our personalities out of it. According to real estate experts, people want a house with a neutral palette … aka boring.
So while we aren’t ready to move yet, we decided to make the ‘improvements’ now so we can actually enjoy them before putting the house on the market. I called my friend Emily Castle of Castle Design for some advice. Emily is reasonable. I know that sounds like a weird recommendation, but I wanted someone to tell me what I needed to do make my house appealing to buyers even if it crushed my colorfulness, and I knew Emily would do that. As she walked into the kitchen, I could tell she wanted to ask me, “What were you thinking?” Instead, she said, “We might need to tone this down a bit.” It is beautiful and likely could be in a magazine, but it has no business being in my house. Every time I walk in, I’m a little stunned. It’s like I have stumbled into another person’s house.
Room by room, with Emily’s guidance, we are pulling up carpet, painting walls, and fixing the deck and fence to make my home even more beautiful, but no longer mine. And I guess that’s the way it should be. Because once we are finished, I can’t imagine it will feel much like home anymore. I will be ready for the chaos of turning another ugly house into a home. I already am ripping out ideas from magazines and can hardly wait to paint the walls all of my favorite colors, rehab a kitchen and bathrooms, and make it a perfect place for us to live. (Let me clarify: Carey will do all of the work. I will just voice my opinion.) In the meantime, it’s a little odd, with one foot in our current house and the other one looking for our next home. If you are a fan of Stranger Things, it’s like living in the upside down world. Weird, but oh so interesting.
Contact Patty at phannum@townandstyle.com.
