All The Shiny Things

All the Shiny Things 

You are touring a property while house-hunting. The front door opens to a bright foyer, complete with a fresh floral arrangement. You enter the living room, which is nicely decorated with just the right amount of furniture covered in light-toned fabrics. The walls shine with a radiant yet subtle color. A comfy throw blanket rests lazily over the back of the sofa. Over-sized books with picturesque covers grace the coffee table. After the rat race of your day, you think about sitting down, kicking off your shoes, getting comfortable and leafing through the books. 

You find a clean kitchen with empty countertops. The tablescape shows off beautiful dishware and matching napkins. A bottle of wine and stemware wink at you from the island. You think about taking a seat and waiting for the maître d’ to serve you. 

Further into the house, you find sparkling bathrooms with sumptuous towels and cakes of French soap. The bedrooms offer lushly-made beds with no clutter or laundry. A tray for snacks and books lounges on top of an extra blanket draped at the end of the bed. Would anyone notice if you crawled in for a quick nap? 

The closets are tidy with matching hangers, baskets, shoe cubbies, and ample storage. The laundry room contains no laundry – just a fancy washer and dryer – and an empty wooden drying rack. Zero lint.  

Are you easily distracted? Do squirrels and sparkly things frequently interrupt your train of thought? The shiny things can keep you from getting a good look at a property when you are house-hunting.

When walking into a house with trendy staged decor, a soothing color palette, fancy kitchen counters, and a glistening bathroom, separating the actual condition of the property from its fun decor can pose a challenge! We look at a peaceful space and assume that purchasing the property and moving in will bring us peace. The subliminal message that we will have nicely organized closets, tidy living rooms, and clean bathrooms entices us to buy! 

But you can’t actually buy peace. If your current home is untidy, odds are strong that buying a new house will not fix that. If you have insufficient space and storage, a larger home with ample closets will feel amazing! But if tidying isn’t your thing, a fancy house won’t necessarily make it your thing.

Let’s be sure to look at the stuff that isn’t aesthetically pleasing but costs a lot: roof, A/C unit, furnace, water heater, Radon mitigation system, septic system, foundation repair, drain tile repair, electrical updates. When house-hunting, don’t let all the shiny things distract you from the important, expensive things.