Neuteralize My World

Seriously, I have neutralized my home in a last ditch effort to appeal to buyers. I have de-cluttered so the rooms look bigger. Went from a King-size bed to a Queen-size. Left only one chest of drawers and a bedside table. Removed the Polish Princes's comfy recliner, leaving him to sit on the couch. No reclining and relaxing for him! Removed the stereo, the Playstation and end table. Took out corner cabinets and coffee cart out of the kitchen/dining area. Downsized my office, the spare room and the basement.

Painted the rooms neutral colors: such as Cream in my Coffee, Summer Moon and Gray Palisade. Replaced my drapes with with tab-top twill curtains in a linen/khaki shade which can be opened to view the acreage surrounding the house. Covered my lovely floral sofa with a khaki slipcover. A wooden rocker with khaki cushions sits where the recliner used to sit. We replaced the floral rug (which matched my sofa and valances) with a taupe rug. The wood floors were polished to a sheen.

Wallpaper was stripped. Lacy curtains replaced with voile ones and a plain, cream-colored tablecloth rounded out the kitchen/dining area. Speaking of wallpaper, our bedroom was stripped of its wallpaper, painted and plain curtains hung up.

Jaek said the living room looked like it 'lost its soul' and he's right. It is plain and has no character; in other words, it is BLAH!

The housing market in Michigan is devastating. There are too many houses on the market and a depressing number of foreclosures. It is definitely a buyer's market. We have to sell this house. Two mortgages and two sets of utilities is straining our budget beyond belief. We took it off the market for six weeks to revamp and then find a realtor who was willing to work at selling it rather than just list it for the sake of listing it.

We decided to revamp after much discussion. Okay, it was more of a lecture from me telling the Polish Prince that we have to do something to make it more appealing. People who came for showings said the house wasn't modern enough and not decorated to their taste. Of course, his response was, "So buy it, paint it, update it and redecorate it!" To get my point across to him, I made him sit through 3 hours of Sell Your Home. He could not believe people had no imagination to see what could be. And to bring the point all the way home, there was a news blurb about how to sell your home. It stated (paraphrasing) that people nowadays cannot visualize beyond what is there in front of them. The best thing to do is to de-clutter and neutralize everything in sight.

So that is what we have been doing for the past six weeks. And I am tired of it! I have one room to finish - my office - my space. I am procrastinating as much as possible. If I neutralize it, take out all the stuff which makes it mine, I fear I will lose myself.

We contacted a realtor who has been advertising that she has sold 17 houses in 18 weeks and many are sold in 21 to 30 days. Unfortunately, she wanted to drop the price some more. The look of pain on my husband's face scared her for a moment. He believes in buy low and sell high. We have always made a fair amount on the houses we sold (3 to date) so it goes against his nature to getting less than what he feels is his fair share. It took some time to calm him down and show him his way of thinking wouldn't get the house sold.

So, today we signed the papers for this realtor to list it. Jaek's wife will be out tomorrow to take some pictures and by next week we should be busy showing the house to lots of people! Wish us luck!