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Decor Disputes: Would These 10 Design Trends Prevent You From Buying a Home?

by on Nov 5, 2014

Chris Glass Realtor.com put together a roundup recently that addresses design trends that put potential buyers off. Intrigued? I was. They argue that ‘highly individualistic’ designs overwhelm the potential buyer’s sensibilities, preventing them from seeing themselves living in the home. Makes sense. Now let’s see what they say those off-putting trends are.

1. Boldly painted walls. (Bold, whatever the color, is hard to cover. I get that.)

2. Wall paper. (Amen, brother. I hate that crap.)

3. Lavish light fixtures. (They can be scene-stealers, I guess.)

4. Gleaming gold fixtures. (Personally, I’m not sure how they ever came back in style.)

5. Converted garages. (I do like to have a place to put my wheels.)

6. Converted bedrooms. (If they still have closets, it’s just a matter of swapping furniture, and the seller, presumably, isn’t selling his/her desk and filing cabinets. So, you know, big deal?)

The dining room has a lot of mutual colors, from the grey wall paper, to the white and blak shelf.Houzz 7. Carpets. (I was not aware that installing wall to wall was a trend. If it is, it shouldn’t be. And look! A two-fer; shag carpeting and wall paper!)

8. Too-lush landscaping. (This one is funny, because there’s a lady a few blocks away from us that gardens NON-STOP during the growing season. I don’t think there is one square foot of grass in her yard. Flower, bushes, more flowers, more bushes. I can’t imagine keeping it up.)

9. Pools and hot tubs. (This might be a regional thing. Here in the upper Midwest, where pools are only used for about 4 month out of the year, they just aren’t practical. Plus, they’re expensive to maintain. Instead of buying a home with a pool or putting a pool in, it’s easier to make friends with someone who already has one. Heh.)

"Black and White dog playing in house."Curiosities by Dickens

10. Fancy (or not) pet products. (I thought this was going to be about doggie doors or fancy dog houses, but the warning pertains to toys, food dishes and photos sitting around. Personally, if I was considering buying a house with a doggie door, I’d probably like it even MORE. But that’s me.)

And that’s REALTOR.com’s 10 turnoffs. For me, the only ones that would make me balk would be a swimming pool and maybe a converted garage and landscaping overload. Even wallpaper, which I HATE, wouldn’t prevent me from buying a home that I love. What do you think? Do any of them turn you off? Would they actually prevent you from buying a home? Do share in the comments below!

10 Interior Design Trends That Turn Off Home Buyers [REALTOR.com]

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1 Comments

  1. Courtney

    For me, it’s anything I don’t like that would be a huge pain in the ass to change.  So…yeah, pools and converted garages.  I would be wary of a pet door built into the brick like the one pictured, but one in a door wouldn’t bother me at all.  

    I prefer hard floors over carpet, but if it’s an older house that has hardwoods under the carpets?  I’d get a rough estimate for pulling out the carpet and having the floors refinished and adjust my offer accordingly.  Bold paint that I don’t like might make it harder to picture myself in the house, but it wouldn’t stop me from buying a house that I didn’t like.  Ditto wallpaper, though I would choose a house without wallpaper over one with, if that was the only major difference between them.  I’m surprised they didn’t mention things like wood panelling.  I’ve seen a bunch of places on the market in my area that still have the mid-century wood panelling.  That would turn me off if it was more than an accent wall of the real wood stuff. (All of the crappy fake stuff would be a turn-off.)