linda, after you've typed your italics sentence, then type this combination and that will turn the italics off. :-) marys1000, I apologize, I didn't read all of your post because it was very long and rather complicated and I don't have enough patience for that unless it's one of my kids. :\-( We sold our house in SoCal last fall in a very difficult market. Prices were dropping so fast it was unreal and we had to sell \- husband had transferred out of state. So we were in a similar situation to you. We were choosing between the Realtor who we'd used to buy the house 4 years previously but hardly ever worked in our part of the county, or a local guy who lived in the area, but we didn't know him. They both came and made good presentations to us. They both suggested the same price range for listing. We could have saved money by going with the local firm but decided to go with our original guy because his marketing plan was so much better, we thought. We didn't want to do open houses, we wanted a lot of internet exposure, and we knew he would work hard for us and be there to the end to make the deal close. Our house sold at a time when most others in the area didn't. But you never really know. It's a gamble, like much of life. You need the right buyer at the right time. Which of the options are YOU most comfortable with? The one thing I would really think about is what happens after you leave, if the property hasn't sold? Who will put the most time and effort into getting people inside the house to see it? Will one of them help you find people to maintain the yard and surrounding areas when you're not there to run things? Unless you're in a really hot market, I think it's likely that the house will sell after you're gone, since it's just 2 months away. So I would really think about that \- who will do the best job after you leave? Good luck \- keep us posted.

In our 1950s cottage-ranch home there is a large rectangular room which was originally a storage room that we have been using as a combined bedroom and office for the last few years. This is the year to pull up the nasty carpet and paint the walls. I've little experience in decorating so here is the situation: Large rectangular room is on the south side of the house, has one small front window facing front yard (west) and a set of east-facing french doors to the back patio with another small window to the right of the doors, There is little natural light except for the morning so the room is never very bright with sun. and always has a cool feeling about it which is nice in summer. Room is currently painted a pale butter yellow which we do not care for. We also plan to put down some Armstrong vinyl plank flooring which looks like wood. We have three large dogs which are in and out of the room and the back door is used for them to go in/outside. We are leaning towards a very pale gray, perhaps a warm gray paint for walls which would look nice with the flooring and use accent color (red?) in spots. We want to go for a serene Asian/Japanese kind of feel to the room. Appreciate any thoughts or suggestions. Thanks!

Don't be afraid to go dark in small places. Dark works amazingly well in small places-imagine huge room that you use all the time painted dark..not for the weak nerves. While in smaller places, especially ones where you spend just so and so amount of time, dark is enveloping, cozy and calming actually-or elegant and striking, depending on the direction you take. Don't be afraid of contrast with white fixtures. Dark loves some white, and light touches, shiny surfaces like in your mirrors or lighting fixtures, metal (fixtures yet again, and picture frames for example)..it can become easily one of your favorite places in the house if you treat it like a little room. Go with one of the colors in your tile(it already has many, so I'd keep to one of them)...if your ceiling is standard-tint it with a wall color, in proportion more then usual, so it won't feel like a box with a white lid (usual proportion is around 5-10%..that' what good painters do when painting rooms. In rooms with standard ceilings and dark walls you might want to go as high as 50%..check it all of course beforehand, play with the proportion. every room has its own light thus its own rules. it won't make a room darker; it will create the illusion of a higher ceiling though, and prevent the white lid effect). If the ceiling is higher, then you have less to worry. But I'd tint the ceiling some anyway. Also, crown molding helps a lot in these cases..the line where walls and ceilings meet seems softer and somehow more pleasing to the eye. If you leave your paint semi gloss-it will also create the illusion of a room less dark, because the sheen is so reflective. Add art you love, and generally have fun with it-a rug in a richer tome/interesting pattern, a shower curtain that picks up the color, even just in a tiny detail, a little plant, an interesting mug instead of a regular toothbrush holder..you won't pay attention to the tiles you're not a fan of, because the bathroom will have other things you love, in abundance. Disclaimer: everything I suggest here, I went through myself..))

The office and foyer look to have good natural light while the kitchen does not. If that's true, based on the progression I outlined above, I would put the lightest color in the kitchen, a mid-range shade in the foyer and the darkest color on a color strip card in the office. Use the flooring as your key, and go with blue or yellow undertones, all depending on the warmth or "coolth" of the flooring color. For example, if you have yellow undertones you might try a selection of more pastel olive greens (usually yellow based) or if cool, some sage greens have more blue undertones. Christopher Lowell has an easy method to help you get a good neutral that is not influenced much by blue or yellow, but a true neutral for a good background. Here is his video "7 layers of design." It is covered in step # 1 of his system. The style is a bit dated and the order of the steps can vary from his, but the basic principles still work very well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4u32tmcE3U