Some of my most loved and wonderful possessions are the dingiest most worn items of all. My office chair is an awkward cumbersome unlovely thing to look at, but I sigh when I sit in it, as it has the best lumbar support of any chair we've ever found. Sure, I wish it didn't look like it does, but it's because of it's shape that it feels so good, and so I love it. I have a paperweight that has huge sentimental value to me, and it's totally useless as a paperweight. But it's more like an icon or totem. My kids don't want it when I'm gone, they'll probably bury me with it, LOL, but I won't part with it till then, because to me it is just beautiful. Just now I came in from gardening with DH and with these posts in mind I asked him about some plants that are thriving but that I realised I find kind of boring. They were from cuttings from my sil, and were just there to fill in the gaps. I was thinking of not filling our spaces with indifference, and asked DH if he'd mind if I pulled them out and replaced them with cuttings of plants we love. His comment, "Why not... they've never done a thing for me." I know we use that term a lot but I've never thought of applying it to "stuff". I'm going to add that to my indifference slogan.. "do you do anything for me?". Love hearing everyone's thoughts on this.

Ah, an opportunity to speak on a religious note: In church a few weekends ago, our Old Testament reading was Leviticus 19:9-18 And I was struck by this passage: Quote: (9)"When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. (10)And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God. I decided that, though I am not a farmer, this applies to me. The "gleanings" in my life are the outgrown kids' clothes, the furniture I no longer need. That I am not intended to wring every last drop of financial value from everything I have. But that I am supposed to leave the small-value things I don't need anymore, so that they can be used by those to whom their value will be larger. And THAT is why $2 for a wool suit. And that is why the idea is simply to move those things along. It's great if your church can make money from your "gleanings," but that's not God's point. He didn't tell those farmers to take the gleanings to the temple for the priests to sell, or even for the priests to eat. You're supposed to pass up the earnings potential in order to make them available to the people who so badly need them. Of course, your church rummage sale quite probably does benefit those to badly need a wool suit for $2. I know my mom's does--we were talking about this just last night. Her church (Trinity Lutheran in Des Moines) is in an economically sinking neighborhood, and its area residents who aren't members nonetheless come and buy things they like, need, etc., at a huge discount. And that is why they continue to do it, even though they don't make much money. So take what you have to the Goodwill now, and consider this to be following God's rules. Then, as the sale gets closer, and you find yourself more motivated to save it for there, you can if you'd like. What I want most for the stuff I donate is for it to end up in the hands of someone who will use it. And so I'd rather take kids' toys & clothes to the Children's Aid Society--it was too hard to swing this time around, but it's on my list. Bcs I believe they'll simply hand those clothes or toys to a kid who needs or wants them. Or they'll put the toys in the day-care centers they run, which will help them keep the centers both affordable and pleasant for the kids who need them.

First of all, I live about 30 miles away (to the east) so I am familiar with what local taste is, more so than people who aren't from here. And to my eyes, if not to my personal taste, I think many of the things that are bugging others will be non-issues for local buyers. Sure, the window treatments, general color selections, etc., might be more up to date, but they are not serious local solecisms. If anything the living room looks awkward to me because the seating is shoved down against the windows and not grouped facing the fireplace. Have you considered moving the piano to the end and getting the sofa, and chairs closer to the fireplace?. It seems a more attractive focal point. The blue swags don't seem to work, perhaps because you have already removed from the room some coordinating blue items? The swags look like color orhpans, now. Some things which can't be easily changed: for instance the island-cooktop based kitchen design and the huge soaking tub in the master bath are likely to be problematic for some buyers. But again, those items are heavily-promoted "home upgrades/improvements" in this region. (People moving to the area may boggle, but after they've toured about looking at a good batch of houses for sale, they'll get over their shock.) The bigger issue is the perennial one: location. Niskayuna used to be (in the 1970s-1980s) a really prime upscale residential suburb. But the regional economy and the local employment picture has changed considerably since then. It has lost some of its cachet, even though it has not been physically degraded. The $439K price point is not a starter home here. It's more a mid-career level home. And many of those families are eschewing the older 'burbs and instead looking for flossier houses in new Saratoga County developments or more rural areas where they can purchase more land for that kind of money. A good chunk of local demand for housing like this, where it is, may be gone now that GE is so down-sized. The quality of the pictures isn't great so the realtor could be doing better there to make the house stand out. I think this Spring is going to be a tough selling environment (but probably good for buyers) as I think there will be a pent-up backlog of sellers who have been waiting for signs of a turn around. But, Zoe52, don't fret too much about the decor at this point. Your house might look like it needed major overhaul if it was located in other areas but for here it does not. It is not at a competitive disadvantage, which is the only thing that counts. Kudos for the solar panels. We have them, too. If you find you need more info to support their value/attractiveness in the sale post back here. I may be able to suggest some ways to help emphasize that aspect. Good luck! This weekend should be good house-hunting weather. And unlike other areas, you are an early-bird in the local Realty season. People farther south can't believe the Spring hasn't already been underway for weeks. My first daffs bloomed this week, too. Liriodendron.

Things that haven't already been mentioned: The enclosed porch floor-- it looks like worn paint on wood, and should be painted. Take your accessories and group them for more impact. The simplest method is in groups of threes, with one in the back, and two in the front, or vice versa. The three objects should have something in common, such as a color or texture. You can also arrange similar objects in rows. Odd numbers (3,5,7,9) tend to be more interesting than even numbers. That's just a start, experiment! If you can, put something like "turnkey home, all appliances and window treatments to stay" in the listing. This is a starter home, and your buyers may be stretching their budget. So anything they don't have to buy, even if it's not perfect, is a plus. Clean the odd little corners that might not be obvious. Open the windows and clean the bottom of the frames. Wash the glass. Wash and iron the curtains with spray starch. Clean the inside edges of the dishwasher, and the detergent receptacle. Ditto with the washing machine. Fish out all the fluff from the dryer door. Clean the tops of the doors, scrub and retouch the trim. Clean and disinfect the door knobs. Clean the hinges, and oil all the squeaky ones. Steam clean your furniture. I could go on, but you get the picture. Your goal is to make these things look as "like new" as you can. Even if you have to get down on your hands and knees and scrub grout with bleach and a tooth brush. (Been there, done that. Stock up on your pain killer of choice.) This is a lot of hard work, and it sounds almost obsessive compulsive, but every little bit helps. Good luck.