I have a new addiction. My new addiction is checking out houses. Not necessarily to buy, but for decorating ideas.
Like most addicts, I’m going to blame it on everyone but me. I blame my daughter, who got me into garage sales, and I blame the weather in Canada because it’s very hard to find garage sales in winter.
I was introduced to Michelle Niren, of Sage Real Estate, through a mutual friend. I was looking for a new house a few months back after my fiancé moved in with his kids.
Niren “got me” right away. She understood what I was looking for and needed, and she was lovely to hang out with. But, I realized, after seeing about 15 houses, most homes were out of my price range, or they were in my price range but in locations that I didn’t love. However, I also realized I was actually addicted to going into people’s homes because, even though I might not buy the home, I loved looking at what people have done to their houses.
“Michelle,” I said to her a couple months ago, “I’m not even sure if I’m looking for a house anymore or just decorating ideas!”
She laughed and said that happens a lot, especially during open houses when you don’t need to book an appointment with a realtor. Last week, I told Niren I felt the urge to go out again. Since it’s spring, there are a lot of houses coming out on the market. Within a day, she set up five showings for me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I probably wasn’t going to buy a house but that I just wanted to check out some ideas to pep up my own house. I was now fully addicted to just checking out people’s houses for the sake of getting decorating ideas.
By now Niren knows my personality quite well. She knows I love modern homes, so the first house we hit was north of Lawrence on Brookdale. I loved the house immediately. Niren is not only a good real estate agent, but she has a good eye, which makes her doubly fun to house hunt with. She pointed out what’s new in the home, including the hidden panelling on fridges and dishwashers, and I immediately loved it for my own fridge. She also pointed out these fabulous lights in the master washroom that can be turned on at night.
“It’s like Halloween,” Niren says about people who head to open houses just to check out decorating ideas. “On Halloween, don’t you always try to peek into the houses that you’ve always wanted to see the insides of?” (Of course I do!)
I didn’t find many decorating ideas at the second home; except I noticed that a teenage girl lives there, and I really loved how she hung up framed photos of high-heeled shoes over her bedroom door. I made a mental note to mention that to my stepdaughter.
“My favourite part is doing this,” says Niren, about checking out houses in being in the real estate business. “I love matching people’s personalities with properties.” In fact, because she loves to move often, she often is looking at houses for herself and also admits that she has gotten decorating ideas for her own homes. But there’s a downside.
“Every time I go back to my own home, there’s always something I want to change,” she says.
At our third home, on Lowther, I found myself absolutely loving the two-toned cabinets in the kitchen. I have all-white cabinets in my kitchen, and I made a mental note, too, to look into the dramatic affect of having different coloured cabinets. It sounds awful, but that’s the beauty of going to houses just to check out decorating ideas. You can actually see what works and what doesn’t — in practice.
Our last house we hit was a jackpot for decorating ideas. Located on Glenayr, the owner is apparently a designer herself. I loved this house and actually left thinking about buying it (alas, it’s a little out of my price range). But I also left with great ideas that are easily applicable to my house (and bank account). For example, in almost every room in the house, only one wall is painted a different colour, and the rest remain white. It just made each room pop! In their young daughter’s bedroom, instead of painting all the walls, they had just painted the ceiling pink. I thought it was simple and genius, and I plan to do this for my daughter’s room. I also plan to paint only one wall in my kitchen. I left, too, planning to paint the wood around my windows inside all black, as well as the inside of my door black.
Such little things, but when you see it in someone else’s house, you actually see how much such a little change can make.
Sure, I could buy a decorating magazine, but it’s so much more fun to be voyeuristic in reality. I don’t want to waste a realtor’s time. But it’s like I told Niren: I’m not not looking; but I sure am getting some great decorating tips in the meantime.
Post City Magazines’ columnist Rebecca Eckler is the author of Knocked Up, Wiped! and her latest books, How to Raise a Boyfriend and The Lucky Sperm Club.