While I expected a book on, well, how to redecorate, as in refresh rooms in your home without starting from scratch, that’s not what this big, beautiful, 270-page hardcover is about. And that’s okay. What the book is about is the fascinating world of color and paint, a subject few could make as interesting as Joa Studholme, color curator for F&B. Studholme takes us by the hand on an exquisitely illustrated (340 photos and drawings) and narrated tour deep into the world of color, paint, and courageously creative ways to use both. 

Studholme walks us through such key considerations as light, architecture, and style, then squires us around color families of red, blue, green, yellow, darks and neutrals, and ends with a comprehensive look at finishes — from Dead Flat to Full Gloss. 

“It was a joy to write,” Studholme told me last week in a Zoom interview from across the pond, where she has worked for the Dorset, England-based Farrow & Ball for nearly 30 years. (For the record, of all the columns, articles, and books I have written, I never once thought anything was “a joy to write.” It was a joy to have written.) 

For those unfamiliar with the brand, F&B is known for its small collection of artisan colors. “We believe that by condensing the options to only 132 carefully curated colors, that selection is easier,” she said. (By comparison, Sherwin-Williams offers more than 1,700 paint colors.) Since Studholme came on board, every color the company has added was created at her kitchen table, where she sits with ramekins and teaspoons, mixing to make a color that pleases her eye.

The company also goes to extremes to secure its pigments. To make India Yellow, for example, they collect urine from cows fed a diet of mango leaves. 

As a lover of words, I’m done in by the evocative paint names: Mizzle, the color of the evening sky when there’s mist and drizzle; DeNimes, named after the French city where denim was first woven; Stirabout, for the porridge Irish children eat to begin their day; Mole’s Breath, I’ll let you imagine that one. 

Marni Jameson: 7 ways to end porch pollution

The book, which Studholme co-authored with F&B creative director Charlotte Cosby, is a sequel to “How to Decorate,” which came out in 2016. 

Why the update? “Since “How to Decorate” came out, we’ve seen a seismic shift in the way we use color,” Studholme said. “Back then, we were all still enjoying rooms painted in delicate neutrals that we could sort of drift around in. Now we’re embracing much bolder colors.”

She blames the pandemic. While we all spent much time in our homes, Studholme spent much of her time with a paintbrush in hand, experimenting and “thinking of a million ways to use color,” she said. “I was a total menace.” 

Nothing was off limits. She painted baseboards, ceilings, crown moldings, floors, cornices, cabinets, wainscoting, furniture, and doors in three dimensions. Fortunately, the dog wouldn’t sit still, or she’d have painted him, too. 

“How to Redecorate” reflects the best of those experiments and inspires readers to go beyond white walls, white ceilings and white trim. “I wanted the book to be more a manual on how to use color in your home than a coffee table book that just sits and looks pretty. I wanted to make the world of color attainable by using simple language and clear directives.”

Mission accomplished. 

Rightsizing secret: A little bit of great beats a lot of mediocre

She also wanted to give readers permission to harness their inspiration, “so if they have a sudden desire to paint their front door in red gloss, they do.” Although her overarching message is to encourage us to embrace color, she offers some welcome guideposts. Here are a few pointers taken from our conversation and the book:

On room size …

Paint color can change a room’s perceived proportions, she writes. “Lighter colors are often best for large rooms, so they won’t overpower them. Darker tones will enhance small spaces and make them feel intimate. Although painting a small room a dark color may seem counterintuitive, the results can be wonderfully theatrical.” If you are in the unusual position of needing to make a large space appear smaller, add a contrasting trim.

On outside influences

“Palettes gathered from your travels can be a rich source of inspiration, but be wary of using them in your home,” she writes. “The tempting colors of a dazzling tropical flower may well appear garish out of context.” In other words, you may love the hot pinks and oranges of Mexico, but they don’t play well in New England.

On neutrals

“Even though I’ve introduced loads of color, I also included a really important section on neutrals organized into six families,” she says of her book. Each neutral family has four colors that produce failsafe combinations. It also includes an indispensable section on which white to use with which color, which is not as simple as it seems. 

On painting cabinets, floors and furniture 

Do it. But the key to success lies in preparation. “You need to properly prepare and prime the surface, so the paint holds up to heavy use,” she said. “That’s boring but really important.” You must also choose a durable finish, like Modern Eggshell.

On what she wishes more people knew

“That they don’t have to default into using white on ceilings and trim. Personally, I think white baseboards look mean. I would only paint baseboards in the wall color. Why are we calling them out? They are functional, not decorative.” 

On the title

“I think people interpret the word ‘redecorate’ differently,” she said. Perhaps. That said, if the book were called “How to Pick and Apply Paint Color in Your Home,” I might never have read it. And that would have been a shame. 

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

These reluctant onlookers unite in their cry to End Porch Pollution! We don’t care how you treat the inside of your home. (Well, I kind of do.) We have to look at the outside, and we’re asking you to clean up. 

(If this article happens to find its way into the mailbox of such a home, I won’t say a word about who put it there.) 

The idea for today’s missive came to me a few weeks ago from a fed-up reader who wrote: 

Marni, You once wrote an article about how to decorate your porch. How about an article on how to undecorate your porch? Honestly, it has gotten out of hand. In my neighborhood, porches are “decorated” with signs, chairs, tables, lamps, stools, end tables, pillows, rugs, plants, planters, wreaths, string lights, mini refrigerators, lawn statues, fake trees, wicker deer, swings, hammocks and more, sometimes all on one porch! Can you please tell your readers to throw away half of what they have on their porches, then stand back and take a good look, and throw away half of what is still left?  Thanks, Marlene

So, Marlene, how do you really feel? I kid, but her email makes a good point. We talk a lot in this column about decluttering the inside of our homes, but we shouldn’t ignore the rooms outside. In fact, decluttering and thoughtfully furnishing our porches and patios may be more important because so many more people see them. If your indoors are a cluttered mess, at least you can pull the blinds.

Marni Jameson: Helping with housing one family at a time

“The way you treat your backyard should be no different from how you treat your living room,” said Tony Evans, an Orlando-based landscape designer. “Don’t junk it up.” That is, don’t put the wicker settee next to a leaky wheelbarrow and a bag of manure.

Editing is essential when creating an outdoor space that not only looks good to others but also makes you want to be there, he added. Ideally, your outdoor space should look like an extension of your interior.

New York architect Jimmy Crisp, author of “On the Porch” (Taunton Press), echoes that sentiment: “A look around many neighborhoods across America suggests that people should be a little more conscientious about what they put on their porches. Many miss the opportunity to use their porches to connect with friends and talk to neighbors because these areas are so uninviting.” 

In other words, if people aren’t stopping by because you have a kiddie toilet and a plastic garden gnome on your porch, you might be a redneck.

Rightsizing secret: A little bit of great beats a lot of mediocre

Here’s how Evans and Crisp suggest you cut porch and patio pollution and do yourselves and your neighbors a favor: 

1. Don’t use it as storage. Resist the urge to use your porch or patio as a substitute for your garage, shed or basement. Just because it doesn’t belong in the house doesn’t mean it belongs on the patio, Evans said. 
2. Start with good basics. Hit pause before you buy four flimsy chairs. Because outdoor furniture has to withstand the elements, which is almost as hard on furniture as toddlers and teens, make it bombproof. “Splurge on your porch furniture the same way you would on furniture for your favorite room in the house,” Crisp said. “When I bought my outdoor furniture, I was shocked by the cost, but I invested, and it has lasted 20 years. As a result, we spend a huge amount of time outdoors.” 
3. Put comfort first. Because no one wants to kick back and relax in a hard plastic chair, choose comfortable soft seating that makes you want to stay a while. Add a coffee or dining table and maybe an end table or two to set a beverage and a book on. If you have the room, add a rocker or a swinging bench. Don’t over-furnish. Let space be your guide.
4. Apply indoor decluttering advice outdoors, too. Edit, edit, edit. We all tend to add but not subtract. Constantly critique your outdoor space. Try to see it as others do. If it looks too busy or over-furnished, pare it back.
5. Keep your politics inside. If Crisp had his way, he would ban political yard signs. “They are a real peeve of mine,” he said. “You see opposing views right next door to each other. It’s like an argument that never ends.”
6. Make cleaning easy. Dirt is a constant outside. The less you have on your porch, the easier it is to clean. Because the trees in Crisp’s yard drop leaves, seeds, pollen and debris on his porch all year, he keeps a hose and a battery-powered leaf blower handy to clean off the decking and seat cushions. “Having a lot of small trinkets around would make that more difficult.” 
7. Accessorize with purpose. Reduce the clutter on your porch or patio by embellishing it only with items you will use. Beyond live plants, which do belong, accessorize with only functional items. In my outdoor sitting area, I keep a pair of glass lanterns on the table, which hold candles that I light every time we dine outside. Other useful décor may include a stack of firewood, a bench with built-in storage for throws, a heat lamp, or a mister. But think twice before you set out that fake tree or wicker deer. 

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

The story takes place in Northfield, Minnesota, a small town with a big heart and home to the Hernandez family.

Victor and Lorena Hernandez (whose names I’ve changed for privacy) came to the United States from Mexico twenty years ago while still teenagers. They then met, married and had three children, overcoming language, immigration and citizenship barriers along the way. For two decades, they have worked hard and paid taxes. Victor works in manufacturing and does landscaping on the side. Lorena cleans houses. They both provide janitorial services for the local parish.

Their hard-earned money goes to support their immediate family, their extended family in Mexico and to pay rent for a rundown two-bedroom apartment. For them, the American dream of owning a home remained just that — a dream. 

That changed when the priest at their parish introduced them to Bob Thacker and Karen Cherewatuk. The couple, also of Northfield, had long been concerned about the lack of affordable housing in their area but weren’t sure how they could help.  

As they came to know Victor and Lorena, they got to thinking maybe they couldn’t solve the housing crisis, but they could help one deserving family own a home.

They began looking for an inexpensive house to renovate, but the houses in Northfield start at $300,000. Then, while on a bike ride, they came across an abandoned, falling-down house that had been vacant for two years. They contacted the owner, an elderly woman, who had moved out and into a condo because the house had become too much for her.

When Bob and Karen told her of their desire to renovate the house to help a family, not for any financial profit, she gladly sold them the classic Midwest American farmhouse circa 1890 for $80,000.

Bob, Karen, Victor, and Lorena got to work. Soon, many community members joined them. “We filled eight dumpsters just cleaning the property up,” Bob said. Ultimately, he and Karen put another $110,000 of their personal money into the three-bedroom home, with the understanding the Hernandezes would get financing and pay them back. The value of the donations and free labor that poured into the nonprofit charity they worked with easily surpassed their contribution. 

Make room for baby and all the stuff that goes with them

“I felt like Tom Sawyer painting the fence,” Bob said. “Everyone who came along thought pitching in would be a great idea.” Nobody worked harder than the Hernandezes, including their kids. 

Last Labor Day, after eight months of renovating, the Hernandez family moved in. “We had a fiesta and thanked everyone who worked on the house,” Bob said. “Over 150 people came, including the local priest who blessed the house and each room inside.”

Victor addressed the crowd in tears, thanking everyone for making possible a dream he never thought could come true: a home for his children and grandchildren. 

“The house wasn’t a charity project,” Bob said. “It was a leg-up project. Everyone knew the couple was going to buy the house.” They simply built the bridge between the impossible and the possible.

For now, the Hernandezes make monthly payments to Bob and Karen, with all payments going directly against the principle. When interest rates come down, they will take out a bank loan, which they’ve been approved for, and pay off the note. 

“When the money comes back to us, we want to do this again,” Bob said.

If your heart isn’t warmed now, check your pulse. 

Bob hopes others might be inspired to repeat the model in their communities. Here’s the formula: 

• Get good guidance. Bob knew the woman who ran the local Habitat for Humanity and sought her advice. Although The Starfish House (as they named it) is similar to a Habitat for Humanity house in that both models help families realize affordable housing, which the future owners help build, Habitat homes are typically new construction, while the Starfish model renovates existing houses. “Habitat has this down to a science, and were a great resource,” Bob said. Other professionals were also consulted. Three bankers offered free financial advice. A lawyer offered free legal counsel, and a local architect assessed the house, offering ways to make it more secure at no charge. 
• Tap the community. For construction help, Bob asked and quickly found talented framers, drywallers and carpenters, some retired, who wanted to be part of something special. Nearly 100 local residents volunteered to help with demolition, carpentry, painting and gardening. Two carpenters built a new front porch. A talented kitchen and bathroom designer helped with both those areas. 
• Watch for finds. The Starfish team scoured the streets and curbs for useful castoffs. “We became consummate dumpster divers,” Bob said. They trolled Facebook Marketplace, where they found someone offering free patio stones if you dug them up and hauled them away, which Victor did, and then used the stones to build a patio and wall. If they couldn’t find free, they found frugal. They got deals at a builder outlet that sold items, such as doors, cabinets and sinks, that contractors returned unused. Bob bought a large Anderson window that sells for several thousand dollars for $145. It’s now the home’s front window. They found all the home’s light fixtures at a Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which sells donated home improvement materials and furnishings. 
• Solicit donations. By simply asking, Bob also got a plumbing company to donate plumbing supplies, fixtures and HVAC updates. An electrical company offered them new wiring at cost. Generous neighbors pooled funds to replace appliances. “I can’t explain the spirit of service and serendipity,” he said. “The minute we hit an impasse and asked, ‘How are we going to do this?’ Someone stepped forward. It speaks to the inherent goodness of people.”

Told you I would make you feel better.

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at www.marnijameson.com.

When my two were born, two years apart, I went a good four years without matching earrings. Although nothing can prepare you for the upheaval, Ría Safford’s new book, “The Organized Home for New Parents: Create Routine-Ready Spaces for Your Baby’s First Years,” out this month from Blue Star Press, gives new parents a running start. 

The Dallas mother of three, ages 8, 6 and 4, Safford left a corporate job when her first child was born and started her organizing company that year. “This did not come easy,” she said. “I’m a naturally messy person, but I couldn’t keep flying by the seat of my pants.” 

Rightsizing secret: A little bit of great beats a lot of mediocre

Her experience inspired her not only to start a business but also to write a guide to organizing for expecting parents and those in the beginning stages of raising young kids. The result is a 252-page, richly photographed hardcover that targets the years between newborn and two. 

It’s a time like no other, thank goodness. 

“Everything else about babies, from the pregnancy on, is really out of our control, but this book is about what you can control,” she said. 

What her book is not is “one more preachy book,” she said. “Moms are already getting it from every direction on all the ways they’re doing it wrong. It’s more girlfriend guide. I took my mistakes and moments and wrote about them. If I’d had this book when I started having kids, my husband and I would have had a lot fewer arguments.”

Besides figuring out each partner’s roles and expectations, here are a few more suggestions Safford offers parents to soften the baby blow:  

Furniture holding you back? Not anymore

• Get ahead of the stuff. “Most expectant parents don’t realize their home’s inventory is going to triple,” Safford said. “These small humans come with so many things: bouncy chairs, sensory toys, cribs, travel chairs, car seats, strollers, diaper bags, clothes, and then the incoming gifts.” (It’s like they troll through Babies R Us with a fishing net and a magnet.) Have a plan for where it all will go (and what you can re-gift). 
• Don’t make the nursery a storage area. Many parents get a baby item and think, “Oh, this is for the baby; we’ll put it in the nursery.” All baby items don’t belong in the nursery. The nursery should have only what you need for the baby’s current stage. Separate infant wear from clothes the child will grow into. Put the larger items, washed and ready to wear, in bins labeled by age (12-18 months, 2T). Store these bins in another room, the garage, or on a high shelf in the nursery, but not in the most accessible areas. Keep the nursery current, uncluttered and functional.  
• Master the change. The goal when setting up a changing table is to make those 2 a.m. diaper changes as easy as possible. Organize this hard-working surface so you can reach everything you need in the dark when you’re half asleep. Keep the top of the changing table stocked only with essentials: diapers in the current size, wipes, cream, a toy to amuse baby while you’re changing and a diaper disposal in easy reach. In the drawers below, store clean onesies, pajamas, swaddling blankets and crib sheets for those major blowouts. 
• Manage the inventory. Label drawers and shelves, too (0–3-month onesies, swaddle blankets, and zip-up sleepers), so everyone who cares for the baby can easily find items and put them away. Prioritize what’s current. Have a system for regularly moving clothes out. Keep a too-small bin in the baby’s closet. As clothes stop fitting, drop those still in good condition in the bin. When you reach the top, that’s your cue to store the items (if you plan on another child), give them to a friend or donate them.  
• Have a catchall basket. Outside the nursery, baby stuff has a way of taking over. The family living area may start the day in order, but by 4 p.m., it’s a hurricane of blankets, rattles, baby books, toys, teeny socks, teething rings, mini shoes and Goldfish crackers. To reclaim the space (and your sanity), keep a big basket in the main living area and drop all the random items in it to put away later (in their labeled places). 
• Rotate toys as they age out. Just as with outgrown clothes, when kids outgrow certain toys, store them for the next baby or give them away. Otherwise, trust me, they will take over your house. If the child is just bored with certain toys, but not ready to say good-bye, rotate them. 
• Entertainment centers. Anyone who has had a baby knows that accomplishing anything beyond baby care is a feat. The solution is to have an area in every room to safely entertain the baby while you cook, get dressed or do laundry. A low cupboard in the kitchen with toys, for instance, or a bin of toys under the bathroom sink can buy precious minutes.
• Help tots pitch in. Around 16-18 months, babies start to understand the concept of cleaning up, Safford said. (They do? Some never learn, I’m convinced.) Help them help by making clean-up fun and easy. Play favorite songs, and instead of words, use pictures of toy cars or dolls on bin labels. 
• Purge often. Continually move things out and in as your child grows, which happens fast. Don’t be that 60-year-old grandmother who still has her child’s first burp cloth and who hung onto the crib, car seat and highchair. They wouldn’t meet today’s safety standards anyway. 

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

“Well, I’m glad some lessons have sunk in,” I say. 

My son-in-law overhears this exchange and chimes in, “How about the time she said that if anyone ever smothers her with a pillow, she hopes it has a 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton pillowcase.”

“I said that?” 

He nods vigorously. “Oh, yes.” I don’t recall, but it sounds like the way I would want to go, I suppose, if one has to go.

Then my daughter piles on, “and the sheets must be white, so you can be sure they’re clean!

Oh, and the closer something is to your body, the better it should be. That includes husbands.”

“I didn’t say that,” I volley back, though it is a good line. She looks at me with her eyebrows up. 

Marni Jameson: Who needs a home appraisal when we have Zillow? (You do)

Though the soap-and-linen dialogue may seem trifling, it lies at the heart of a topic I’ve thought a lot about and written a lot about this past year — a topic that is the subject of my next book coming out in January: rightsizing. 

Here I thought I was addressing my generation when exploring how to decide where to live, in what size house and with what stuff to create a rightsized life, but the younger generation is tuning in, too. Living a rightsized life means not only having just enough house in just the right place but also furnishing it with the fewest, best-performing household goods possible. 

The message applies to all ages.

That means choosing only those sheets, towels, soaps, knives, pans, wineglasses, furnishings and other household basics that excel at their jobs and elevate your life. Owning fewer, higher quality items leads to living large while spending less and is the key to gracious, clutter-free, rightsized living. 

Imagine no more sheets that don’t fit right and don’t breathe, no more towels that aren’t thirsty, no harsh bath soap that dissolves into the drain after three showers, no pans that scorch your food, no pillows that fall flat, no sofas that you avoid because they aren’t comfortable. Instead, everything you have is a pleasure to use, look at and live with. It was all money well and thoughtfully spent.

Unfortunately, many homes are filled with the opposite: subpar products that aren’t quite right, that don’t quite work and that we continue to buy wrong because we don’t always know how to buy them right. Then, because we feel guilty getting rid of these barely used items, they clog our cupboards, closets and lives … unless we learn how to buy them right. 

Marni Jameson: Can you fight city hall?

That was part of my aim when I wrote this book because I love nice things but hate to waste money. I wanted to discover, and help you discover, the luxury of less. So, I interviewed experts on the various staples needed to outfit every room of the house, from tea towels to sectionals, and teased out what makes some items exceptional and how to buy those everyday items right.

Here’s the SparkNotes version so you, too, can buy once and buy right. 

• Study up. Become a student of quality. Look beyond the brand, packaging hype and marketing ploys to discover the properties that make a product the best in its class. To pick great household products out from a noisy and confusing line-up, learn about the production process, the materials used to make them, and when to choose one material over another: linen or cotton, crystal or glass, cast iron or stainless steel. Understand why to choose hand-knotted rugs over machine-made ones, or triple vs. single-milled soap, and the best chromium-nickel ratio in flatware (18/10). 
• Avoid cooking sets. Big box sets of pots and pans, and knives seem like a bargain, but they contain filler pieces you will likely never use. Buy good pans and good knives one at a time.
• Try before you buy. Before investing in a full set of sheets or towels, buy a pillowcase and a face towel. Use them, wash them, and use them again to make sure you like the feel and function. You can also test drive area rugs by purchasing (and returning) the smallest size 2×3 feet and seeing how the colors and pattern look in your home before you invest in the 9×12.
• Expect to spend a bit more initially. Don’t waste your money on subpar products. In the end, they’re more expensive. 
• Purchase and purge with confidence. With a fundamental understanding of the properties that make basic household items work better, you will become a more discerning consumer, be able to confidently purge cupboards and closets, and surround yourself with quality, not clutter. 
• Make this your mantra: A small amount of great beats a lot of mediocre. 

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

“Zillow doesn’t know what improvements we’ve made,” I tell him. “Zillow doesn’t know about the landscaping we put in, the firepit, the fountain, the new roof, the new air-conditioning system, the hardwood floors, the updated light fixtures, the remodeled kitchen and bathroom.” 

“No,” he said, “but Zillow assumes we’re maintaining and updating.”

“Oh, it does, does it?”

This past week, we tested our assumptions. We were doing some financial planning. I suggested we get a home appraisal so we could stop guessing. DC agreed that an honest appraisal would be good to have. We both wrote down our numbers.

Marni Jameson: Can you fight city hall?

The day the appraiser came, I was out of town and had to leave the whole matter to DC and the two dogs. (Deduct 10 percent.) Had I been home, I would have had the dogs in play care and the place sparkling. I would have served warm banana bread and hot tea. I would have waxed glowingly about all the home’s amenities. DC pointed out a few upgrades then let the appraiser have the run of the place. 

When the report came in, I opened the email with one eye closed, as if driving by an auto accident. I text DC. “I just read it,” he said. “I’m pleased.”

“Me, too,” I said. Not only because the appraisal came in 25 percent higher than Zillow’s value but also because the number I wrote down was right on the dollar. Of course, I rubbed that in. I am small that way.

However, the whole exercise got me thinking about the arbitrary nature of home values, how much we can influence them, the role of real estate websites like Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin, and when and why we need professional appraisals.

For answers, I called real estate appraiser Richard Allen of Port Orange, who has been appraising homes for 45 years and who was not involved in our appraisal. “Homeowners seek appraisals for many reasons beyond just when they buy, sell or refinance a home,” said Allen, whose grandfather and father were also appraisers, and now his son is, too. 

“Some get an appraisal for estate-planning reasons or, as you did, to do financial planning. We’re also called in for foreclosures or divorces when couples need to divide assets. Some clients are just curious.”

Naturally, I had more questions, which Allen kindly fielded: 

What’s the difference between what you do and Zillow?

Websites like Zillow extract data and spit out a math appraisal based on the original purchase price, known square footage, number of bedrooms, and home sales in the neighborhood. Appraisers rely on the same hard data but also incorporate a number of subjective factors. 

We put ourselves in the buyers’ shoes and look at what will appeal to them. We analyze buyer and seller movement in the market to determine the price a prudent buyer and a prudent seller would agree to when neither is under duress. 

Furniture holding you back? Not anymore

What can homeowners do to increase their home’s appraised value?

Anything a homeowner can do to make their home more current will add value. Kitchens are huge. If your home is 20 years old and still has the original kitchen, that could hurt. The next most important are updated bathrooms. 

Neglected maintenance will also count against you. Patch cracks, repair wood rot and make sure doors and windows open and close properly. See that heating and air, plumbing and electrical systems are in good working order, roofs are sound, and water damage on ceilings is addressed. 

Curb appeal is also important, as is landscaping. If you’ve made any structural additions, be sure they’re properly permitted. 

What affects your home’s value that you can’t change? 

Location. If your house overlooks a power plant or landfill or is next to a train station or airport, you can’t fix that. You also can’t control what homes in your area sell for or the size and age of your home. 

When working with an appraiser, how can you walk the line between being helpful and annoying?

I love an engaged homeowner. Any data you have, anything you feel is relevant, give it to me. Give me the comparative market analysis from your realtor. Tell me about the benefits of your neighborhood. If you know why a house nearby sold for well under market, point that out. Show me any renovations you’ve made, along with the receipts. 

But keep it factual. We don’t want to hear your opinion of the market or what you think your home is worth. That’s when you cross the line. Then, leave us alone while we do our inspection. I don’t want the homeowner tied to my belt strap. 

Does a home’s interior decor matter?

Appraisers see through personal property. While a well-decorated home will accelerate a sale, furnishings won’t increase market value. And, although a good cleaning and decluttering will help, I’m not focused on your housekeeping. I look past the laundry on the bed for defects and deterioration. That said, if I come into a home that is dirty and uncared for, I am going to look a lot closer because that will plant a seed that the owners aren’t very conscientious. 

What if the homeowner disagrees with your appraisal? 

If the homeowner disagrees, I am open to their challenge if they have new data. I will always say, show me what I missed. If they come back with viable data, I will do a value reconsideration. Or they can always get another appraisal.

Or go back to Zillow.

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

I tried to remember what I’d done wrong, which is quite a list. “You did pay the Visa bill, right?” I asked DC.

I looked outside, squinting. I expected to see searchlights. Instead, I saw a new streetlight sporting a 3,000-watt bulb had sprouted like Jack’s beanstalk directly across the street. Not only was the light brighter than the sun, but it was also a ghastly color like you’d see surrounding a prison.

“Who put that there?” I asked my husband who was getting his sunglasses.

We closed the shutters. The light crept through. I slept wearing an eye mask. 

“This is not OK,” I tell DC after a few nights in the spotlight. 

“So, you going to fight city hall?” he asked.

Furniture holding you back? Not anymore

I called the city electric department. A semi-sympathetic-sounding woman said she would pass my complaint along. A couple days later, an administrative coordinator for the utility company called back. 

The city had performed an assessment of the street in front of our house, she informed me and concluded that it needed more light. She had talked with supervisors of the many departments involved in this decision. The light could not be removed.  

“Wait? So the city can put up a streetlight that directly impacts my quality of life, quality of sleep and potentially my home’s value, and I have no say?” 

She said something like, “Pretty much.”

I asked to speak to someone who had more authority.

Hard stop. 

That’s when my switch flipped from private resident to public columnist. 

“OK, then maybe you could point me to someone from the city who could give me a statement for the newspaper. As a public service, I would like to share what rights and recourses residents do have when their city makes a move that impacts their quality of life. After all, isn’t the definition of community a city and its residents working together?”

This streetlight issue had me pretty lit up.

Thirty minutes later, she calls back. Somebody on high thought maybe they could put a visor or a lampshade on the streetlight to block some of its light.

“I’d appreciate that,” I said. (Was this because I was going to write about it?)

An hour and a half later, she calls again to say the city will take the light down. 

“Wonderful,” I said. “Thank you.” However, I pondered, how did that happen? And how could this have been handled better?

To find out, I called the mayor. 

Hey Google, how is AI changing the way we buy houses?

“You did largely the right thing,” said Phil Anderson, mayor of Winter Park. (“Largely” being the operative word.) Before he offered his suggestions for how residents anywhere can successfully interact with their cities, he offered this context: “Most of us elected to serve in local government do so because we want to make the lives of residents better. We didn’t run to solve some international crisis. If approached in a constructive way, we will try to make it better.”

That said, he encourages all residents to contact city hall whenever they have a problem the city can solve — or caused. Besides obnoxious streetlights, other common complaints involve traffic issues, downed powerlines, outages, broken pipes, uneven sidewalks and potholes.

Whether you live in a town with 5,000 or 500,000 residents, the process is roughly the same, Anderson said. Here are seven ways to work with city hall:

1. Find the right gatekeeper. Getting to the right person is the key, though not always easy. “Your experience highlights how frustrating the path can be,” Anderson said. “Most cities have that front-facing person who knows who does what and can point you in the right direction.” This is where I went wrong. I called the city utility company, but the clerk who fielded my call was trained to handle billing issues and utility transfers. If the city doesn’t run your utility company, the gatekeeper can tell you who does.
2. Be persistent. If you don’t like the answer you get, pleasantly escalate. Ask to talk to the representative’s supervisor. Send emails so you have a written trail. Include photos. If you get nowhere, call a different department and continue up the complaint ladder.
3. File a citizen’s report. Most city websites provide a way for residents to submit a citizen’s report, which theoretically gets quickly dispatched to the right department, such as power, water, sewer, public works or something else. Here, you can report a broken sidewalk, a burst water pipe, a downed power line, a tree in the road, a flashing or broken streetlight and the like.
4. Go to a city meeting. Most cities have frequent council or commissioner meetings, which allow open-mike periods, giving residents a few minutes to express concerns and get a response. 
5. Contact the city manager. In an appointed (not elected) position, city managers oversee all city departments and employees. They (or those in their offices) can look into why something did or didn’t happen. Depending on the issue, they might provide fast action. 
6. Reach out to your mayor or city commissioner. “If a problem needs a policy change to get fixed,” Anderson said, “that’s where elected officials come in.” City commissioners, including mayors and council members, set policy. For example, if you’d like cars in your neighborhood to slow down, you might go directly to your elected official to suggest installing speed bumps or stop signs. 
7. Exercise your civic rights. Your city government works for you. If you’re losing sleep over a streetlight, speak up. Or run for office. Communities work best when the city and its residents work together.

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

They found a beautiful new home nearby that fit their vision. Now the problem was what to do with all the stuff. “We didn’t know where to begin,” Lisa told me.

Over the years, I have heard lots of excuses for why folks stay stuck in homes that no longer suit them. (My cat is buried here. I just replaced the roof. I am planning to get younger.) But the most common by far is they don’t know what to do with all their stuff. That wasn’t going to hold these two back.

To help clear the runway, Lisa called Carey Kuhl, a moving concierge and owner of Kuhl Interiors in Winter Park, to help sell the furniture not destined for the new place. A growing field, moving concierges help folks through all aspects of a move but the move itself. 

Hey Google, how is AI changing the way we buy houses?

And they’re not only for those on the move.

“I get called for a variety of reasons,” Kuhl said. “People call when they are moving and don’t want to deal with selling their furniture or when they want a fresh look, which means getting rid of old furniture to make room for new. Others want to downsize, and some are tired of storing furniture in their garage or storage facility.” 

Lisa checked all of the above. 

What all Kuhl’s clients have in common is that their furniture is standing between them and the life or look they want. 

Last week, when I got Kuhl on the phone, she was helping a senior single woman move out of a large home and into an independent living facility in another town closer to her kids. Together, they were sorting out what was going to auction, to family members, to the new place, and what Kuhl would sell, in this case, a dining room table, a few oriental rugs, a sleeper sofa and an antique cabinet. 

I overheard the client say she felt lighter already.

Lisa also felt relieved. “I wouldn’t know how to price items or where to post them, and I would worry about scammers,” she said. Kuhl, who has sold hundreds of items, takes care of all that for a 35 percent commission on completed sales. 

 If the client has items of unique value, she can place those, too. She’s worked with clients to help coordinate the donation of a rare stained-glass collection to a museum and a fine grand piano to the city opera. “Most sellers just want to know their belongings will be appreciated.”

Marni Jameson: Good organization helps set students up for success 

For those of you thinking, “Wow, I could use that service!” (And who couldn’t?), Kuhl recommends searching online under “moving concierge” or asking a realtor for a referral. However, if you want to clear furniture from your runway yourself, here are some of Kuhl’s rules:  

• Price it right. “Most items will sell at the right price,” she said, “though that price is often disappointing. I have to prepare my clients.” Research the online market for similar items. If the item is a sought-after brand in excellent condition, she will list it for 40-to-50 percent of retail. More typically, sellers should expect to get closer to 20-to-25 percent of what they bought it for, less commission. 
• Know what’s hot and what’s not. Buyers want good quality, good brand and good price. Items from desirable retailers like Restoration Hardware, West Elm, Ballard, Ethan Allen, Pottery Barn, and Bernhardt sell well. Less popular are antiques and furniture that is oversized, heavy, dark, or very formal. 
• Feature photos. Take good pictures, including ones of any imperfections. Include those, along with complete measurements, in your post. 
• Cast a wide net. You can join up to 20 selling sites on Facebook Marketplace. The more exposure, the better your chances of fetching a faster sale at a higher price. She steers clear of Craigslist and does not offer shipping or delivery.
• Adjust pricing. Kuhl monitors her listings and adjusts the price downward every five or six days until the item sells.
• Do not be the mover.  Consider stating in your post: “Sorry, no moving help is available on site. Please check the dimensions of your vehicle.” Otherwise, she added, “you have a 70-year-old woman wearing flip-flops showing up in a Prius to pick up a dresser.” 
• Stay safe. Kuhl meets buyers at the seller’s house, when possible, in the open garage or driveway. “I never sell anything from a storage unit. Buyers don’t want to go to a storage facility, and I don’t want to meet a stranger there.” 
• Watch for scams. Don’t accept checks, including cashier’s checks, wired funds or credit cards. Kuhl only accepts cash, Venmo and PayPal and only does in-person transactions. Red flags include anyone who wants to wire you the money or a deposit right away. Do not give out your cell number or email address. “That is the beginning of a road you do not want to go down.” Communicate strictly through the marketplace platform.
• Be realistic. You may not get the price you think you should, but the real value is in freeing up your home and clearing the path to your next best life. 

Marni Jameson is the author of the forthcoming Rightsize Today to Create Your Best Life Tomorrow: A Motivational Guide for Those Seeking Their Ideal Home Later in Life, due out Jan. 2, and six more home and lifestyle books, including  What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, and Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

You are going to be so cool when you finish reading this, so stay with me.

Just as technology has changed the way we shop, get to places, communicate and heat our hot tubs, it is also upending how we buy and sell houses. NAR’s director of emerging technology, Dan Weisman, kindly agreed to tell me about the meeting’s biggest takeaways minus the geek speak. Here’s how that non-artificial chat went: 

MJ: The whole process of buying or selling a house is so stressful. I just want someone to wake me when it’s over. Please tell me technology is making it less painful. 

DW: The role of technology in real estate is to streamline the process and reduce stress points. We’re getting there. Most of us are familiar with DocuSign or similar signing technologies that offer the ability to e-sign legal documents. That has simplified what used to be a really cumbersome process. Remember when submitting an offer or signing loan docs required wet signing paper forms and sending them overnight? 

It took years! Now, we can sign away hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting at a stop light by auto-filling our initials on our phones with our fingernails. 

We’re trying to do that for other steps in the process, like the negotiations. Submitting an offer, waiting for a counter, working through two real estate agents, that is an area that needs work. Some companies have tried to create offer platforms, but none has worked out yet. That’s because we still need brokers to provide a level of control to make sure information gets passed along correctly. That said, technology is evolving that could eliminate financing delays. The fact that it often takes 45 to 60 days to close on a mortgage is an area that needs improvement. 

Amen to that. But for all the advantages, what are the downsides of the new PropTech? 

Fraud risk. As much as we want to capitalize on technology, we have to watch for scammers. The more access they have to data, the greater the potential for fraud. These scammers can fake you into thinking they’re somebody they’re not. Deepfakes can essentially recreate a person and their voice. I know we are all in a rush. But if you’re being asked to wire money or provide account information over the internet, take a deep breath, pick up the phone and call the person you are dealing with and ask, “Was this you?” We’ve heard too many stories where money disappears.  

Marni Jameson: Good organization helps set students up for success 

So, how does all this AI horsepower change the way we choose a real estate agent?

We are still a people business. Most sellers and buyers need a real estate agent to help them navigate the process. However, today, you also want an agent whose company has good IT behind it. The threshold question to ask when selecting an agent is: How are you using technology to make the process of buying or selling smoother? 

What was the biggest game changer you saw at the summit?

Perhaps the most revolutionary change we’re seeing is AI technology that can help homebuyers see what a home could look like if they renovated. REimagine Home is an online tool that lets you upload a picture of a room and reimagine what it could look like with different furnishings. For instance, I took a picture of a bedroom and turned it into an office. You can change the furniture, flooring, wall color, light fixtures and more and get a glimpse of what could be. 

Now we’re talking! For armchair decorators like me, this is like chocolate plus coffee. How can it get better? 

Well, soon, the technology will allow you to click on items in the room — a desk, area rug or lamp — and buy it. If you want to renovate, say, replace a fireplace or install wood floors, emerging AI technologies can not only give you estimates for renovation but also connect you with contractors. For exterior improvements, a company called Hover allows prospective buyers to do the same visualizing for the exterior of a home.

This brings us to the world of ChatGPT. What exactly is it — asking for a friend, of course — and how does it factor into the world of real estate?

ChatGPT (the GPT stands for generated pre-trained transformers) is one of several artificial intelligence products that has access to billions of data points. Using human-like language, it can answer questions or create written or verbal content. You could ask how much you should pay for a house. The program would research the market and give a concise answer in seconds. It does the thinking for you. It’s like Google on steroids. Realtors are using ChatGPT to write house listings, promotional copy, social media posts and blogs. 

Hmmm. Can it write columns?

Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go, and Downsizing the Blended Home – When Two Households Become One. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.

But not at Lynn Stone’s house. Two weeks before school started this year, the mother of four teenagers looked ahead. Seeing that all four of her kids would be in high school, Stone, of Manhattan Beach, California, anticipated “life was about to get crazy, and I wanted to get ahead of it.” So she called professional organizer Erica Thompson, owner of Organized by Design, to give her and her kids a running start.

“With the kids all involved in different sports and two working parents, the house is nonstop,” Stone told me over the phone last week. The day starts at 6 a.m. when her 15-year-old son goes surfing and ends at 9 p.m. when her 14-year-old daughter gets home from dance practice. In between, the other two teens are off to football and cheer. 

And the 2024 Color of the Year is …light, dark, warm and cool 

I’m tired just thinking about it.

An interior designer, Stone said, “I know how to make my house look pretty, but I wanted it to be pretty and organized.” She also wanted to make sleep a priority for everyone. Amen! That meant streamlining the steps between getting up and getting out the door. 

Enter Thompson. “Lynn knows that the more organized everyone is, the less time they waste,” said Thompson, who spent two days at the Stone residence working with the four teens to make their rooms and study areas more efficient.

“The kids were on board from the start,” Stone said. “Only one (the surfer) rolled his eyes and said, ‘Really, Mom?’ But now he loves how his room looks and works.” 

Thompson started with the closets. “We did a big edit,” Thompson said. “In each child’s room, we took out the old to make room for the new. If a closet is packed, you can’t see everything.” 

To free up space, Thompson switched out all the bulky, assorted hangers and replaced them with slim, velvet ones — white for the girls, taupe for the boys. Finding clothes is a lot easier, and the closets look better. 

Thompson also made good use of under-bed storage. “You have to do what works for each kid,” she said. “You might not want your underwear in a bin, but for one of the boys, moving socks and underwear out of the closet and into bins that slide under the bed made more sense to him.”  

Having all the pieces of a uniform easy to pull together also saves time. “You can’t simply switch out a cheer uniform’s green shirt if you can’t find it,” Stone said. “Plus, every cheer outfit has a different colored bow. You need all the pieces in the right place, organized and ready to go.”

Next, Thompson worked on making the study areas inviting and organized. “If they can sit down, and have everything they need, and not be hunting for their chargers, they aren’t frustrated before the homework begins,” Stone said.

When sending a child off to college means gaining a bedroom

Thompson loves seeing the transformation. “Kids often don’t realize how much better life can be if they start the day from an organized place,” she said. But now the Stone kids do.  

Here are more tips from Thompson to help time-pressed parents get their students from bed to the bus faster.

• A space of one’s own. A dedicated workspace that is visually appealing and well-organized helps kids build study habits. You need a desk, good lighting, a comfortable chair, and a few personal touches. Without overcrowding the work area, add a photo of the student with family or friends, a few favorite books, a plant, and maybe a fun color-coordinated pencil holder. “If you surround them with what they love, they will be more motivated to settle down and do homework,” Thompson said. 
• Drawers divided. Desk drawers often become chaotic catchalls. Take everything out. Refresh school supplies and use a drawer divider when putting items back. Drawer inserts make drawers visually calming and make finding supplies easier.
• Hook or nook. A place for everything is a key organizing principle, and for students, that means a place to park backpacks and bookbags. Whether a hook in the mudroom or a nook in the bedroom, backpacks should have a dedicated space (not the kitchen table) where kids can drop them off when they get home and grab them when they go.
• A launch pad. Stone’s house doesn’t have a mudroom, but each teen has a launch pad in his or her room, an area where they put all they will need for school and sports the next day. In homes that have mudrooms, a dedicated space for each child also works.
• Baskets and bins. Corralling unwieldy items, like toys, hats, and bathing suits, in labeled bins creates instant organization and makes it easy for kids to put things away and find them. 
• Fuel stations. Active kids are often going from seven in the morning to seven at night, so they need healthy snacks. Stone has a dedicated shelf in the pantry loaded with the kids’ favorite snacks, which they can grab as they go. Setting aside a shelf or drawer in the refrigerator stocked with lunch items can help older kids make their own lunches.

Marni Jameson is the author of six home and lifestyle books, including What to Do With Everything You Own to Leave the Legacy You Want, Downsizing the Family Home – What to Save, What to Let Go, and Downsizing the Blended Home – When Two Households Become One. You may reach her at marnijameson.com.