Should You Decorate Your Home for Yourself, or for Buyers?

Making design decisions with resale value in mind has long been experts’ advice. But in this personality-driven age of decor, does that still hold true?

Does location still matter most? Should you remodel your home to suit your tastes, or for resale value? Are starter homes still a thing? We all have plenty of questions about the ever-changing world of real estate. In our Ask an Agent series, we’re partnering with experts at Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate to answer your biggest questions about finding, buying, and selling a home.

Owning a home comes with a lot of freedom: You can finally decorate how you want! You can make changes to your space beyond just hanging a few photos! But with that freedom comes new pressure. Your home isn’t just where you live now—it’s an investment. And to protect your investment and make sure it’s a profitable one, you have to consider how every decision you make impacts your home’s value.

Related: Does Location Still Matter Most When You’re Searching for a New Home?

Experts have long recommended keeping resale value in mind when you make decisions about your house. Whether you’re picking new paint colors for the interior, refreshing the front yard landscaping, or planning a kitchen remodel, they say, you should consider how the changes you’re making could hurt or help the value of your home when it comes time to sell.

But people are reconsidering whether all-white interiors, open floorplans, and sweeping grass lawns—decor decisions that have traditionally been associated with high resale value, and thus a positive return on investment—are really right for everyone. Trends like dopamine decor, maximalism, color drenching, and more celebrate color and personalized design decisions, and while we’re all for decorating to suit your tastes, we have to wonder—when it comes time to sell, will we regret going big and bold in our spaces? Should resale value still be a top factor in design decisions?

For this month’s Ask an Agent, we asked Jessica Poulos of the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Northwest Home Team to share her perspective on whether homeowners should still decorate with resale value in mind.

Meet the Expert

Jessica Poulos is the Designated Broker and co-owner of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Northwest Home Team, with three offices in northwest Washington. She has more than 20 years of experience working in real estate in the area, helping clients find their dream homes.

Related: Is Co-Buying a Home with Friends or Extended Family the Way of the Future?

Ask an Agent: Should I Decorate My Home for Me, or for the Next Buyer?

It’s so tough.How long do you plan on staying there? Let’s consider the military family. They’re going to be here two to five years, so they probably need to stay pretty neutral. But if this is your home, and you’ve always wanted to have a purple living room, do what makes you happy! Because it’s your home!

Find a BHGRE Real Estate Agent Near You

It is hard as an agent, though. When you do go in and somebody’s ready to sell and they’ve made bold choices in the house, the punch list of items is longer, right? And it’s hard for the homeowner, because the agent is saying, “OK, we’re gonna have to change this tile out. We’re gonna have to change out these pendant lights.”

It’s just weighing the costs of that.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Related: Is It Still a Bad Idea to Buy the Best Home on the Block?

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Read the original article on Better Homes & Gardens.