The Housing Muse Podcast with Melissa Dittmann Tracey

EPISODE 54: Should you paint that red brick—white? Which is more on-trend: Gray or beige for that all-over color for your home? And could your home's wall color actually help boost your mood? Color forecasters Sue Wadden and Emily Kantz from Sherwin-Williams join The Housing Muse Podcast to talk paint trends. Visit the Housing Muse's home: housingmuse.com https://www.housingmuse.com/ Housing Muse...

EPSIODE 53: What's hot in 2025 for home design? To sum up, it's getting loud! Home designer and stager Krisztina Bell joins Melissa Dittmann Tracey on The Housing Muse Podcast to break down the hottest home trends for 2025 ... the paint colors, the interior and exterior home trends, all of those arches, kitchen trends and more. Find out the trends they like--and the ones you may want to avoid.  Ch...

EPISODE 52: Jody Costello was eager to start a two-story addition on her 1940s home that would include an owner's suite and upper deck. But she quickly learned hiring the wrong contractor for the job can be a costly mistake. A leaky roof, shoddy work, surging costs, and a constantly MIA contractor eventually resulted in a lawsuit and a three-year battle to try to recoup costs and get her project c...

 EPISODE 51: What is feng shui? Can it actually make you feel good and make you like your home more? Could it even help you sell your home? Feng Shui expert and author Steve Kodad joins The Housing Muse Podcast to breakdown the principles of this ancient art to spatial arrangement and building design, and offers insights on its potential real estate impact.   Learn more about Steve Kodad ( https:/...

EPISODE 50: The overstuffed closets, cluttered counters and piles of unopened mail may be more than just household annoyances. It may be hurting your mental or physical health—maybe even more than you know. Professional organizer Linda Samuels joins The Housing Muse Podcast to offer up some helpful clutter cures to take back control over your home—and possibly your sanity!   Learn more about Linda...

EPISODE 49: A fixer upper--that is, a home in need of some TLC--could help you strike real estate gold, allowing you to possibly even double or triple the home's value. But to get that type of ROI, you need to buy smart. We offer up 10 key things to consider before purchasing a fixer upper, whether it's your pathway to afford homeownership or an investment property.    Is That Fixer-Upper House Re...

EPISODE 48: Many of us are making mistakes in cleaning our homes, and it could be hurting our home—and even our health. Yikes! Cleaning expert Debbie Sardone joins The Housing Muse Podcast to tell us the right way to clean.   Here's some extra incentive in why you should want to: A clean home makes YOU look good. Seriously! A new study from the American Cleaning Institute finds that 60% of America...

EPISODE 47: A lot can go wrong with a house. It's the less glamorous side to homeownership. But if you ignore some key signs, you could find small problems quickly turn into really BIG problems that may even make you want to toss over your house keys and move. Joining the Housing Muse Podcast is Scott Loignon, the owner of WIN Home Inspection in New Hampshire. In this episode, he will share five h...

EPISODE 46: You may have never given much thought to estate sales, but they could prove to be a "home rescue," no matter if you're the seller or the possible buyer. Estate sales can help you quickly clear a home due to a changing life circumstance or help you offset a costly move across the country. Estate sales can be a way to score some major discounts on household items and furniture. Learn how...

EPISODE 45: The money-saving episode! Home appliances and household purchases can really bite into a budget. But how would you like to save potentially hundreds of dollars? Luckily, there are plenty of studies that can help turn us into savvy shoppers when it comes to outfitting the home. Housing Muse Host Melissa Dittmann Tracey sums up all the research, including the best time to buy certain hou...

EPISODE 44: It's the merriest, most stressful time of year! Nearly 60% of Americans say they're stressed out about the holidays, and that's mostly due to preparing and decorating the home, according to a new survey from Thumbtack. After all, guests will soon be arriving at your doorstep and judging your home. Sorry to say, but they'll be scrutinizing everything, from the looks to the smell. Let's...

EPSIODE 43: What's hot in 2024 in home design? Time to find out! From "dopamine décor" to sculptural and darker home elements and some wild color schemes, home designer and stager Krisztina Bell joins The Housing Muse Podcast to break down the trends entering into more homes. We get real on the latest design trends as well as ideas on how to incorporate them into your home—as well as those trends...

EPISODE 42: Every crime has a setting, and sadly too often, it plays out inside a home. Even if you're a law-abiding citizen, you could face the fallout from crime in real estate. In this episode, we unpack five fearful real estate situations. Be prepared to get scared on everything from stigmatized properties, ghosts and paranormal activity, meth labs to varmints ("the snake house"—oh my!) and mo...

EPISODE 41: Pickleball is serving up some serious wins in real estate, like revitalizing once-abandoned shopping malls into booming pickleball hubs. Developers are in a race to bring more pickleball courts to more places all across the country. But there's also a dark-side to America's fastest-growing sport—that's getting louder and louder.  In this episode: Learn more about the rapid growth of Am...

EPISODE 40: It's one of our favorite regular segments on The Housing Muse: Quiz Time! Take our interactive quiz to test how smart you are when it comes to the latest real estate and home design trends, home maintenance and more. (Hint: If you're a regular listener to The Housing Muse, you'll fare well! Otherwise, we're going to teach you a few things.) Take our quiz and chime in with your answer t...

EPISODE 39: Just like you clean your home on a regular basis, you can clean your home's air, too. More research is showing why you should. Consider, this stat: I ndoor air can contain two to five times more pollutants than outside, according to research from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Yes, your home's indoor air tends to be more toxic than outside! Most Americans spend a majority of...

EPISODE 38: In part 2, we continue to highlight HGTV-inspired home design tips and tricks to make your home look as pretty as they do on TV. We also cover a few trends that may best be reserved for TV—and not real-life.   Check out The Housing Muse blog to view an infographic of TV designers' favorite home accessories: https://www.housingmuse.com/blog/hgtv-inspired-home-accessories-for-any-budget/...

EPISODE 37: Home buyers are overwhelmingly disappointed at homes they tour for-sale. Why? Because they don't look as pretty as they do on TV. The HGTV-effect is skewing our impressions of how a home should look. But there are some easy (and affordable ways!) to get our homes looking as pretty as they do on TV. Housing Muse Host Melissa Dittmann Tracey gathers up ideas inspired by the shows and hos...

EPISODE 36: Seasonal allergies can be a nuisance. Your home's outdoor plantings may be making it worse. Joining The Housing Muse Podcast is gardening guru Linda Vater to share which plants may be more prone to triggering allergies, and how to plan a landscape so that you can breathe a little easier. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Linda Vater Find gardening tips at Linda's YouTube channel Allergy Fore...

EPISODE 35: The top concerns from homeowners recently surveyed about selling their home: They fear their home is in need of too many repairs, has an outdated interior, not trendy enough fixtures and lacks curb appeal. Sorry to say, but all of those things could potentially lessen your sales price! So there's reason to fear. But a pre-listing improvement or renovation could help—and you don't even...

EPISODE 34: To get into real estate today, do you need to adopt a "mooch strategy?" Possibly. Young adults have been moving back home in record numbers—and even well into adulthood. Parents are footing the bills, and even helping their adult children achieve homeownership later on—that is, when they do finally move out. The mooch strategy may be in response to an out-of-whack real estate market wh...

Episode 33: We take on the good, the bad and ugly of 2023's hottest home styles. Krisztina Bell, home stager and designer with No Vacancy Home Staging in Atlanta, joins the Housing Muse Podcast to talk about the designs that you can expect to see more of in the new year, including the hottest paint colors, the freedom to no longer be "Pinterest-perfect," and even cord-free design. Plus, learn what...

Episode 32: Enter a judge-free zone with the Housing Muse. After all, even organization guru Marie Kondo recently said it's acceptable to not have a spotless, perfectly organized home all of the time. Maybe tidy doesn't always spark joy. As you adopt more of a get-'er-done than perfection mantra, find hacks to solve everyday cleaning and organization challenges. And learn to stress less over the m...

EPISODE 31: You have some of these in your home. We all do. In this episode of The Housing Muse Podcast, we question some mainstream design trends that may be doing more to make our lives harder than easier. Listen in as host Melissa Tracey offers an amusing countdown to the five trends she has started to question, and why she believes you should, too.    Follow The Housing Muse @housingmuse on Tw...

Episode 30: The pandemic ushered in a DIY craze, as homeowners armed with YouTube tutorials and power searches on Google went to work on their homes in high numbers. But they may have taken on more than what they should have in an effort to save money and bypass waiting on overbooked contractors. Home inspectors are now spotting homeowners' not-so-handy work. Let's head into the home inspection fi...