As a Keller Williams Real Estate agent, I’ve seen my share of interesting house features. And it isn’t uncommon for a client to like much of a house EXCEPT the color. But a weird color should never curb you from seeing the good parts of a home. Because color is simply a blank slate begging to be reimagined.

For instance, tonight I conquered a room in my home that has pretty much driven me crazy since I moved in three years ago. I had dubbed it the “Death by Margaritaville” bathroom, mainly because the turquoise blue walls and natural wood beadboard really looked like it was pulled from a 1970’s Key West motel – possibly one that was rented by the hour. The rest of the house was a tasteful combination of seaside hues – grays and pale sands and creamy whites, but that one bathroom . . . man, oh man.

But after having built my own home previously, I totally knew how the bathroom got to be that color, no doubt a combination of late-night Pinterest and HGTV episodes watched with wine in one hand and a notepad in the other. 

I didn’t blame the former owners though, because I’d been there in a big way. Only I didn’t reserve my bold idea to a small bathroom. Oh no – I entirely painted my huge, former master bedroom with cathedral ceilings in what was the equivalent of Don Johnson’s t-shirt from his Miami Vice days.

The kicker was, I knew it looked rotten, but I convinced myself for months that it was amazing and gutsy. Then one day, while laying in bed and staring at the walls, I finally said to my husband, “This color looks like someone murdered a flamingo.” He moaned and most likely debated snuffing me with a pillow because he knew the amount of effort it would take to repaint the room. But in the end, we tackled it together, sending Donny’s questionable taste and my poor judgement to a latex grave under three coats of off-white paint. 

My point is pretty simple – don’t fret the Death by Margaritaville bathrooms or the Miami Vice boudoirs. Look, instead, for the potential in a home and the lifestyle it will give you. Paint is just a color – a layer – and a place for brilliant ideas to springboard. And yes, some of those ideas will leave you with an Elmo-red den or Pluto-yellow garage, but when that happens, just take a breath, grab a paint brush, and remind yourself, “I’ll never surf Pinterest at midnight again.”