Are You Seeing What Love is Showing You?

A & E airs a show called "Sell This House". The premise is that a decorating team comes into homes that have been on the market for several months and restages them to make them more appealing to home buyers. Although some of their decorating ideas are unique, what caught my attention about the show were the comments made about the owners.

Under the guise of searching for a new house, buyers walked through the homes; however, instead of looking at the structure of the house and envisioning themselves living there, they critiqued the owners and their possessions. Sarcastic remarks were made about not only the style of the furniture, but the placement in the rooms. They didn’t like the color scheme, the knickknacks or the personal possessions of the current owners. Instead of looking at the beautiful bay window, the focused on the curtains. They didn’t consider the size of the rooms, number of bedrooms or any of the other features of the home that are actually relevant to their needs.

The middle part of the show focused on the redecorating. It could be as simple as moving or removing furniture. However, frequently there was extensive painting of walls, cabinets, and furniture. Personal items are removed or placed out of sight. The whole idea is to make the house look as impersonal as possible. In most cases, the changes did little to make the room seem larger, but they did make the house seem uncomfortable.

The best part of buying a new home is making it yours with your stuff. One of the first things I did when I bought my home was to paint the rooms to match my tastes and my furniture. The changes made it a reflection of me. It is my home. My refuge from the world. I made if comfortable for me.

The last segment of the show was the same buyers going through and marveling at how the changes made the home so much better. Some of the changes did. But why should they have cared. All the furniture, curtains and artwork were all going with the owners. None of the things they found so amazing were going to stay with the home. How often do we get caught up in critiquing others that we fail see that what we are seeking is right in front of us? We look for love, yet we only see the shallow aspects of size, shape and color; we over look the beautiful soul inside with whom we could share a wonderful relationship based on mutual love and respect. It’s only when we release our expectations and open our hearts to see the real foundation of a person that we are able to see if there is a true love match.