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 Podcast was named one of the "40 Best Housing Podcasts to Listen to in 2025"!

https://podcast.feedspot.com/housing_podcasts/?feedid=5380682&_src=f1_featured_email

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.

Check out The Housing Muse Blog: 2025 Colors of the Year: The Paint Trends to Watch

View the colors mentioned on the episode—and see what you think.

Listen to more Housing Muse Podcast episodes featuring Krisztina Bell: https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/krisztina-bell/

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 completed. Costello is now the creator of the website "Contractors From Hell," where she helps homeowners remodel smart. Listen to her story and tips so that you never have to face a home remodeling nightmare, like she once did.

Learn more about Jody Costello:

https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/jody-costello/

Contractors From Hell website (download her "7 Mistakes Homeowners Make That Lead to Disasters"):

https://contractorsfromhell.com

Listen to more episodes of The Housing Muse:

https://www.housingmuse.com

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://www.housingmuse.com/guests/steve-kodad/) and TheFengShuiCure.com (https://www.thefengshuicure.com/)

Listen to more episodes of The Housing Muse Podcast:

https://www.housingmuse.com/

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 Samuels: https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/linda-samuels-1/

How Clutter Creates Stress and Anxiety: Strategies for Decluttering (HouseLogic.com, by Melissa Dittmann Tracey)

https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/cleaning-decluttering/how-clutter-creates-stress-anxiety-decluttering-strategies/

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On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/housingmuse

On X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/housingmuse

Listen to more episodes of The Housing Muse Podcast, including "How You're Cleaning Your Home All Wrong!" and "5 House Problems That Will Make You Want to Move."

https://www.housingmuse.com

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 Really Worth It? (HouseLogic.com)

https://www.houselogic.com/buy/house-hunting/is-buying-a-fixer-upper-worth-it/

Does Your Home Have 1 of the 3 Major Health Hazards? (Realtor Magazine)

https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/wellness/safety/does-your-home-have-1-of-the-3-major-health-hazards

Follow @housingmuse on Instagram or X, formerly known as Twitter ...

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https://twitter.com/housingmuse

Listen to more episodes of The Housing Muse Podcast at

https://www.housingmuse.com

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 Americans say they feel more attracted to their partner when they take the initiative to clean the house. And, college students say they'll break up with a date if they find they live in a "dirty" home. So, save your relationship and tune in for some deep cleaning hacks!

Read my article at Houselogic.com:

How to Deep Clean Your Home for Spring—or Any Time

https://www.houselogic.com/organize-maintain/cleaning-decluttering/how-to-deep-clean-your-home/

Learn more about our special guest, Debbie Sardone:

https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/debbie-sardone/

Visit the Housingmuse.com for more episodes, blog posts & extras …

https://www.housingmuse.com/

What's "hot" or "not" in home design? Follow the Housing Muse on Instagram @housingmuse to weigh in: https://www.instagram.com/housingmuse

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 house problems you don't want to ignore. And, here's a silver-lining: If you catch many of these house problems early enough, you won't feel like you'll have to move. So, don't start packing up those moving boxes quite yet.

Learn more about this episode's special guest: Scott Loignon with WIN Home Inspection

https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/scott-loignon/

Find more episodes & articles on real estate and home trends:

https://www.housingmuse.com/

8 Common Home Inspection Issues: Fix Now or Later?

https://www.nar.realtor/magazine/real-estate-news/sales-marketing/8-common-home-inspection-issues-fix-now-or-later

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 estate sales could be the answer to your homeownership needs—and the proper etiquette if you go to one!

Learn more about this episode's featured guest: Bob Lang, brand president of Blue Moon Estate Sales: https://www.housingmuse.com/guests/bob/

Blue Moon Estate Sales: https://www.bluemoonestatesales.com

Follow the Housing Muse on Instagram @housingmuse

https://www.instagram.com/housingmuse

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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 household products, where to buy and the average lifespan of products so that you can start budgeting ahead.

As mentioned in this episode:

Money-saving tools, apps and articles …

GeoQpon app (for coupon savings): https://www.geoqpons.com/

Capital One Shopping: https://capitaloneshopping.com/

PriceGrabber: https://www.pricegrabber.com/

Google Shopping: https://shopping.google.com/?pli=1

What's the Best Credit Card for Buying Furniture? (U.S. News & World Report): https://money.usnews.com/credit-cards/articles/whats-the-best-credit-card-for-buying-furniture

Is Amazon the Cheapest Place to Buy Household Products? We Do the Math (CNET): https://www.cnet.com/home/kitchen-and-household/is-amazon-the-cheapest-place-to-buy-household-products/

Best Deals on Home and Kitchen Products (Consumer Reports): https://www.consumerreports.org/money/sales-promotions/best-deals-on-home-and-kitchen-products-right-now-a2058201511/

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Housingmuse.com: https://www.housingmuse.com/