Episodes

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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: Indoor air can contain two to five times more pollutants than outside, according to...

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...

We take on the good, the bad and ugly of the latest home design trends.

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...

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...