I am in house selling hell. I have been, for years. Last July, after over a year on the market, I actually thought I sold my house in this sleepy little subdivision in Wisconsin, moved to California, and started this new life. But, alas, there was a catch. Our buyer hadn't sold their house, and we agreed to lease them the house for a year while they sold theirs. Fast forward a year, and their house still sits on the market, and now my house, vacant and rejected, is back on the market.

I am in house selling hell. But I have hired a new realtor, who is creative and energetic and seems to have some success. She is aggressively marketing the house and she has suggested that we STAGE THE HOUSE. Now, I have been watching "Sell this House" and "Designed to Sell" on A&E and HGTV for years. My house is not dirty, or cluttered, or does it have any repair issues. In fact, it is only five years old, with a spacious and open floor plan, a gourmet kitchen, spa master bath, hard wood floors throughout, two fireplaces, craft room, game room, sun room, all the baubles and buzzwords you could ask for. And apparently it is unsalable.

So, we are now we are paying a tremendous amount of money to have our house staged. Part of me is extremely excited. This is something I have fantasized about doing for way too long. I am also somewhat horrified, not just by the expense (which is way more than HGTV would lead one to believe!) but by the fact that my dream house, this house that I helped to design, is unsalable.