Article Written and Prepared by: Neoli Marcos

That trading spaces show can be scary.

Imagine a group of strangers flocking to your house one fine day, okay, completely well-meaning they may be, but at the same time blunt too, because, nah, they've decided your house just isn't cool enough and you definitely need an upgrade in your sense of style. Should we say more? Or are you already considering changing that kangaroo print pillowcase in your living room?

Cool. That word. What's up with cool anyway?! For a concept that supposedly shouldn't have any boundaries, cool has frighteningly evolved into something we religiously pin on a particular person, activity, place, and gadget. And yes, home.

Okay, we're not talking about cool homes here, as in energy-efficient homes (it's a perfectly worthwhile topic of course, but not for now). We're talking about homes being top-dollar cool in the market here; we're talking about cool homes palatable enough for choosy and discriminating buyers. Cool translates to good status and good worthsomething you would want others to catch you in. We just know what's cool and what's not. The scary part, though, is when we insist others to be coolthe right kind of cooljust like us.

Real estates are admittedly a business that heavily depends on projecting the cool image and right surface. Home designers and interior decorators are no wonder sought-after people because they seem to know what cool people want for their homes. Or maybe they just dictate what should be cool.

Can cool be manufactured then? If you're seriously considering selling your house, then there's certainly no harm in invoking the cool inside and outside. Nothing wrong with a cool paint of Van Gogh yellow, or cool stainless steel countertops, or cool surround system, or whatever that's currently cool. (Here, you'll be reminded that cool sometimes requires money.) Whatever cool stuff you do, just be careful you don't overwhelm the house with too much cool that it doesn't leave space for the buyers' identities anymore. You want the new owners to plot out their own sense of cool too, of course.

So, don't let anyone tell you what's cool for your house. After all, coolfor it to be coolshould never be a prescription.