The front page of the real estate section from the Times led with an article on adding elements of one's culture to the design of one's home. (see Saturday, February 21, 2010). For example, in my culture, I would add my wedding Ketubah (contract) as a piece of art and mezuzahs to the corners of each entrance to a room because of my Jewish culture and heritage. I think it would be useful for us to make a list of different cultural items that you could expect to be in a home owned by people of different descents in order for real estate agents to identify such items and be respectful of same when advising about staging. Also, do you think that these items should be removed before listing a house as a matter of strategy? I do for resale purposes (potential purchasers may not identify with these items and may even be turned off by them), but good luck selling the homeowner on that idea. People are very intrenched with their beliefs and this could be a conversation that causes a sales agent to lose a client if you don't tread lightly. Also, be sure not to offend. What are your thoughts?

Just heard about a free website, picnic.com, that is supposed to let you adjust exposure, color and sharpness of pictures resulting in “richer and warmer” (their words) photos. I haven’t tried it but thought you might want to pass it along to realtors to enhance their listings.