Stop Designing Your House for the Next Owner (Like, really)

Design rendering of a home study painted Sherwin-Williams Crooked River on the walls, trim, and ceiling, in a Macon new build forever home design by Lesley Myrick — *A study wrapped in Sherwin-Williams Crooked River | Design rendering*

At some point in every project, someone says it. Sometimes it’s a realtor, sometimes a well-meaning friend, sometimes the small voice in the client’s own head: but what about resale? And I get it. It feels like the grown-up question to ask. But in my experience, designing for resale – instead of considering forever home design – usually ends up costing you more than it saves.

Who are you actually designing for?

Here’s the thing, though. Most people aren’t going anywhere. In Houzz’s 2026 study of more than 20,000 U.S. homeowners, 61% said they plan to stay in their homes for 11 years or more, and 44% called their house a forever home.

Eleven years is a loooong time to live in a house designed for someone who doesn’t exist yet! The buyer you’re decorating for won’t walk through the door for a decade, and when they do, they’ll repaint. Meanwhile your family spends every morning, every holiday, and every Tuesday night homework session in rooms chosen to offend no one.

It looks wise on paper, but in real life, you’re living in a house decorated for a stranger, and you’re the one paying the mortgage.

What safe actually costs

Resale design has a look, and you know it. Greige walls. White shaker everything. A gray sofa you’ll replace in six years because it never meant anything to you. A rug chosen specifically so nobody has an opinion about it.

There’s nothing wrong with any of it, exactly. It’s just forgettable – and forgettable has a price. It’s the room you end up redoing in five years because it never felt like yours, which means paying twice for the same space.

The homes that age well are rarely the safe ones. They’re the specific ones, collected and layered and clearly made for the people who live there.

Design rendering of a living room with a cognac leather sofa, two green velvet swivel chairs with floral-upholstered backs, a stained wood plank ceiling with beams, sage green drapery, and a cream and olive striped rug under a black stone coffee table — *Green velvet, a floral surprise, and a wood-paneled ceiling | Design rendering*

a Forever Home for one family

Right now I’m finishing a new build in Macon for a family who was ready to stop playing it safe. They’ve moved in. Final styling is still ahead, which makes this a good moment to look at the decisions that got them here.

The safe version of this house is easy to picture, because it’s in half the listings in Middle Georgia. A pale gray primary bedroom with white trim and freestanding furniture. Twelve-by-eighteen marble-look tile on the primary bath floor, because it photographs clean and nobody objects to it.

Instead, we wrapped the study in Sherwin-Williams Crooked River, a soft, dusky green, on the walls, trim, and ceiling alike. No white trim framing it, no bright ceiling breaking it up. The room reads as one enveloping space, which is exactly how a study should feel when you close the door.

Design rendering of a primary bedroom with navy Sherwin-Williams Dark Night walls — *Dark Night walls with matching built-ins (shown below) | Design rendering*

Design rendering of a primary bedroom with navy Sherwin-Williams Dark Night walls and matching built-in cabinetry — *Dark Night walls with matching built-ins | Design rendering*

That wasn’t the only place we skipped safe. The primary bedroom is wrapped in Sherwin-Williams Dark Night, a deep navy, with built-in cabinetry painted to match so the storage disappears into the walls.

Design rendering of living room built-in cabinetry painted Sherwin-Williams Cascades, a deep teal — *Built-ins in Sherwin-Williams Cascades | Design rendering*

The lounge built-ins are Sherwin-Williams Cascades, a deep teal, so they read as part of the architecture rather than furniture pushed against a wall. The primary bath floor is a small black-and-white triangle mosaic laid with a border instead of big marble-look tile. And the main powder room pairs a hot pink lacquered vanity with a floral wallpaper, because a powder room is where a house gets to have the most fun.

Design rendering of a primary bathroom floor in black-and-white triangle mosaic tile with a border — *Black-and-white triangle mosaic with a border | Design rendering*

Here’s what surprises people about this family: they weren’t nervous about the color. They’d seen every room in 3D renderings before anything was ordered, so the bold choices never felt like a leap. What they worried about was bigger and more sensible: Were these the right choices for the long haul? Were they about to make an expensive mistake they’d live with for decades?

That’s the right worry, and it’s where I spend most of my time. A bold choice made carelessly is a mistake. A bold choice that’s been planned, tested in renderings, specified down to the grout, and checked against how the family actually lives is simply a good decision with some personality.

Design rendering of a kitchen with soft gray-green shaker cabinets, a teal dimensional tile backsplash, a wood range hood, and a wood-paneled island with five counter stools under three dark dome pendants — *Teal tile, a wood hood, and an island built for a crowd | Design rendering*

They’ve been in the house nearly a year. They have room to spread out, and they use it: hosting and dinner parties are among their favorite things to do, and the house was planned around exactly that life. A house designed for a stranger would have worked fine. This one is theirs.

Final styling is next, and I’ll share the finished rooms once they’re photographed. For now, the renderings tell the story: every one of those rooms looked bold on paper, and every one was the right call.

Where to be bold, and where not to bother

I’m not saying every surface should shout. A forever home still has to function, and boldness is a tool, not a personality test. Here’s where I spend it.

Where you live every day. The family room, the kitchen, the primary bedroom. These rooms set the tone of your days.
On things that are hard to add later. A real lighting plan, built-ins, a tiled wall, a ceiling treatment. On a new build or renovation, these cost far less at the start than as a retrofit.
On the pieces you’ll keep. A sofa you love, art that means something, a rug with a point of view. These come with you if you ever do move.
Not on boldness for its own sake. A trendy finish you’ll tire of is just resale thinking pointed in a different direction. Bold should be personal, not performative.

And remember that paint is the easiest thing in any house to change. If the next owner hates your dining room color, they can fix it in a weekend. You’ll have had ten years of loving it.

But what about resale?

Fair question, so here’s the straight answer from 21 years of doing this. Good bones, good light, a smart layout, and quality materials are what sell a house. Your paint colors and your furniture barely register, because buyers arrive picturing their own. What actually hurts resale is a house that’s worn, poorly planned, or full of half-baked improvement projects that never got finished. None of those concerns come from being bold.

So plan the house well. Then make it awesome, and totally yours.

Building or renovating in Middle Georgia?

If you’re planning a new build or renovation in Macon, Kathleen, Perry, Warner Robins, or anywhere in Middle Georgia – and you’d rather design for the family you have than a buyer you’ll never meet – the next step is a Connection Call. We’ll talk through your house, your timeline, and whether we’re the right fit.

About Lesley Myrick

Macon, Georgia, full-service interior designer Lesley Myrick.

Lesley Myrick is an adventurous, intuitive, and exceptionally organized full-service interior designer specializing in designing distinct “forever homes”. She works with high-achieving professionals to create playful, personality-driven and family-friendly spaces that are as functional as they are unique.

At Lesley Myrick Interior Design, we make the typically confusing design process stress-free. Our high-touch, deeply engaged design process means that we accept just 6 large-scale remodeling projects per year.

Learn more about our full-service interior design and inquire here to start your design project.