Pretty in pink? Think again

Ayelet and Ronen have been looking to buy a home for a year. They want something in good condition, and are willing to undertake a cosmetic makeover, but nothing major.

	A kitchen by design house Decor

"We saw apartments that were magnificently designed, like you'd see in a magazine, but the designs were weird, unconventional, sometimes unbelievable," says Ayelet. "We saw one apartment where the shower and toilet were right there in the bedroom, without a dividing wall. We saw an apartment with a giant Jacuzzi in the bathroom, right next to the toilet. If the person on the toilet isn't tiny, he'd have to put his feet in the bath. In another apartment the toilet was just centimeters away from the entrance. We had to leave just because of the smell."

	A rustic kitchen by Decor

One person's dream design may be another's unbuyable nightmare. The effects of designs might be visually striking, but any buyer may be forced into heavy investment, which automatically lowers the value of the dwelling.

	A Tomer Shapira-designed living room

So before making your mark on your home, realizing your fantasies of a black bathroom and bedroom-cum-lavatory, take a moment to think practically and consider eschewing wild whims.

	Floor designed by Via Arkadia

Divide the space sensibly

Space should be divided by the tenants' needs. Yoram Kraus, manager of Strategy Management Solutions says homeowners should carefully consider how to divide up the inside space, so rooms are spacious without some devolving into tiny holes.

"Don't build a bathroom in every corner of the home, because it could diminish the living room and bedrooms," he says.

The better the room design, the easier the home will be to sell.

Architect Vered Blatman points out that when a bachelor converts a five-room apartment into a home with two giant rooms, he narrows his pool of potential buyers to people with a lifestyle like his. She also stresses safety: There are clients who insist on staircases with no banisters, for instance. They may look wonderful but they could put off buyers.

Eyes on the floor

Beyond location, price and size, a potential buyer looks at three parameters: floors, bathrooms and the kitchen, says interior designer Ariella Shneor, who also heads the Association of Interior Design Architects in Israel. "These three parameters translate in the eye of the buyer into expensive renovations. Most people would prefer to forgo that."

One trend that arrived from overseas is parquet floors. The range includes real wood, which costs more, and cheaper synthetics.

"A lot of homeowners used low-quality synthetic parquet that looks plastic and deters buyers for the bedroom," says Shneor. A potential buyer who doesn't like it has to replace it, which is costly.

In other words, trends may look good in magazines but they become passe and might only appeal to a narrow group anyway. Take black and white checkerboard tiling, which came here from the United States. It's hot today but who knows how many people actually like it, or will tomorrow.

Moving onto kitchens, the effort to impress may wind up deterring buyers, says Architect Yossi Friedman, a lecturer at the interior architecture department at the College of Management. Not all materials and colors suit everyone.

People who love to cook won't appreciate bright-white countertops, which get dirty, and puttings sinks and fridges in bad places can be a real headache. So can kitchens that are too big, he adds.

Rustic designs featuring wood are "heavy," and not suitable for small kitchens, Friedman adds. And don't shrug off the location of the dining area: If it isn't inside the kitchen it should be near.

Trendy accessories in the bathroom are also a matter of taste, for instance transparent tubs. That too can deter buyers, Friedman warns.