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No room in the house works harder than the bathroom. And while these spaces exist to keep you clean, they can easily harbor odors, toothpaste smears, stray hairs, and other funky grime.

Of course, you neaten up and scrub these spaces regularly. But along the way, inevitable missteps can undermine even the best cleaning efforts.

“More than any other room, the bathroom should look and smell clean [and] feel spacious and organized,” notes Pamela O’Brien, an interior decorator with Pamela Hope Designs.

Read on for ways to reverse common mistakes and ensure your bath looks (and smells) its very best.

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A quaint cottage, it is not. But this midcentury modern standout is renowned.

“The traditional home on Shelter Island is a shingled, 19th-century, Maine-style home,” says Nick Brown of Sotheby’s International Realty – East Hampton Brokerage, the listing agent for the island’s second-most expensive property.

Priced at $13.95 million, this 6,006-square-foot behemoth is 100 miles east of Manhattan, just off Long Island, and accessible by seaplane, helicopter, or ferry.

The home known as the Snyder House was designed by Bauhaus-trained architect Bertrand Goldberg in 1952 for steel magnate John Snyder.

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On “Home Town,” Erin and Ben Napier don’t simply make houses look beautiful—they also focus on function, creating custom features that make sense for a client’s passions and personality.

In the Season 7 episode “What’s Good for the Goose,” Erin and Ben meet Marissa, who’s just moved to Laurel, MS. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom house she purchases is small but charming, with a big backyard that’s perfect for Marissa’s beloved dog.

However, there’s a lot that needs to change in order to make this 1958 home the entertaining space that social butterfly Marissa needs. To add to the challenge, she can’t spend more than $195,000 total, so after buying the house for $115,000, Ben and Erin have only $80,000 to completely renovate the house.

The Napiers end up adding lots of custom features to make this old house feel like it was made especially for their client—from a special bar area to a dog-friendly mudroom.

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Legendary Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green is making a change in the Badger State.

Green, who played 12 seasons in the NFL—much of it with the Packers—is selling his huge five-bedroom, 4.5-bath home in De Pere, WI.

Just 10 minutes from legendary Lambeau Field, the house is on the market for $2.2 million.

Yup, you can literally see Lambeau’s late-evening lights from Green’s abode. The 7,000-square-foot mansion comes with a seven-car garage and a full lineup of oversized amenities.

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The closing table is the place for buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and title company representatives to come together—in harmony—to complete a real estate transaction. Most of the time, closing day goes off without a hitch. Sometimes, though, things don’t quite go as planned.

But just how messy can it get?

We recently spotted a lively discussion taking place on the r/RealEstate subreddit after one user posed the following question: “I’ve heard of deals falling apart at the closing table but I’m wondering what would cause it. Does anyone have a story how this has happened?”

Users weighed in with cautionary tales of buyers’ and sellers’ best intentions going up in flames on the day they were supposed to close on a property. The common thread among this sad sampling of scenarios: a total and utter lack of common sense. It turns out, some people just can’t get out of their own way. Here are some of the most memorable collapses.

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (3)

It’s that time of year again. Homebuyers begin poring over listings with Instagrammable kitchens and shoring up their finances. Sellers slap on fresh coats of paint and make all of the repairs they had been meaning to do since they moved into their properties. And a real estate agent somewhere pops a tray of cookie dough into the oven before opening the doors to the open house.

Welcome to the spring housing market, 2023—and buckle up for one unlike any you’ve encountered before. After a high-stakes, boom-and-bust cycle that played out over the past year, buyers and sellers alike are now waiting to see if America’s real estate market awakens from its deep slumber and starts galloping again into the prime selling season.

Will sellers plant those familiar “For Sale” signs in their yards again in large numbers, and will buyers snatch up their properties despite a crushing lack of affordability? The answers could reverberate through the market for years to come.

The market had been on life support the past few months as high prices and rising mortgage interest rates had sidelined many would-be buyers. Sellers had little incentive to list when multiple-offer bidding wars gave way to necessary decreases in asking prices—especially when the next home they bought would have a higher mortgage rate. New listings dropped and the number of home sales cratered.

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The priciest listing in Minnesota is a waterfront home with 360-degree views of Lake Minnetonka.

The 9,016-square-foot mansion sits at the end of a peninsula in Woodland, MN, and is listed for $14.75 million.

“It’s a stunning piece of property with almost 1,700 feet of lakeshore, which is very unique,” says listing agent Jim Schwarz, with Lakes Sotheby’s International Realty. “The views in the home are absolutely spectacular from every room. You feel like you’re on a cruise ship at times. The water is very close to the home, which is not typical.”

Spacecrafters

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Nothing says “home, sweet home” like a Craftsman bungalow.

Made popular in the early 20th century as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, they were designed to be simply and inexpensively built for the working class.

Furniture designer Gustav Stickley was a leading proponent of Craftsman homes, which bucked the rising trend of industrial mass manufacturing by incorporating handcrafted elements and simple, folksy design.

Craftsman homes were built so well that many of these bungalows still remain, with original features like gabled roofs, stone fireplaces, built-in furniture, porches, wainscoting, and moldings. Better still, you can find some in major metro areas for reasonable prices.

HGTV

You might know Tarek El Moussa from “Flip or Flop” and Heather Rae El Moussa from “Selling Sunset,” but now that they’re hitched, of course, it was inevitable that they’d have their own show together, “The Flipping El Moussas.”

Yet, while one might presume their combined expertise and experience might instantly gush real estate gold, their show’s premiere suggests they’ve got some growing pains to get through first.

In the first episode, rightly called “Our First Flip,” we find Tarek and Heather Rae (then pregnant with their first child) about to embark on their initial renovation together.

It’s a four-bedroom, three-bath midcentury modern house in Silver Lake, an increasingly hip suburb of Los Angeles. Tarek’s company, Tarek Sells Houses, has paid an eye-watering $2.15 million for the home. They’re hoping to fix it up and sell it for around $3,100,000, netting about a $400,000 profit.

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Today’s housing market has been in some deep doldrums by many standards, but the latest real estate statistics suggest something more serious might be ahead—that the market might be careening toward some sort of rock bottom.

“Taken as a whole, this week’s data lines up with other indicators that are pointing to a potential bottom in housing market activity at a fairly low level,” notes Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale in her most recent analysis.

The only upside we can think of is that there’s typically nowhere to go from there but up. So, does that mean the worst days of real estate will soon be over? Not quite, since the big four harbingers of housing—home prices, inventory, days on the market, and mortgage rates—show few signs of a rebound yet.

“They don’t yet offer a strong indication of how long the market will bounce along the bottom,” Hale explains.

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New Colorado Buffaloes football coach Deion Sanders recently scored a pretty sweet deal in Longmont, CO.

While we don’t know exactly how much Sanders paid for his slice of Rocky Mountain paradise, the home was on the market for $3.97 million. Measuring 6,457 square feet, the mansion sits in Boulder County‘s exclusive Meadow Green Farm neighborhood.

The gated community was designed with outdoor recreation in mind and is centered on a 40-acre private lake, where residents can fish, swim, or sail.

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Photos by @heidicaillierdesign / @adsuttondesign / @lebaneseindc via Instagram

For many of us, the hustle and bustle of day-to-day life means our houses see more chaos and traffic than a rush-hour train station. The idea of an oft-used space like the dining room looking buttoned-up with sophisticated decor is almost laughable.

But lately we’ve noticed a return to formality: More homebuyers are seeking out properties with a formal dining room, and current homeowners are warming to the idea of bringing more refined furnishings into their dining area. Some experts chalk it up to a stark reaction to the years we spent being casual and cozy indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

So with the spring season right around the corner, now is a great time to focus on adding a bit of elegance to your dining room decor. To inspire your aesthetic overhaul, here are five trending looks from Instagram with corresponding products so you can get the look.

1. Mauve velvet chairs

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An affordable antique in Van Meter, IA, that comes with its own bell tower has chimed in as this week’s most popular home on Realtor.com®.

Resembling a renovated church with its Gothic front window and Romanesque side windows, the home was originally built in 1871. It underwent a renovation in 1975, but many original details remain.

Other homes that made the popularity list include an updated home in Arkansas with a backyard oasis, an affordable log cabin with a pond in Tennessee, and a “happy place” said to be owned by Michael Moloney of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”

For a full look at this week’s 10 most popular homes, keep on scrolling.

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A school building that dates to 1899 has since been converted into a residential space. The 14,848-square-foot building is the former Victor School in Victor, CO, and it’s on the market for $990,000.

The one-time school comes with some poignant memories of its past students.

“When you come in those original, historic front doors that still say ‘Victor School’ on the glass—on the right-hand wall, there’s a list of names of all the people that went to Victor School who fought in World War II,” says listing agent Karen Schaefer, with Re/Max Properties. “That list has remained for all these years. Despite all of the paintings and conversions, everyone has always painted around those.”

Greg Busby, Buzz Home Production

HGTV

On their show “The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project,” married designers Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent rarely wield sledgehammers to break down walls and start from scratch. Instead, they thoughtfully preserve as much of a home as possible, which not only honors its spirit but is easier on the wallet, too.

On the episode “Keep It in the Family,” for example, they head to Franklin Square, NY, to help newlyweds Jenn and Steve create a stylish living space for themselves while paying homage to Steve’s grandfather, who built their house in 1951. Steve’s mother grew up there, and they don’t want to erase that priceless heritage.

With a budget of $125,000 to make over the kitchen, living room, dining room, formal entry, and family room, Berkus and Brent will need to spend each dollar wisely. And they do, coming up with some extremely clever ideas you might want to try, too. Check out what we learned from the show this week.

New style: ‘Farmhouse with a passport’

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A private island escape in Bushwood, MD, beckons buyers with a rare deal: two homes for the price of one. The island dwelling comes with an additional mainland home and boat dock—all for $3.75 million.

The 13-acre St. Margaret Island is nestled in St. Catherine’s Sound, below the confluence of the Potomac and Wicomico rivers.

“It’s a pretty special place,” says listing agent David Desantis, of TTR Sotheby’s International Realty.

“The house itself is lovely, and it’s a summer beach house that is very livable and very charming,” he says. “But the special thing about this listing is not only is it your own private island, but it is less than two hours from Washington, D.C., and also close to Richmond, VA.

HGTV

Tarek El Moussa has come a long way.

This house flipper first rose to fame on the HGTV runaway hit “Flip or Flop,” which he co-hosted with his then-wife, Christina Hall. But a lot has changed since the show’s 2013 premiere.

For one, he has branched off to star in his own solo series where he teaches novice flippers the ropes, “Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa.” He has also divorced his previous flipping partner and married “Selling Sunset” star Heather Rae El Moussa, who recently gave birth to their baby boy, Tristan. And, as if all that weren’t enough, his family has embarked on a new show, “The Flipping El Moussas,” which follows their busy life together flipping houses in Southern California.

While fans will no doubt tune in to see what Tarek’s new life is like, we got to wondering what really happens behind the scenes when the cameras stop rolling. Lucky for us, Tarek was happy to chat with us and divulge some choice details you won’t see on reality TV.

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The numbers: Mortgage rates are up for the fourth week in a row.

The 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit 7.1%, up from 6.94% on Wednesday, according to the latest data of mortgage brokers released Thursday by Mortgage News Daily.

Mortgage News Daily says its index is driven by real-time changes in actual lender rate sheets.

Separately, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.65% as of March 2, up 15 basis points from the previous week, Freddie Mac also said Thursday.

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It just doesn’t get more old-Hollywood glam than the Los Angeles estate known as Castillo del Lago.

Set on legendary Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, this spread is said to have been a Bugsy Siegel lair in the 1930s.

After that, it served as a prominent movie location for 1984’s “Beverly Hills Cop” and as Madonna‘s home in the 1990s. The home currently belongs to fashion titan Leon Max, of Max Studio, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And if you happen to have $21 million lying around, you could be the next owner of this lavish, nine-bedroom, six-bath dwelling.

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Communities of color are more likely to experience discrimination in nearly every step of their homebuying journey.

Minorities continue to have higher mortgage application denials, have the lowest homeownership rates, and have properties that are more at risk of being undervalued by appraisals, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors®.

“We want homeownership to be for everybody. Homeownership is a main [way] to build wealth,” says NAR Senior Economist Nadia Evangelou. “Minority groups not only face additional challenges in their efforts to purchase a home, but also deal with inequalities after they purchase their homes.”

To come up with its findings, NAR analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, and data collected through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act as well as the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The organization also used data from a 129-question survey taken by 4,854 homebuyers who purchased property between July 2021 and June 2022.