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If you thought the only way to boost your home’s value was to clad your shower in subway tile, paint the exterior black and white, and expose your ceiling beams, think again. The research team at Zillow has been keeping tabs on what types of interior finishes and materials help homes sell for more than expected (they analyzed more than 350 keywords across 2 million listings!), and they’re calling it: “Organic modernism is the new modern farmhouse,” says the company’s home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. “Buyers are seeking out and competing for homes with these raw but refined finishes, and that’s pushing up sale prices.”
So what does that actually look like? Zillow has pinpointed 20 specific features that can sell a home for as much as 3.5 percent more, which translates to an additional $12,500 on a typical U.S. home. Here are four elements homeowners looking to sell for top dollar this spring will want to highlight—because if you’ve got it, you should flaunt it, right?
Soapstone Counters
Soapstone outperforms quartz as the countertop style of choice, contributing to a sale premium of 3.5 percent (versus 2.6 percent). And we get why: the natural material instantly adds that old-world character. Take designer Sary Em’s Philadelphia kitchen. Her house was built in the late 1800s but the kitchen previously felt stale. Now, it has a soapstone-topped island that packs accessible storage onto both sides and feels one with the place’s history.
Wet Rooms
Having a wet room, or a fully waterproofed bathroom, can help a home sell for an additional 3.3 percent. Ditch the shower door and go a little overboard with tile, Tadelakt, or marble slabs, instead.
White Oak Floors
Turns out, potential buyers do look down when they’re touring a house, and they’ll be elated to find white oak boards, which can help sell a listing for a bonus 3.2 percent. They also won’t be disappointed to discover herringbone or cork underfoot.
Venetian Plaster Walls
If you want to achieve a feeling of softness without cluttering your space with a million throw blankets, look no further. Venetian plaster can sell a home for 3 percent more than anticipated. You can see the magic in influencer Remi Ishizuka’s Texas living quarters. Her designers molded the decorative finish around the fireplace hood and window bench for a streamlined look that helped neutralize the cold gray stone pillars on the opposite side of the room.