We Should Have Done This Sooner...aka "The (Ugly) BackSplash Effect."
- Elisa Cool Murphy
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
Twice in one week, two different homeowners said the same thing to me:
“We should have done this years ago.”
Not with regret.With relief.With pride.With that quiet satisfaction that comes from leaving a house better than you found it.
That’s when I realized I was seeing a pattern. I’m calling it the Backsplash Effect.
The Porch That Lost Its Potential
We're preparing a truly special home for market in the East Riverside neighborhood - a name used almost exclusively by our vet, but we'll allow it.
Three bedrooms.
Two baths.
A workshop where Higgins boat rudders were once made.
A full studio apartment above it.
The kind of place with stories in the walls.
And a front porch most people dream about:
Set back from the street.
Deep enough to gather.
A perch that makes neighbors stop and stay a while.
But between the porch and the sidewalk sat a wide stretch of concrete and chain-link fencing. Functional, yes. But it quietly erased what should have been one of the home's best features.
Setbacks are a premium in the world of New Orleans historic homes, as are porches. Put them together and wowza!
The homeowners already knew it.
They'd imagined something better.
In fact, they'd had it drafted!
They'd even paid for plans and checked city approvals.
The number in their heads? About $15,000.
Lovely, but not urgent.
Easy to postpone.
Something you forget about in hot months and long for when it gets pleasant.
When we talked through the listing strategy, we asked a simple question:
Not what if this had grass - we asked that naturally - but in addition to that we asked...
What if this could be done differently?
A revised plan:
A permeable river-walk style path.
Classic pavers.
Concrete preserved where it served the two parking spaces.
Remaining slab removed.
Sod installed.
Room for planters and green space.
Total cost landed much closer to $4,000.
Their reaction was immediate, sure that sounds great, followed by...
"This is the backsplash all over again."
Where the Name Came From
Years earlier, in another home the sellers owned in Texas, they loved everything. Everything except the kitchen.
Dusty rose wallpaper.
Mauve tile backsplash.
A color story that never quite belonged and certainly didn't feel very "Texas."
They scraped wallpaper for hours.
Painted. Refreshed. Improved.
But every time they stood at the counter, that backsplash stared back.
They delayed replacing it for years because they assumed it would be expensive.
When they finally prepared to sell, their agent said plainly:
"The backsplash has to go."
Total replacement cost: $300.
Even today, you could solve the same problem for under $1,000 - or far less with peel-and-stick. Ask me how I know.
Years of daily annoyance.
Solved in an afternoon.
That's the Backsplash Effect.
A project lives in your head longer than it lives in real life.
The Stairs We Didn't Know We Had
Same neighborhood. Another historic home. Another thoughtful expansion. Beautifully done, but the visual transition from old to new created a subtle pause in the flow.
Buyers already have multiple choices in their options; what they don't want is additional mental math.
The interruption began at the stairwell.
Worn carpeting. Well loved. Ready to go.
Yet a full replacement with hardwood upstairs didn't make sense for how people actually live. So we staged a smarter transition:
Fresh, modern hued carpet where softness underfoot mattered.
Carpet removed from stairs.
Bingo!
Solid wood revealed underneath.
Beautiful solid wood at that.
So the soultion too revealed herself.
Treads stained.
Risers painted.
Historic heart below, yeah!
Clean transition above.
And a ladder - ahem stairs - between.
The homeowner sent a photo mid-process:
"Oh my God. We should have done this years ago."
Practice What You Preach
After watching two versions of the newly dubbed "Backsplash Effect" unfold in a single week, I went home thinking:
What are we putting off?
For us, among other things, it was the front planter.
A sill replacement allowed for an opportunity in the form of a loose St. Joe brick border, now mortared. But it left a bone yard behind...
Empty bed.
A coiled hose.
Twenty inches from sidewalk to front door. Welcome to double-shotgun life.
Every time I pulled up, I saw it. A grave like ditch.
But in my head:
Multiple trips to Lowe's.
Hundreds of dollars on... dirt?!
Back-breaking labor.
A thousand pounds of dirt in the trunk.
Tail of the car sagging.
A half-day project that might sit unfinished.
So we delayed.
Until I finally looked it up.
Jefferson Feed sells a cubic ton of planting soil in a super sack for $100.
Roughly 30 cubic feet.
That's 20" brick to house, 12" deep and the width we needed.
Delivery: $69.
Forklift to your exact spot if accessible.
The driver lifted the sack.
He and Matt cut it.
Dirt went exactly where it needed to go.
Ten minutes.
Done.
Total: $169.
I got my camera out and filmed it because I found it fascinating and felt proud of our ability to problem solve. It's something I do every day for clients. It was fun to do it for ourselves.
Matt watched the truck pull up and braced for the hard part.
There wasn't one.
"What did we wait for?"
Why This Happens
We were talking recently about why homeowners don't always use our concierge services - packing help, styling, deep cleans, vendor coordination.
They're grateful for the plan.
They're used to rolling up their sleeves.
They've sold homes before.
Their expectations are just lower.
Experience taught them:
You do it yourself.
You carry the weight.
You figure it out.
Expect delays.
Expect costs.
Avoid.
But what if you didn't have to?
We're happy to give you a DIY plan.
We do it every day.
We're also happy to take work off your plate.
Often, well within the budget you already assumed you'd spend.
No harm done if you just need referrals.
We like building relationships with homeowners early.
You'll know what working together feels like long before you need to list.
That's The Backsplash Effect
Small projects.
Big mental weight.
Solved faster, cheaper, and more beautifully than expected.
If there's something in your home you've been meaning to get to,
something that lives louder in your head than it does in reality,
message me.
And as for me and my house, my honey-do list just got a whole lot longer.
Celebrated for her next-level creative approach to real estate, Elisa Cool Murphy is the author of Prepped to Sell: What Works Even When the Market Doesn't. She is an award-winning, top-performing real estate broker in New Orleans and the founder and owner of Cool Murphy Real Estate.
Contact Her -
email: cool@coolmurphy.com
Facebook: @homeinneworleans
IG: @coolmurphynola
YouTube: @coolmurphynola
phone: 504-321-3194
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