Are You Listening, HGTV?

When I'm alone in the evening, I often watch HGTV while I am going about the house doing this or that. If you watch this station at all, you know that many of the shows are created to help people get thier homes in the "proper" condition to be sold. I've seen probably hundreds of episodes detailing a family home that needs some revamping before it can be sold. Besides the typical makeover projects the hosts of the show will suggest, such as:
"Let's get rid of this dated wallpaper and get a neutral shade of tan on this wall!"
"What's this red tile doing on you counter??? I'm thinking GRANITE!"
"Um...ok...what's with this parade of shoes by the door??? The footwear needs to go!"
"OH! If i see one more set of mirrored closet doors..."
"I know you are passionate about (insert name of knicknacks or hobby here), but potential buyers don't want to see this"
there is one makeover task that, unlike the others, really throws me for a loop:
"LETS TAKE DOWN ALL THESE FAMILY PHOTOS AND PUT UP SOMETHING MORE APPEALING TO A WIDER AUDIENCE."
What they should just say is:
"Lets add in some of that art that is typically screwed to the wall at cheap hotels."
Let it be known that if you find I am a potential buyer of your house, the more family photos you can fit on the walls, the better. I have actually run out of places to put my treasured photos, and one of the biggest things I am looking for in my next home is plenty of great walls for MORE photos.
In my opinion, my photos are my greatest possesions. Literally! If I let you peek in my fire safe box, you'd see that it holds perhaps 3 "important" documents...the rest of the space in it is taken up by probably 12 cds of photos, 6 tapes from the video camera, and a cd that holds the song tim wrote for me for our wedding day.
When I walk into a home for the first time, the first thing I look for is photos. The more photos I see, the warmer it makes me feel...it makes it feel (prepare for a cheesy moment)that I am not just in a house, but a home.
I've often said that I could be happy just flipping through the albums of photos of people I don't even know. I get on the internet sometimes for photo inspiration, and suddenly and hour has gone by just looking at the porfolios of random photographers.
So, when I am house-shopping, I'll be looking for the house with the photos left on the wall. To me, that house will say:
"Look at all the memories we fit in this house! The people that lived here are just like you...they took time out of their days to capture random memories like Johnny eating his first popsicle, Sara's first ride in a wagon, and Daddy walking down the beach with the baby. They were really happy here...you can be, too."