Our south Florida home is finally under contract!  So, we are spending a week in Knoxville, TN, house-hunting.  We’ve already traipsed through dozens of houses but only a couple got me excited.  They had Wow Factor.

Wow Factor is a sudden rush of appreciation, almost an adrenaline hit, from being pleasantly surprised.  It’s impressive, engaging, and memorable.  An extreme encounter with Wow Factor jerks your head around and drops your jaw.

Having shopped for homes twice in two years, I’m beginning to realize Wow Factor is kind of rare.  Creating Wow Factor takes a bit of artistic insight, a little divine inspiration, and a lot of craftsmanship.

It takes motivation to continue the search for a home with Wow Factor because it is so hard to find.  As exciting as it is to find a new home, after awhile the search becomes a chore that expends a lot of energy.

In house hunting and in marriage, I think some people settle for what is easy and miss out on Wow Factor.  Don’t settle!  A small investment of time and selflessness may have big returns.  It’s not hard to build Wow Factor, but it does take consistent effort.

Because, general feelings about marriage often overflow into our attitude about sexual intimacy.

Here are three easy ways to build an atmosphere for Wow in your marriage.  You’ll remember I said, Wow Factor is a combination of:

A bit of artistic insight –

Become a student of your spouse so you can gain insight into what makes them feel valued, loved, and important.  Sometimes, you can reverse engineer their actions to figure this out.  For example, I love to hand-write note cards to people.  Which means, that I also love to receive handwritten messages.

A little divine inspiration –

Gifts can inspire Wow and they don’t have to be expensive to do it, just thought-filled.  For me, it’s the gift of time, attention, and preferential treatment.  For others, it could be the gift of a clean car or scoop of their favorite ice cream.

A lot of craftsmanship –

If you haven’t diligently worked to craft a friendship with your spouse, it’s time.  I often say the best aphrodisiac is building a better friendship with your spouse.  If you read my post, “Rethinking Low Libido,” you’ll know that wives who have lower sexual interest need a good relationship with their husband to stoke the fire of passion.  The first step toward building a friendship is just to be consistently kind to your spouse.

Final Thoughts

What I’m finding is that there is no perfect house, just like there is no perfect marriage.  But, if you have one facet of Wow in your house and your relationship, it offsets the flaws.