I have some favorite clients who have been looking for something wonderful, and we’ve seen a bunch of houses. It’s gotten to the point where I look at a listing, and I’m not certain whether or not we’ve already been there. So we’ve got a system. Each house gets a nickname that helps us trigger our recollection of the place.

There was “Falling Water on Acid”, a mid-century contemporary home with no walls around the master bathroom – including the designer bidet or toilet. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a husband (or other sweetie) who I’d feel comfortable without a wall between him and me and the john.

Then we looked at “Taxidermy Décor”, a tastefully outfitted home with some amazingly beautiful stuffed birds on tables, Bambi’s dad’s head hanging on the wall and a poor dead mouse lying on the stairs to the attic.

We saw “Rabbit Hutch”, a stately brick Georgian colonial with cute brown rabbits running all over the front yards up and down the block.

One house was potentially spectacular, but it was hard to see how great is was through the sellers’ housekeeping. They were unbelievable slobs – worse than me (although my house isn’t on the market). And the basement carpet reeked from accidents perpetrated by some poor dog who didn’t get walked nearly often enough, certaninly not as often as I walk Mr. Sparky. So what to call this one? Perhaps “Martha Stewart – Not!”

This system works after a fashion. I’ve used it for years and can still recall details of “Bun House”, with sellers who were a husband/wife proctologist team – they had a collage of photos of rear ends hanging above the toilet in the powder room of this otherwise unremarkable home. There was another one with particularly “Carnivorous Wallpaper” in the dining room that still triggers a memory of its fabulous kitchen when I drive past it.

We also had “Cooking Show Kitchen” house, and that one comes close. What they’re holding out for “Cooking Show” combined with “Woodly Woods” and “Stoney Stone”. If that sounds like your place, call me. It could be their Dream House.

And there is a better system. That would be keeping a copy of your agent’s listings with your notes in an accordion file or loose-leaf binder. Each time I start to work with new clients, I resolve to do this for them. And somehow, we always seem to go to the easier but less reliable system of house naming.