Do you know that other than decluttering and cleaning, painting is the least expensive way to increase the value to your home? Because the walls are the largest surface in your home they have a big impact on how your home is perceived, how large, how well cared for, and how up-to-date it looks to buyers. Freshly painted rooms add to the value of your home because a home that looks well-maintained is worth more in the buyer’s eyes.
But not just any color will do…
Each year all the paint companies announce their ‘color of the year’. This marketing promotion is a chance to get brand recognition and hopefully get people thinking about redecorating and painting their walls!
Benjamin Moore’s color and design expert Andrea Magno says “We spend months researching and traveling around the world, attending design shows, and picking up cues and influences from different industries, including fashion, art, and even politics.
While these trendy colors are fine for decorating they are a poor choice for staging. The purpose of home staging is to enhance the home so buyers can imagine themselves living there, so the use of color in Home Staging is the complete opposite from color in design. When you are painting your home for yourself…anything goes. If you like it, you can do it! With home staging, the goal is to attract as many buyers as possible and help them see the true potential of the home. The right colors can enhance the perceived value of the home while the ‘wrong’ color can get in the way of a buyer’s focus.
Benjamin Moore’s 2018 color of the year: Caliente
Red is a wonderful color to use in home decorating, but that same color can be overwhelming to home buyers because it attracts so much attention and keeps the buyer from really ‘seeing’ the house and its features.
PPG Paints 2018 Color of the Year: Black Flame
Three paint companies picked very dark, almost black colors. These eye-catching colors can look great but will distract buyers from what they should be looking at: the home itself.
Pantone’s 2018 Color of the year: Ultra Violet- not much to say about this as a color to paint your walls!
So if the paint companies ‘Colors of the Year’ are not the right colors to paint your home … what colors should you use?
Medium to light neutral paint colors!
Neutral colors work like magic to make your home look spacious, and up-to-date (two things that buyers are ALWAYS looking for), and because neutral colors are calming and non-offensive they can easily go with any design theme or furniture the buyers might have. These colors are not distracting and allows potential buyers really ‘SEE’ the features of the home and most importantly…to imagine themselves living in the home.
My 2018 Home Staging Colors of the Year have been chosen to make any home that is for sale look up-to-date! By including an on-trend gray, beige, greige, blue, and off white there is a color that will work in almost every situation. I have included colors from the two biggest paint companies, Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore that are very similar. For instance BM Gray Cashmere is more Blue-Gray and SW Sea Salt is more Green-Gray, but both are perfect for creating a calm and welcoming feeling in a home.
And remember even if you think these colors are boring and bland; they are the colors that will help you achieve your goal of selling your home for the most money possible!
Add value to your home by painting with one of the ‘2018 Home Staging Colors of the Year’!
BONUS STAGING TIP!
