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I loved what North Carolina stager Nancy Lee had to say about using these new neutrals. Her point of view is to choose a subtle neutral but then use different shades of that color from the same strip throughout the house. “I stick to neutrals-the basic color is usually lightly shaded (greyed down) and comes from the brown, green, or yellow family. I selected it based on the natural light, the view, the house style, and any permanent fixtures inside…once I have chosen the basic color, for example, I might paint the living room walls and below the chair rail in the dining room that color but put a darker color from the same chip on the fireplace wall and above the chair rail. The molding would be painted the lightest color from the chip, which does energize the rooms but provides continuity at the same time. I don’t use colors from multiple chips.”

Another stager and color consultant out of the D.C. metro area, Pam Faulkner, feels there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the paint color question. “I’ve found the color choices are shaped by the area of the country, the architecture, the lighting, the furnishings, and the target market,” she said. On the one hand, she agreed that you couldn’t go wrong with the “new neutrals” using subtle shades-that “a shade of green in a sunroom can be neutral and counter the glare at certain times of day” but also that “younger buyers aren’t afraid of color -particularly saturated though not necessarily dark.” She remarked that in Virginia where she practices, the traditional red dining room wall color is still very much a favorite and can be found in many homes on the market. Her main point was that “knowing your market and buyers, as well as picking colors that compliment the architecture…will showcase the home beautifully.”

The staging pros who favor color had as strong or stronger opinions. “Color sells! It’s what gives life to the house. Buyers usually form some sort of emotional attachment to a particular house and color, when used correctly, can create a strong, positive emotional experience which generally translates into presenting an offer,” says Sebastian Barrett St. Troy in his new book “It’s Not ‘Your’ House!” He is a “market-ready consultant” in Austin, Texas. I also thought this quote from the book was interesting: “When you’re out looking at houses, which ones do you remember? Do you notice all the beige houses, or do you remember that house with the striking deep red dining room, comforting grey living room, and the soft green bedroom…if the color feels right, looks good, and works with the house, then leave it and never allow anyone to talk you into changing it to a neutral.” Stager Patti Stern from New York City agreed, “Color transforms a room,” she said quoting an oft-used phrase. She works on a lot of high-end, new construction homes. “The first thing we do is add color-lattes, buttery yellow, grey/blues, and deep greens are the colors we’re using in these showcase, model homes.”

Of course, getting willy-nilly with color is never a good idea. I can’t tell you how many homes I’ve walked into and thought “Oh no you didn’t.” And I’m not even going to go there with the subject of do-it-yourself faux painting and how that affects resale. So I liked what Linda J. O’Neill out of Philadelphia ( http://www.oncuehomestaging.com ) said about how to mitigate this: “My recommendation is to study color…go to Benjamin Moore, C2, or look at Sherwin Williams trends. They send their research people all over the world each year…buyers are indeed very savvy…you can use trends to help identify what is metropolitan, urban, southern, west coast, trans-cultural, or hip self-expression, but in a refined way.”

So, who’s right? What’s your opinion? Seems like most of the stagers at least agreed that some amount of color is a good thing, even if it is within the neutral realm. And, most seem to endorse evaluating the specific situation of the house. “It depends on the home and who’s the target buyer. The old school rules of home staging are passe’,” said staging pro Julea St. Joseph from Chicago ( http://www.julea.com ). “Today’s buyer is a slick, savvy, well-educated house hunter and expects every home they consider to be move-in ready with a sassy palette to match.”

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