Current Color Trends

In the Silicon Valley realtor-culture, I’ve been taught to always use Kelly Moore Oyster on the walls and Swiss Coffee on the trim, when you’re getting a house ready to sell. This advice has come from local stagers, contractors, and painters alike. Of course my own house looked like a box of crayons exploded – cranberry zing in the kitchen, sunset yellow in the living room, willow sage in the hallway and off we go with a new color in every room.

When I go to preview a house for a client, or even myself when I’m in the market, I feel out of sorts when there’s no color. If it’s all white or boring neutrals, immediately my mind starts racing as to what colors would make the space feel more comfortable. Yet I know the typical industry mantra has been to keep it neutral for buyers. All of this got me wondering and I decided to weigh in with professional stagers from across the country to find out if neutrals truly sell a house better than color. The controversial findings were much more interesting than expected. It was a country divided.

Elizabeth Buetow, a Certified Staging Professional from Toronto, Canada said “A color palette is risky. Despite what we may feel would look good in any space, we do not know what the prospective home buyers tastes are like…their color peeves. I have been very successful in keeping with neutrals. Let not color be a reason to lose them.” While I respected the strength of her statement, I have to wonder if by catering to the masses, we lose the appeal of one specific buyer who would be willing to pay a slightly higher price because we created a dream for them?

Even among all the stagers who favored the neutral side, there were different perspectives within the group. “One of the colours that I see all the time that I recommend clients change is a dark, drab beige–it makes the room feel dreary and depressing,” cautioned another one of Canada’s top home staging experts Joan Stirling. “People seem to think that all neutrals work well…not true.” Rather, she recommends using a taupe-grey called O’Keefe Grey by ICI Paints and also likes A Touch of Grey. She uses one of these main colors on the ceilings, walls, and trim to create a modern look and visually expand the space (instead of using a different trim color). Stager Cindy Richter from Texas had similar thoughts but inspired me as to how neutrals can actually be colors. “I always tell clients to paint with neutral colors – but neutral isn’t just white or beige,” she said. “Neutrals are also soft greens, blues, grays and tans-just make sure to check the color with the lighting that is already in the room at different times of the day.”

Mary Habres, a stager from Jacksonville, Florida agreed with the “colored neutrals” theory but added, “It’s also important that the colors you choose reflect light to make the space appear larger. The deeper the value of the color on a trip, the less light it will reflect.” Others seemed to think painting the ceiling in the same color also visually enlarged the space. (I personally have never been a fan of that, but I guess that’s what makes the topic controversial.)

Click here to read part 2.

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