Color Your World - Tips on Choosing Colors

June 2018 - Issue 8

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Hello!

It's June, already - and here in north Texas, the heat is upon us!

Texas summers mean that we spend more time indoors. For some reason, being indoors a lot makes me think about color - the color of walls, floors, ceiling, trim, and furnishings.

We talked last month about exterior staging (you can find it here, in case you missed it). We'll get back to that when it cools off a bit.

This month, we'll move back inside and talk about one of the most important things you need to think about when getting your home ready to sell - or even if you're just freshening things up - color.

Color is a passion of mine. It's one of the things I've invested a lot of time and effort into learning about - how it changes spaces, how it makes people feel.

I hope you'll enjoy this month's Harmonious Home Adventures. If you do, please share it with your friends. After all, everyone should love where they live!

817.903.1112

dbarrett@virginiacook.com

Changing Colors with Paint - Still the Biggest Bang for Your Buck ...

It's True -

You’ve heard me say before that nothing gives you as much bang for your buck in remodeling a home or getting it ready to sell than paint. It’s true.

Inside or out, paint can freshen, brighten, and revitalize like nothing else. But it can also cause considerable problems, if you don’t pay close attention to color.

A surprising number of people – maybe even most people – think that choosing the correct color is simple and that a given color is readily transferable from one property to another.

Not so. Not even close.

I see posts on social media all the time from people asking things like “I want to repaint my bedroom. What’s your favorite blue?”

I always want to respond with something like:

Well, that depends.

How many windows does the room have and what kind of natural light does it get?

What is the kelvin rating of the artificial light in the room and how bright is it?

What color is the floor?

Are you planning on painting the ceiling as well as the walls?

What about the trim – do you want it to blend or contrast and do you want it light or dark?

What colors are the furnishings?

Are you planning on purchasing new coordinating bedding or working with what you already have?

All of these considerations and more go into deciding upon the right color.

As far as having a “favorite” is concerned, well, there are thousands upon thousands of different hues. Each one will look different in different environments. Having a “favorite” in any particular classification under all circumstances or conditions is just impossible.

Role of Color in Selling Your Home

You’ve heard “neutral, neutral, neutral” almost as a mantra when people talk about getting a house ready to sell. I confess that you may even have heard it from me. And, in a sense, it’s valid.

“Neutral, neutral, neutral,” however, shouldn’t be confused with and doesn't mean “boring, boring, boring.”

What you want to avoid in color choices for a home that you’re putting on the market is jarring, clashing, or problematic hues. Take a look, for instance, at this room:

In my experience, buyers are going to have a very difficult time seeing past this color.

Their first comment is usually "I wonder how hard it will be to paint over?" And they overestimate the cost significantly – something that will weigh against your receiving the price that your home might otherwise bring. And that’s not a good thing!

In bedrooms and baths, in particular, buyers tend to be looking for soothing, calming serene colors. Lighter shades. Nothing that stresses.

Not All Neutrals Blend

It’s tempting to think that if a color is neutral, it will go with anything, and that all neutrals go together.

Big mistake.

Colors belong to families and not all families blend. Grays and blues and greens and browns and yellows and pinks – you can have neutral shades and hues in all of them.

And whites. White is not just white. White comes in a myriad of shades. And all of the considerations that go into choosing any color, combined, go into choosing the correct white. My husband did a short post on the complicated subject of white on our With the Barretts blog – you can find that here.

The lesson is that color is a very important and complex field. Don’t think that just any neutral shade will work.

If you don’t want to hire someone to help, at least take the time to go online to any of the major paint suppliers ( Benjamin Moore is very good and has lots of tools to help), order some samples, paint them on white poster board sheets and tack them to the wall.

Look at them at different times of day, in varying light, and make a decision based upon the unique qualities of your room – not just because it’s a “pretty blue.”

And another very important point:

Before investing in paint or any kind of repair or improvement to get your home ready to sell, call me - or call your agent, if you have one. A realtor can give you advice on what needs to be done before listing and what's not critical to the sale (which is completely different than what may be important for you if you're staying in the home).

Thanks for reading!

Until the next Harmonious Home Adventures – remember, you deserve to

Love Where You Live!