Adding Pizzaz May Help Sell Your Home
March 24th, 2009 Categories: Selling Thoughts, Trends
Do you think that color can cost you a sale? Have you heard that realtor beige or off-white walls sells a home? Well think again, a touch of color may spark a buyers’ interest. I know, beige and off-white are neutral, but color either on walls or accessories can boost positive responses from buyers. Even in Boulder, Colorado, where the real estate market is better than other areas of the country, sellers should think about using color to enhance a listing.
Color can change how we feel, for instances, warm colors will exude a feeling of coziness and positive reactions. When you reach for a bucket of white paint for your walls, think ghost or invisible because that’s what white will do, make a room disappear, not really, but it will become invisible. Buyers cannot project themselves in a space that’s white, it’s just too sterile. Did you know that in Asian cultures white is a symbol of death, dear god, that’s not what we need to try to sell a listing. Pastels may have the same effect since they mostly have a white base.
What you need are colors that are responsive. Warm colors, like orange and red definitely stimulate excitement and lots of energy and the color blue will have the opposite effect of calming or relaxing. Colors can influence a person’s behavior, senses, and even body temperature. Use color to create a mood in a room, such as green which may put people in better moods, like buying a house. Don’t go crazy with just any greens, like lime green or pea green, yuck, stick to medium shades such as sage and use creamy tones in bedrooms. One of my favorites is a warm buttery yellow with white trim accents.
There are 4 steps to selecting the perfect color.
- The room’s use may dictate the color, such as kitchen and dining rooms painted in food colors like celery green and red will increase the appetite. Because the color blue evokes tranquility it can be used in a bedroom.
- Be conscious of the seasons, you don’t have to repaint when each season rolls around, but you could just paint one accent wall or use colored accessories. For fall & winter, reds, orange & yellows work well because these are warm colors. Cooler colors such as greens, blues and purples during spring and summer months.
- Be conscious of the direction of a room, for instance, a north facing room may appear to be darker than the rest of the home so it may not feel as warm or inviting to buyers, hence paint these rooms a warm color. On the otherhand, if you have a warm room or south facing room, you may want to cool it down with cooler tones such as blue or green.
- Color can be used to depict order and balance. How do you achieve this? Use variations of the same color throughout the home, don’t paint every room a different color. Have you ever been in a home where each room was a crazy color? Talk about a turn off. The home will flow better and won’t distract the buyer with variations of the same color.
What are the characteristics of different colors? We know that red increases energy, excitement, and stimulates the appetite. Red is best in a dining room. Orange is comforting and warm, adds cheerfulness, be careful not to use too much orange, think caution. Orange is best for living rooms and family rooms. Yellow is a mood enhancer, promotes joyfulness and positive thinking, use in poorly lit hallways, also buttery shades are great in living rooms. Green is a restful color, calms and relaxes, best used in living rooms (light green), accent for a kitchen and dining rooms. Blue also promotes calmness, tranquility, cleanliness, lowers blood pressure and if you’re on a diet it will suppress your appetite! Best used in bedrooms or any restful area. Purple enhances creativity and imagination, most adults dislike purple on walls, it’s best used in a child’s bedroom or play area or not at all. My opinion is not at all.
So what’s the message here? Don’t send the wrong message to potential buyers, pick your colors wisely, it might be a good idea to get professional advice. Have fun painting and getting your home sold.
Information for this post came from an article entitled “Can Color Cost You a Sale?” by Melissa Dittman Tracey
