St. Louis Real Estate – Home Staging – Paint

Interior Walls…Color Them Cozy! by Sue Rector ASP Stager, HomeStaging Innovations, LLC

As an ASP (Accredited Staging Professional) Home Stager, I am asked frequently at Staging Consultations….Do you think we need to repaint?…and…What color should we use?

In terms of dollars, painting is a considerably “low” investment that a Home Seller can make and receive a “higher” rate of return at closing.

Home Staging is all about presenting the house for sale in the Best Possible Showing Appearance. When potential Home Buyers come through a house for sale, they are attracted to a property for many reasons. The Mood or Feeling that a house presents is very important! The interior wall color or colors of a house are extremely significant in helping to set the mood or feeling of a house. Wall color can be one of the most important factors in a Home Buyer’s perception that turns a “House for Sale” into the “Home They LOVE!”

Consider the following if you are thinking about repainting your house as you prepare it for sale…or if your house has not sold and you are considering some repainting updates:

1. A home is more appealing when it emits “Warm Fuzzies”…remember that phrase? It is still pertinent today. ASP Home Stagers, through wall color consultations, can assist you in making your house as “warm and inviting as possible” to potential Home Buyers. Hues of whites, although very neutral, tend to present a COLDER setting, Hues of blues, although recommended for relaxation by some, tend to present a COOLER setting in rooms. Other more dramatic colors of red, yellow, darker greens, and orange are more “personalized colors” (Remember from Staging 101: Home Staging is de-personalizing and Decorating is personalizing). When choosing wall color for your house for sale, it is typically recommended that you choose a color to present a feeling…one that will not be a distraction within a room. In fact, wall color should be a non-factor within a room, just helping to set the mood, set the feeling. Medium hues of browns, golds, taupes, and sometimes greens will warm up a rooms setting….making it feel inviting and cozy to Potential Buyers. Darker hues of any color within rooms can make the room appear to be more closed in and smaller. Lightening and brightening rooms are areas that ASP Home Stagers will recommend to improve in order to present your space in the Best Possible Showing Appearance. A new “splash” of paint can greatly help in these areas, if the color is chosen wisely.

2. If you decide to repaint, choosing a warm and inviting color, consider this in terms of what to repaint…when a house has several different colors within different rooms, the house can appear to be “choppy” in regards to the flow of the house. So whenever possible, use that “warm color” throughout the house. It will sustain the flow of the inviting mood to each room and area. If you can not or do not want to repaint your whole house, then consider repainting the main areas of the house such as the living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, master bedroom suite, and all hallways.

3. A new coat of paint makes a house feel clean and fresh! In today’s housing market, Home Sellers need every advantage in making their house stand out from their competition.

ASP Home Stagers can assist you in choosing paint color to emit those “Warm Fuzzies” to those Potential Home Buyers, if you need help in this area. We are not decorators… We are a part of the Real Estate Industry! ASP Home Stagers know what helps to sell houses, faster.

If you are a Realtor, Home Seller, or Potential Home Buyer…what color do you think is the most appealing in setting an inviting mood: Hues of browns, golds, taupes, or greens? Any specific color and brand you like best? Let us know.

If you would like more information on Home Staging Services, we invite you to visit www.stagedhomes.com and http://www.stlstaging.com/. For any specific questions regarding Home Staging Services, please feel free to contact us as well, at homestaging@stlouisrealestatevoice.com

Remember—Color It COZY!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 3:13 pm and is filed under For Sellers, Home Staging. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Comment »

Realestate - Look Up, Look Down, Look All Around - Banking Blogs, Expert Advice on Goldparked.com said:

[...] a home on the market. Forget the bright, neon colors like pink, purple, yellow, orange and green. Stick with warm colors like tan or other browns and remember the lighter the color is in the spectrum, the bigger the home [...]

# 6 June 2008 at 8:26 pm