Almost every home stager will agree that when it’s time to sell your home, you should consider giving your walls a fresh coat of paint. An environmentally-friendly paint can even give you a higher Home Energy Score. Be aware that choosing color for your home plays a role in how a potential buyer will respond to your home.
Whether we think much about it or not, we live a colorful life. From red tape to gray area, getting the green light to flying the red eye, from black sheep to silver spoon, green thumb to tickled pink, color is all around us. Color affects what we think, how we feel, and the actions we take. And if you’ve ever had someone honk at you the moment the light turns green, you’ll realize that color makes us move. Color also affects the emotion we feel as we tour a home for potential purchase. Scientists study the way color affects our moods and actions in a field called color psychology.
The Science of Color
Scientists define color psychology as “the study of hues as a determinant of human behavior.” This type of study dates all the way back to the late 18thcentury! While everyone’s response to color may be a little bit different depending on upbringing, gender, age, etc., research tells us that certain colors generally create particular responses. This means choosing color for your home can be well-informed and scientifically-based.
How Color Effects People
Because color psychology can influence the perception of your home while it’s on the market, it’s important to understand the way most people respond to particular colors:
- Red creates one of the strongest emotional responses. In home design, red represents passion, warmth, and sophistication. According to Arhaus, it’s great in kitchens and dining rooms to keep conversations and energy flowing.
- Yellow increases happiness and cheerfulness.
- Orange, a combination of red and yellow, leads to optimism and enthusiasm.
- Green conveys life and represents family and harmony. Touches of it everywhere will bring balance to a home.
- Blue represents peacefulness, tranquility, and relaxation. Think blue seas, and endless skies.
- Arhaus explains that purple is a mature color that speaks of royalty. It also represents creativity and vitality.
While furniture arrangement and lighting can do much to make a room appear larger, wall color influences this as well. Colors are taste-specific though, so using bright colors on walls for home staging makes it difficult for potential buyers to visualize their own furnishings in the home. For that reason, home stagers approach color differently than home owners.
How to Choose the Right Color for Home Staging
Home stagers use neutral colors throughout the home. These can be anything from Griege (gray + beige) to light grays with warm undertones. Neutral linen colors and light taupes are popular right now as well. All wall paint has a higher reflective value. The warm tones and reflective quality bounce light around the room and invite the viewer into the space. This is especially true during the darker winter months of the Pacific Northwest.
A qualified home stager includes color consultation in the staging plan. Whether we’re engaged for a consultation or a complete home staging, we’re educated to guide realtors and their clients on what works according to the latest in home design, but also in the science of color psychology. We’re also well-versed in what works locally in the Portland home buying market. The overall layout and design of the home, whether it’s north or south facing, and the purpose of the room all play into a color choice. (Yes, we’ve learned a lot in our years as home stagers.)
A staged home sells faster, and a properly painted home — inside and out — plays a role in the overall effectiveness of staging. This not only sets you apart in the real estate market, it’s worth the investment! We’d love to show you how you can build your brand with home staging. Choosing color for your home plays a role in all of this.