Decorating a home to sell

When decorating a home for sale - or staging a home - one of the most important rules of thumb is to view your home from a buyer's point of view. Apart from furnishing, the wall colours you choose have a big impact on how a room feels. You may love strong colours and have very stylish interior decor that goes with them, but colour can present several drawbacks when it comes to resale.

 

Colour adds a lot of personality to an environment, which is good and bad. If a buyer is very visual, they can see beyond a certain colour; but if they aren't, the colour can distract, making it hard for them to visualize themselves in the room. Of course, that needn't mean you should always paint all the rooms boring beige before you put a house on the market. In fact, that could conceivably have the opposite effect, making a house seem boring and unattractive, especially if it's limited in architectural detail or is underfurnished.

The ideal is to choose colours with just the right touch of life to them: neutral enough to present a blank canvas, but interesting enough to add some character.

Kalahari Sun 0618-Y32R - Prominent Paints
This rich, creamy colour is neutral enough to provide a certain amount of depth without fighting with other colours. Using this as a wall colour will add character rather than merely acting as a backdrop. Also, it allows you to use accents in stronger colours and still maintain a classic look.

Taupe -S3005-Y50R - Prominent Paints
Grey is very trendy right now, especially warm greys. It's especially beautiful in townhouses, with architectural detail picked out in white trim, like cornice and crown mouldings, or marble. It's a very sophisticated colour, and classic settings seem to suit it better than modern or too-bright settings, which might make it look cold.

Stone S3010-G60Y - Prominent Paints
Perfect for the modern or contemporary home. This chalky grey-green is beautiful for accenting trim and feature walls without being too conspicuous.

Sandy Pink 1108-Y47R - Prominent Paints
Warm up a cold room - or brighten a dull room - with this warm cream that has just a hint of red. The subtle colour will inject a cosy feeling into south-facing rooms.