If you are painting your home with an eye to selling it, you will want to keep to simple themes that you can use to show your rooms to advantage. Color has a powerful effect on our consciousness. The right colors can make a room seem restful and soothing or warm and vibrant. Here are some good tips for color in rooms:
Shades of White, Grey and Black: These can be dramatic in the right setting, since they amplify other hues and provide the eye with some rest from the emotional demands of color. White imparts a feeling of cleanliness and purity - great for bathrooms and kitchens. Grey is a more restful color, which can set off other tones without demanding too much of the viewer's attention - good for bedrooms when paired with warm colors or bathrooms when paired with cool. Black is always a show-stopper in the right place, but if you want to appeal to the broadest demographic, save black for accents rather than walls.
Shades of Brown: Brown is a great neutral color with a hint of warmth that grey lacks. The lighter browns make for good backdrops for just about any room, but work really well for larger bedrooms and living rooms, making them seem a little cozier without darkening the room overall. Brown is also a great color to set off various shades of white. The darker browns can work for larger rooms as well, but care must be taken that they do not make the potential buyer think that they have just stepped into a chocolate eclair.
Shades of Yellow:
Yellow is a bright, vibrant color that can make a room brighter without the sterile purity of white. It is a terrific choice for kitchens and bedrooms. Smaller living rooms, especially those that don't get a lot of natural light, may benefit from the sunniness of a yellow-tinted paint.
Shades of Orange:
Orange is an energetic color, suitable for children's rooms, recreational spaces and kitchens. However, many shades of orange may be too intense to impart a muted sense of liveliness, so stick to the more conservative shades of the spectrum.
Shades of Red:
Red is one of those colors where a little goes a long, long way. Most shades are too intense for true neutrality, so this color is best used as an accent. The lighter end of red - rose and pink, is less show-stopping and can be used in bedrooms and kitchens, but at the risk of typecasting the room as "girly" if care is not taken to choose neutral accessories and accents.
Shades of Purple:
Purple is another dramatic color which can be overwhelming at its full glory. It is a color that straddles the warm and cool sides of the color spectrum. The lighter shades of lilac can be used to good effect in bathrooms, bedrooms and living rooms. As with the pink and rose, the seller should insure that neutral decoration should fill the space.
Shades of Blue:
Blue is a delightfully cool color that imparts a feeling of relaxation and refreshment in its lighter tones. Perfect for bathrooms and bedrooms, a pale blue can add color without making the room seem cramped. Alternating dark and light shades of this color with white can round out a room to advantage.
Shades of Green:
Green evokes the image of nature and is great for entryways into the home. Lighter greens do very well for bathrooms. Darker, mossy greens can be excellent bedroom shades that can bring a larger room together without making it appear too dark. Green works well with white and brown, making it a good choice for contrasting against wood flooring or paneling.
By:Lauren B Spencer
