Color my world - part two

Why did we look at the furniture when we chose colors?

Because we are Staging. We are building a set, like in a movie or a play, designed to make each room welcoming, warm (as in friendly), and finished. The walls, ceiling, and floors are the backdrop to that set.

So, we began building the set using the pieces everyone will see when they tour the house: the furnishings.

Next, what color is your floor?

Ideally, the colors in the furniture and the color in your floor do not fight. We will discuss flooring in another blog. For now, if the colors are compatible, but not in the same family (red, yellow, or blue tones), go get some throw pillows for the sofa or big accesssories (like lamps or vases/flowers) to bring the floor color up into the room. Compare the furniture's colors to the floors colors, which is predominant?

Choose your paint color to go with the predominant color.

What other factors impact the color we paint when we stage?

How much light is in the room? Generally speaking, the darker the room, the more important it is to choose from the lightest paint on the color chip.

How many windows/doors are in the room? A slightly darker shade, painted around window and door trim, pulls the eye to the windows and doors. This is good because people are buying windows and doors. We want to enhance those architectural features.

Speaking of architectural features, does your room have any? Is there an angled wall? A fireplace? A bay window? Got any chair rail? Has molding been applied to create shadow boxes? If so, choose two colors (separated by at least one color) from the same paint card, paint one color on most of the walls, and use the other color to enhance the architecture.

Is the room on the small side? Paint the walls the lighter color and the architectural feature the darker color. Or paint the lighter color above the chair rail, and the darker color below. Or paint the darker color just around the windows in the bay window. Is the room large? Reverse the color order.

Frankly, I have just touched the surface of how I decide what color a room should be painted. Sometime in the future, I will write more. But, if this was confusing to you, I suggest you bring in a professional stager when you are preparing to sell your house. If it works for you, find someone who will spend an hour on color if you do not want any other staging advice.

Oh, and this is very important. Choose a basic color, then try to paint all of the rooms in your house from that palette. When we live in a home, we can have as many colors around us as we want. But, when we sell our house, consistency of color between rooms enhances the presentation. Buyers will be more comfortable when they see the same or related shades of one color everywhere they go in the house.

Here is a great place to examine colors. Click on the link below, choose Warm Neutrals, and enjoy exploring.
http://www.sherwin.com/visualizer

Tomorrow, we do it again with an empty house.