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Home Staging and Neutrality

Techniques > Home Staging > Home Staging and Neutrality

Description | Discussion | See also

Description

Ensure there are neutral colors throughout the house, except perhaps for occasional tasteful 'feature' items.

Use colors which are generally accepted and will not be disliked. White is often a default, although this can appear rather sterile, especially when covering large areas. Various shades of off-white are an alternative.

Floors may be darker, especially if your need to hide the dirt and where people tramp in and out of the house. Ceilings should be white.

Discussion

The principle of neutrality is to ensure visitors see the house, not the paint or carpet. The next owners will, no doubt, stamp their own personality on the house, but the best approach when selling is to present them with a plain canvas onto which they can project their own ideas.

Bright colors attract attention, which means pulling attention away from the features of the house that you want a visitor to look at with admiration and desire.

More stand-out colors are very much a thing of taste and individual shades can go out of fashion quite quickly. What seems warm and friendly to you may scare away other people.

It is generally important to use light colors, especially on walls, as these reflect the light, making the place seem more spacious. An exception is where they will quickly get dirty. Using wipe-clean paint can help.

Wallpaper may be used if needed and can hide uneven and cracked walls. Keep wallpaper patterns simple and unobtrusive. An occasional 'feature wall' may be acceptable but be careful with this.

Neutralizing also includes removing any photos of people and other personal kitsch. These make it look like your place. You want buyers to see it as their place.

See also

The Meaning of Colors