Using color psychology to sell your home

When painting your home for resale, choosing the right colors can make a big difference to your paycheck at closing. For example, did you know that the exterior color of the fastest selling homes is a certain shade of yellow, but that choosing the wrong shade of yellow can end a sale?

You will find many brochures in paint stores, showing various exterior paint color combinations. But most people don’t realize that most of those combinations actually include three colors, and not just two. Limiting your exterior paint scheme to just two colors also limits your earning potential.

For a quick sale, think of fun colors and go for a third or even fourth exterior color. Think “Disneyland Main Street” where each store is painted in glorious multiple colors. Adding more colors will also add definition to the various architectural details in your home. Use gloss or semi-gloss paint on wood trim.

The psychology of exterior colors

When choosing exterior colors, consider the selling price of your home. Certain colors, especially muted and complex hues, attract wealthy or highly educated buyers, while buyers with less income or education generally prefer simpler colors. A complex color contains tints of gray or brown and usually requires more than one word to describe it, such as “sage green” rather than “green.”

On the other hand, simple colors are simple and pure. Generally, homes in the lower price range sell faster and for higher prices when painted in simple colors such as yellow or tan, accented by white, blue, or green trim.

The psychology of interior colors

Using colored white walls, rather than soft ones, will increase your earning potential. Lynette Jennings tested the perception of room size and color, and found that a room painted white seemed larger to a few people compared to an identical room painted in color, and the perceived difference was only six inches! Most people also look their best when surrounded by color and feel happier, and since buyers choose homes that make them happy, that knowledge can put dollars in your pocket at closing!

Entries must bring exterior colors into the home. Repeating hues from the exterior throughout your home will make the entire home appear to be in harmony. Living and family rooms painted in a slightly lighter shade of the exterior color will ensure that you’ve chosen a color that your buyers like, because if they didn’t like your exterior colors, they wouldn’t have bothered to look inside. If you loved the exterior colors, you will also love the interior.

When choosing interior colors, consider the use of each room. For example, kitchen and dining room areas that are painted in “food colors,” such as brown coffee, celery leaves, and yellow scrambled eggs, feel natural.

Since the deeper shades of color imply intimacy and serenity, I like to paint the master bedrooms a medium shade of green or blue for warmer sales seasons and blush red for cooler weather. Other rooms can be painted in creamy shades of green, blue, or pale pink. (See the chapter on the psychology of color in my book “Joy for the Home: Secrets of Interior Design Psychology” for more information).

Sales season

Always consider your sales season (the time of year you will be marketing your home) and the weather when choosing colors. Estimate the amount of time it will take to prepare your home for sale, and then add extra days for unexpected delays. Use cool colors, such as blues, greens, and grays, to sell during the spring and summer, and warm colors, such as yellow, red, and maroon, when selling in the fall and winter.

Color intensity

My husband and I usually use lighter colors when we paint the exterior of our investment dollhouses, because it makes them look bigger. On the other hand, our cabin in the woods looks richer when painted a darker color. When we decided to paint it, I considered the usual cabin colors of dark brown and barn red, but fell in love with Olympic’s beautiful “Gooseberry” plum color.

When preparing to paint your house, look at the colors of neighboring houses and choose colors that harmonize, but stand out from the crowd. Colors that clash poorly with other homes will detract from the overall neighborhood.

At the beginning of the article, I told you that houses with yellow exteriors sell faster. But what shade of yellow sells best? First, the yellows to avoid: yellows with green undertones appear unhealthy to most buyers, and yellows with orange undertones give buyers a low-priced impression.

The best-selling yellow exterior color is actually a pale, sunny yellow, especially when complemented by one or more carefully selected accent colors. For example, a semi-gloss white trim will give your home a clean and fresh look, and adding a third color, such as green, can make your home even more attractive to potential buyers.

Colors affect human beings in many ways, and by using the principles of color psychology, you can make your home stand out from the competition, sell faster, and at a higher price.

(c) Copyright 2014, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *