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The All White Color Palette Is It Alright for Staging

Color is a powerful tool. You can use it to draw people in, relax them, excite them, or -- heaven forbid -- send them packing.

What color scheme will you use to stage your home?

Ive blogged about choosing a paint color and Ive blogged about different colors like periwinkle and cyan, and about specific color schemes like black and white, and blue and white.

But we havent chatted about the all-white palette.

Does the idea of decorating your home in whites sound crazy impractical or totally boring?

Lets look at whether the color white could be the smart choice or the dumb choice for your home.

Whites not really a color. Its actually the absence of pigment. Nevertheless, most white paints and white fabrics have some color cast. There are warm whites like cream, ivory, and sandy whites. And there are the cool whites that are very slightly tinted with mauves and blues. The color experts recommend staying in one family -- either the whites with cool undertones, or the whites with warm undertones.

My favorite color consultant Maria Killam goes even further and distinguishes between beige undertones and yellow undertones and pink undertones. If you read her blog, you know that when you get it right, the room looks perfect!


Styles that Call For White Decor

Certain architectural styles and certain locales traditionally depend on white furnishings and paint for their uniqueness.

How chic would urban chic be without stark white walls?

How charming would coastal cottages be without whitewashed floors and white fluffy pillows?

How classic would country homes be without those white picket fences? And what shabby chic room is complete without its chippy white furniture?

If your home falls into any of these categories, youll want to make white an important part of your decorating. Still sound boring? A professionally decorated room is never all white-white. Youll see different hues of white and different textures to keep things lively.

Theres no shortage of textures in this mostly white room by Roughan Interior Design. A faux fur throw contrasts with the sleek white seating, glass shelves, and silver drum shades.

Whats Great About White

WHITES HANDY. The decorators who love white love it because its a blank slate, a marvelous foundation for whats to come -- all the fascinating furnishings they can pile on, knowing that white is The Great Unifer. You can use white this way when you are staging your home. If your furniture is a collection of thrift store bargains and hand me downs, painting them white is one simple way to make them match.

WHITES TIMELY. White is never dated. White will never go out of style. White will work with all other colors. Simplifies things, doesnt it?

WHITES BRIGHT. All white paints (and many pastels) have a high light reflectance value (LRV), which means simply that they reflect more light than darker paints, and that translates into rooms that look larger and brighter. When you put your home on the market, you can paint your rooms that are too dark or too small with a bright white paint and they will appear lighter and larger.

However, if your home has interesting architectural features, use a gray-white paint to finish your walls and trim because gray-white paints (like Sherwin Williams Lattice or Moderne White, and Benjamin Moores Paper White) cast shadows to emphasize the details built into a room. Grays eat up light instead of bouncing it back. Bounced light makes details disappear.

WHITES CLEAN. White works well for home sellers also because it reads as a clean color. White is reassuring to people touring your home. White builds trust the way a doctor or pharmacists jacket does. Bakeries and ice cream parlours, seafood stores and butcher shops typically have white walls. Its the hygiene thing.

WHITES BENIGN. Whites also a good home staging color because buyers cant be offended by it. They probably wont say, "Too bad they painted the walls white.Well have to paint them over before we can move in." More than likely they will say, "Our furniture will work with the wall color.We wont have to paint right away."

Buyers expect an almost sanitized look in bathrooms, so staging a bath with white towels and toiletries is a natural. Go for a variety of textures and off-whites.

White decorating accessories are easy to find, both in stores and in nature.  If you dont have an assortment of white props, paint can change that. Kristen Hutchins Design.

Whats the Bad News?

IS IT DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN? The most common argument I hear against using white for decorating is... well, kids, husbands and dogs. Although I have lived with white walls, white carpeting, white tile flooring, white bed covers, and white painted furniture, I have never lived with white slipcovers. But my friend Kristi has, and she swears that washable white slipcovers are easier to maintain than anyone imagines.

If you think white shows the dirt, compare it to dark colors. Have you ever worn your little black dress to a dinner party where the hostess owned white, long haired dogs? Or tried to maintain a spotless look on dark wood floors?

Unlike dark or brightly colored furniture, white painted furniture seems to eat dust. Its very forgiving. Trust me on this.

IS IT TOO STERILE? The other argument I hear about white decor is that white rooms look antiseptic. Thats a possibility, but there are easy solutions to the problem. Soft textures, rustic touches, furnishings with patina, distressed furniture finishes, green plants, or spots of color -- any of these additions will minimize or eliminate the sterility of an all-white room.  

This kitchen s white has a cool cast. The stainless appliances, the metal countertop and the black shelves are a perfect fit for cool whites. Photo: Aidan Gray Home. As you can probably detect, Im partial to whites in staged homes. I dont suggest installing pure  white wall-to-wall carpeting in order to market your home better, but I can see the value of injecting  more white into a decorating plan, and possibly staging one bedroom as a white-on-white, show- stopper retreat. Yummy!  There are times when an all-white color scheme just isnt right. An historic home like a Craftsman or a Victorian begs for colors appropriate to the style. A cookie cutter condo or new starter home might look more interesting with some distinctive color on the walls. Youll be the judge. But dont be afraid of white! Staging a home around a white palette is very effective. And its easy. You can find more easy tips and tutorials in my $4.99 eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast and For Top Dollar. You can download it now and start staging today.  Top Photo: Slettvoll via DecorPad.

The All White Color Palette Is It Alright for Staging

How to Use Todays Trendy Grey and Yellow Palette

Looking for a crowd-pleasing color combo that looks clean and contemporary to make your home attractive to buyers? I vote for grey and yellow.

Ill admit that when -- just a couple years ago -- I started seeing greys in photo spreads and hearing greys talked about as the new neutral, I was all, no way!

Now, I see what a workhorse greys can be. I thought greys would be depressing, dark and dinghy. Not so. They are chic and soothing. They have many variations, from cool and clear, to muddy and warm, and everything in between. Theyre easy to combine with all kinds of other colors, but do well on their own.

Grey is the up-to-the-moment decorating darling color now, and bound to hold that position for a years to come. Yellow is the current companion that makes it look new. Yellow is always in style.

In other words, you cant go wrong with this twosome as long as --

• You keep the colors on the lighter side. 
• The colors in one room flow with the colors in adjoining rooms.
• There are no jarring accent colors.
• The greys you choose are all in the same color family. The same for the yellows. 

If you have some existing fixtures that are grey, whether its tiles, carpeting, appliances, or upholstered pieces, finding the right shade of yellow will update them. Photo: hgtv.

A soft grey like this is an ideal color choice for home staging. The  yellow accents here add texture and warmth. Photo: Luckypinkelephants.

If you dont have new grey and yellow upholstered pieces like these, you do know that you can slipcover or paint upholstered pieces, right? Photo: Plummers Furniture.

Black and white are perfect foils for a grey and yellow room. They add a certain crispness to the space. This photo and top two photos: bhg.

How to Use Todays Trendy Grey and Yellow Palette