{"id":15504,"date":"2020-03-31T16:33:44","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T23:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=15504"},"modified":"2026-04-07T13:15:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T20:15:18","slug":"what-colors-to-use-for-home-staging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/what-colors-to-use-for-home-staging\/","title":{"rendered":"Crash Course in Color: 5 Expert Tips to Pick a Palette That\u2019ll Help Your House Sell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filling your house with color like you\u2019re Phoebe on Friends<\/em><\/a> is fine when you\u2019re a homeowner \u2014 but that changes the minute you decide to put your house on the market. \u201cWhen you\u2019re repainting to sell, your color preferences don\u2019t matter anymore. You\u2019re painting for the masses,\u201d says Paul Wheeler<\/a>, a top-selling real estate agent in Tulsa, Oklahoma<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to HomeLight\u2019s Top Agent Insights Survey for Q1 2020, 98% of top agents say that buyers prefer neutral colors<\/a> over bold ones. We\u2019re here to help you strike the right balance between boring and beautiful, and guide you toward the right colors to use for home staging based on where you live and your unique property.<\/p>\n

Use bright trending colors sparingly, if at all<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re not careful, you might pick a trending color that\u2019s wildly popular in the media \u2014\u00a0but not among homebuyers. For example, the Pantone Color Institute has named Living Coral as the 2019 Color of the Year.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: (Pantone<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a beautiful hue that might add a nice pop of color as a decorative accent, but you don\u2019t want to put this color on your walls if you\u2019re planning to sell your house.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn-trend colors can be good for selling your home in certain instances but, on balance, our advice would be to use neutrals for wall colors,\u201d says Nicole Grey, Interior Design Lead at the UK-based luxury furniture and accessories company Pavilion Broadway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSave any bolder splashes of color \u2014 such as Pantone\u2019s color of the year \u2014 for accessories which are not permanent, so the buyer will not be swayed by their presence in the scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a color that\u2019s currently hot among top-tier designers might not even be the best idea as an accent color if your house isn\u2019t located in a major metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because a color is popular in magazines doesn\u2019t mean it will add value to a house in your area,\u201d advises Wheeler. \u201cCutting edge colors only work in cutting edge areas. Places like New York or L.A. pick up color trends first, then they trickle down to the middle of the country a few years later. So if we’re too far ahead of the trends, buyers aren\u2019t going to like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Source: (Aw Creative \/ Unsplash)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pick the right neutral for your area and house<\/h2>\n

Sticking with neutral hues is good advice when picking a color that\u2019ll stay on the walls long after your home is sold. However, neutrals don\u2019t all have the same level of appeal. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that there are actually color trends among neutrals \u2014 especially in real estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cColor trends change so frequently in the real estate business. I call it the 8- to 10-year phenomenon because color trends change dramatically in that amount of time. So, wall colors that were popular a couple of years ago might not be now,\u201d explains Wheeler.<\/p>\n

Cream and beige hues like eggshell or ecru are often the go-to neutrals for sellers who don\u2019t do their research, however, the world of neutrals has a whole host of hues to choose from. Right now, grays are trending<\/b>. According to HomeLight\u2019s research, nearly 80% of top agents across the country<\/a> say that gray tones are preferred among buyers as of Q1 2020.<\/p>\n

Selecting a neutral hue that\u2019s trending in residential real estate home sales is typically a smart move \u2014 but it\u2019s not foolproof. The most popular neutral may look wrong in your home depending on a variety of factors, like the temperature of the colors already in the room, or the color cast created by your lighting.<\/p>\n

Luckily, color experts have come up with a number of tricks to help you pick the right trending neutral for your home.<\/p>\n

1. Use color temperatures to identify the hidden hues in neutrals<\/h3>\n

Take a stroll through the paint department at your local hardware store and you\u2019ll find thousands of neutral hues that are all different by a skosh. There are so many variations because each color is lighter, darker, warmer or cooler than the next neutral. That\u2019s why picking a wall color isn\u2019t as simple as deciding between white, cream, beige, or gray.<\/p>\n

Known as undertones<\/a>, the hidden depths of color within every neutral will help you pick a neutral paint that won\u2019t end up looking like a dingy gray, a sickly yellow, or an insipid pink once you put it on your walls.<\/p>\n

In fact, you may be surprised at how many colors it actually takes to mix up your neutral hue. Here\u2019s a simplified crash course on how color mixing works with neutrals:<\/p>\n