By Nan Johnston, Southern Staging & Redesign
It’s that time of the year when different paint companies choose their “Color of the Year” and all of us paint color junkies await the news.
Now I know there are many interior designers that are fantastic at using color and awesome at guiding us on how and where to use these trendy colors, but when your preparing your house to sell, using the current color of the year can go either bad or good.
Let’s take a look at some of the choices:
The first two choices are in the blue/green family.

Sherwin Williams 2018 Color of the Year is call Oceanside.  It’s a deep blue/green (I call it teal) color inspired by travel, and the blue/green of the ocean.
Behr as chosen a color called In the Moment. It is a cool tranquil version of the stronger above color, inspired by the blue spruce.
Benjamin Moore has gone totally in the opposite direction and has a color called Calente as their color of the year.  It’s vibrant, full of energy and RED!
Glidden has gone very dark with a color called Deep Onyx.  It’s almost black and great for exterior doors or shutters, interior doors and cabinets.
Olympic has a similar tone called Black Magic another almost black.
Dutch Boy has gone totally in another direction than the above companies and has Sandstone Tint as their color choice. It’s a warm greige (beige/gray) and will make a great neutral wall choice
How does this effect a seller and the use of these colors when preparing their house to sell? My advice is to use the bolder stronger colors as accents as in throw pillows, throws, window treatments and accent walls. Then use the softer colors as wall, bedding and upholstery choices.
If you choose to use one of the bolder colors of the year on a wall or in a room, you may be risking losing a buyer in the event that they may like the color but they don’t want to “live IN” the color and don’t want to go to the hassle and expense to paint it a more neutral choice.
So choose wisely when selecting a color to update your house before selling and if you need some help, give me a shout!
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Nan Johnston is a professional home staging consultant from Newnan with over 30 years experience in the real estate industry. Check out her website for some interesting before and after photos at www.southernstaging.com. To contact her, email her at [email protected].