Colours for Staging Your Home

Neila Deen

When prepping your home for sale, one of the most important tasks is giving your walls a fresh coat of paint. The standard advice from most real estate professionals is to keep them neutral with shades of white. But as a home stager and an interior designer, I prefer to take a more stylish approach. 

Remember, the overall goal of home staging is to make each room feel fresh, inviting and neutral enough so that prospective buyers can imagine themselves living there. That doesn’t have to translate, however, to bland, boring and devoid of style. Sometimes white can work, but a greater concern is making sure the room doesn’t look too stark. These elegant, crowd-pleasing neutral paint colors can help you stage your home to perfection.

FIG Interiors

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As you consider these choices, keep in mind that to present your home in the right light, you’ll want to select a neutral paint color that coordinates with your furnishings and finishes. The following warm or dark neutrals can add style and while maintaining a mainstream look. 

Gorgeous ‘Greige’

Gray has been the new white for years now. But not all grays are created equal. “Greige,” a pale gray with a beige undertone, is one of the most versatile colors for staging. Essentially a pale taupe, greige is a cool, sophisticated hue that can elegantly complement and add depth to a mostly white room. It’s great in both large and smaller spaces. 

Wall paint: Elephant’s Breath No. 229, Farrow & Ball

Echelon Custom Homes

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In this room, this go-to paint color for home stagers adds subtle contrast to the mostly white and beige palette. If the walls here were painted white, the space would have a starker look with less personality.

Wall paint: Kestrel White SW-7516, Sherwin-Williams; also try Mega Greige, Sherwin-Williams

Plum Interiors

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Bird’s Egg Blue

I always refer to this type of blue as a grown-up turquoise. A warm medium blue with sunny undertones, bird’s egg blue is an elegant choice for living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms, particularly when the rest of the room is white, beige or gray.

Wall paint: Pale Powder, Farrow & Ball

Arch Studio, Inc.

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A pale serene turquoise works well with both traditional and modern decor to create a soothing feeling in this room. This calm environment can have a positive emotional effect on potential buyers and allow them to appreciate the beauty of the space.

In this large bedroom with textiles in shades of white, the pale turquoise creates a stylistic feature of the angled ceilings and beams while still giving the room a peaceful color palette.

Wall paint: Woodlawn Blue, HC-147, Benjamin Moore; also try Lulworth Blue No. 89, Farrow & Ball, or Gossamer Blue 2123-40, Benjamin Moore

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Dramatic Charcoal

A darker color can also be a surprising neutral. Many people might be hesitant to use a dark paint color, thinking it will make the room look smaller or darker. A dark color can, however, add depth on an accent wall. In a dark room it can conceal any shadows and replace an overall dark feeling with a serene and stylish one.

Charcoal, a deep gray, is a perfect dark neutral that can raise the style factor in a room as well as add a refreshing cool tone that complements beige and orange wood hues. Adding subdued drama, it works well in light-filled rooms or on an accent wall, especially in smaller rooms or on walls where you want to feature an architectural element.

For a stylish contrast, coordinate charcoal walls with accessories and furniture in lighter colors, such as whites and pale beiges.

Wall paint: Kendall Charcoal HC-166, Benjamin Moore

Maneli Wilson Interiors

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In this double-height living room, the cool character of the charcoal accent wall tones down the warm honey tones of the wood and brown sofa. It also gives the room a crisp modern feeling, coordinates with the clean, contemporary architectural lines and features the soaring ceiling, which is no doubt one of the selling points of this home.

Accent wall paint: Stormy Sky 1616, Benjamin Moore; also try Peppercorn SW-7674, Sherwin-Williams

J.A.S. Design-Build

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Golden Yellow

Let the sunshine in with a little golden yellow on your walls or fixed elements such as cabinets. This photo shows how a cheerful yellow can add warmth to a mostly white kitchen; it works well with white or stainless steel appliances.

Cabinet paint: Castilian Gold, Pratt & Lambert

Martha O'Hara Interiors

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In other rooms, such as a cozy bedroom or living room, this color’s sunny disposition can add a layer of charm to an otherwise blah color palette. It’s especially helpful in rooms that have low light, no view, or architectural features that cast dark shadows. The golden hues help eliminate a darker feeling and can distract from a bleak view.

Look for a yellow that has a slight wheat or creamy undertone and that isn’t overly bright or garish. A mellow yellow coordinates with most wood hues, earth tones, blues and pastel colors. 

Wall paint: Traditional Yellow 170, Benjamin Moore; also try Ray of Light CSP-910 or Beacon Hill Damask HC-2, both Benjamin Moore

Emily A. Clark

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Classic Navy

Navy blue is an excellent paint color to add sophistication, drama and a feeling of refined maturity to a room. Similar to charcoal gray, navy works well in a light-filled room or on a featured accent wall, particularly in smaller rooms or walls with architectural details like a fireplace.

Coordinate navy with contrasting pale hues like whites, silver or beiges.

Wall paint: Stunning 826, Benjamin Moore

Lisa Clark Design

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As seen in this beautiful bedroom, a navy accent wall gives an ordinary room a more designed and notable look. The dark wall not only creates a dramatic backdrop to the simple wood bed and white accessories, it also adds visual depth to that part of the room. This is a clever design trick to help a room feel a bit larger or appropriately functional to a prospective buyer. 

Wall paint: Hale Navy HC-154, Benjamin Moore; also try Indigo Ink HDC-CL-26A, Behr, or Commodore 6524, Sherwin-Williams

McKee & Company

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Creamy Whites

If your walls are already a shade of white and adding a new color isn’t in your comfort zone, look to neutral creamy whites to give the room a warm and refreshing look. 

Creamy white has an undertone of pale beige or greige, without being too yellow. The added warmth can give a stark room a welcoming glow without adding color.

Wall paint: Elmira White HC-84, Benjamin Moore

Chandelier Development LLC

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Pair your creamy white walls with a whiter color on the trim, ceiling and fixtures. The ivory-toned walls in this bathroom, for example, create a subtle contrast between the cooler white of the bathtub and surround. The effect in this rustic bathroom is a soft glow — something a paler or cooler white wouldn’t do.

Wall paint: Muskoka Trail 974, Benjamin Moore; also try Linen White 912 or Glacier White AC-40, both Benjamin Moore; ceiling paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore

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Tips to Wasting less Food

Shana Levy McCracken

Nobody wants to waste food, but most of us do it — in fact, quite a lot. The average American wastes 20 pounds of food per month, according to the United Nations. If you’re like me, you’d like to get that number down. But how? There are actually quite a few ways, and implementing any one of them will help.

Charmean Neithart Interiors

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1. Plan around what you already have. First, shop smart by considering what you already have before making your shopping list. Try to come up with one or two meals based around ingredients already in your pantry. This way, you’ll use what’s in your stores well before it expires. 

Tip: If you’re struggling for recipe ideas, online sites can be so helpful: There are many where you can enter a few ingredients and get recipes that incorporate them.

Emerick Architects

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2. Specify quantities. Once you know what you’ll still need to buy, write the items down with specific quantities, like “enough for three lunches.” It’s also helpful to think about whether you’ll be eating out during the coming week and, if so, how many times. We’ve all planned meals only to have the ingredients go bad when we’re suddenly too busy to cook. So be realistic about your schedule for the week as you’re doing your planning, and cut down accordingly on the amount you buy.

Wood-Mode Fine Custom Cabinetry

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3. Store realistically. After you’ve brought your groceries home, take a little time to store your items carefully. How much are you going to eat in the next two to three days? Keep that much in the fridge and put the rest in the freezer for later.

Tip: Produce is less likely to get moldy if kept dry, so wait to rinse your fruits and vegetables until you’re ready to use them.

Jocelyn H. Chilvers

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4. Use this fail-proof produce storage method. Keep produce dry by taking it out of any plastic wrapping or bags it may have come in. But you don’t want to leave it exposed in the crisper, as it will tend to dry out. Instead, remove items like cauliflower from the plastic it comes in right away, and wrap it in a cloth towel before putting it in the crisper. This will prevent overdrying while still keeping mold at bay. (You can use paper towels as well, though of course that produces more waste, of the landfill sort.) Try this method and you’ll be amazed how much longer it lasts. I’d love to hear about your experience in the Comments below.

Sarah Greenman

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5. Shop more often. Buy produce, fish and other more perishable foods fresh, as you need them. This practice is second nature to most Europeans, but those of us in North America tend to shop for groceries less frequently and buy more when we do. With spring and summer just around the corner, we can look forward to buying fresh produce at local stands and farmers markets. I, for one, can’t wait to bite into juicy nectarines again! 

Tip: If shopping more frequently feels like too much of a burden, buy more precooked and frozen items than fresh.

STUDIOMINT

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6. Understand expiration dates. Did you know those dates and phrases printed on our packaged foods are not standardized or regulated? That’s why you see so many different types on the food you buy. Here’s a quick primer from the U.S. Department of Agriculture: 

“Best if used by/before” indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality. It is not a purchase or safety date. The “sell by” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. It is not a safety date. The “use by” date is the last date recommended for the use of the product at peak quality. It is not a safety date except when used on infant formula. The USDA says if the date passes during home storage, “a product should still be safe and wholesome if handled properly until the time spoilage is evident.”
In other words, none of these labels have to do with safety! So don’t be too quick to throw away food that is probably still perfectly good. (Of course, your nose and eyeballs are your best tools in determining whether food is still good. Don’t override them if something seems off.) 

That said, just this month, two major food groups — the Food Marketing Institute and the Grocery Manufacturers Association — suggested some standardization in labeling that further clarifies these terms. It may take some time for these voluntary labels to be adopted, and again, they are voluntary. But the groups have proposed that food producers use the terms in this way:

“Best if used by” will be used to communicate peak quality, but the product will still be safe to consume after the date. “Use by“ will be used to communicate that a product is highly perishable or has food safety concerns over time. For now, follow the first guidelines I laid out. But watch for a shift in the way the labels are used going forward.

Tip: For more information, check out the USDA’s guidelines and the announcement from the Natural Resource Defense Council summarizing the position of the food industry groups.

Putney Design

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7. Share your bounty. Do you have fruit trees you can’t keep up with during their peak production? Not to worry. There are gleaning services by which volunteers will come and pick the fruit for you, then deliver it to local food banks. You won’t have a big mess on the ground, and you won’t feel like a bad apple. 

Tip: Check out this list of gleaning services on the West Coast and in a limited selection of Eastern locations as a starting point.

Amy Renea

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8. Become a compost maven. No matter how careful you are, you’ll always have a few vegetable trimmings, apple cores and eggshells. A great way to reduce food waste impact is to compost items instead of throwing them in the trash. Even organic matter breaks down very slowly in a modern landfill and will do so anaerobically, meaning without oxygen. The result is a whole lot of methane, which warms the earth even more than carbon dioxide, according to scientists. In fact, landfills are the No. 1 source of this powerful greenhouse gas. A home composting system turns all that organic material into a rich soil amendment, a material that helps improve the permeability and water retention of soil. Your garden will thank you.

The Honest Scot

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9. Use your city’s organics bins. If your city has a curbside program that accepts food scraps along with yard trimmings, be sure the organics cart — not the trash can— becomes your last resort. Those scraps will be turned into compost at an industrial-scale facility and still be put to good use. Some jurisdictions even provide food scrap pails to make separating this material right in your kitchen easy and tidy. Ask your garbage hauler or recycler if they can provide you with one. If not, you can purchase one online quite inexpensively. 

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