One of the first decisions you will make when staging your home will revolve around color. Color is the basic foundation upon which home stagers create their designs for individual rooms and the entire house at large. And while you will hear a lot about neutral color palettes, that does not equate to spaces being colorless—quite the contrary. Potential buyers make emotional connections to homes through color, so knowing how and where to mix it in is key to successfully staging your home and getting it sold for top dollar. Read on for more information on color tips and guidelines.

Color Basics - 101

Ah, the old color wheel from grade school. Remember those primary, secondary and tertiary colors? They will be your new best friends on your color journey and can help guide you when you find your self in a tough decision making spot when choosing color. Here are some of the most basic definitions you will hear when talking about color:

Hue - these are the base colors we can work with but that doesn’t mean just the primary or secondary colors. Tertiary colors are also hues. Think of hues as the starting color (which can be a mixture of colors) before adding any black or white.

Shade - a hue with black added to it.

Tint - a hue with white added to it (pastels are one type of tint)

Tone - a hue with grey added to it

Here is a diagram of how hues, shades, tints, and tones relate to each other

Learning a little bit about the color wheel can help you in your staging and future decorating endeavors, so it’s a good idea to get these foundational basics under your belt. This link is great for learning more about the 4 fundamental color schemes and how to employ them.

Colors Evoke Emotions

This is an area you should learn not only for your staging design but for your life in general. Knowing the general feelings that certain colors arouse will help you decide which hues to go with in a space depending on what you are trying to create in that space. This video by Tori Toth, a home stager with the YouTube Channel Home Staging TV, is great for dipping your toes into color psychology.

Now that we have a good introduction into color, let’s look at current color trends.

Color Trends 2022

2021 saw color schemes that brought the outdoors in. With that ubiquitous virus still raging, many people sought to bring natural colors into their very familiar quarters in order to get in touch with their natural side.

The coming year will still see organic, natural greens, but also deep, rich neutrals that are complimented with contrasting, yet subtle accent colors. Behr has a great interactive tool to get your imagination soaring!

The trying times in which we find ourselves are also conjuring up nostalgic themes and color palettes are responding. Sherwin Williams gives a shout out to Midcentury design with their Ephemera color family which makes playful use of the shades and tints of the primary colors. See the rest of their 2022 color design collection here.

How to Do it - Putting Color into Practice

1) Start in the Living Room and Bedroom

Color can be overwhelming. Laser focus on the living room and bedroom at the beginning of your color adventure as these are the main spaces in which you will influence emotion. The palette should evoke a sense of relaxation, calmness and serenity. Once these spaces are set, you can move on to second bedrooms, baths, offices and nuanced areas.

2) Use neutrals to avoid confusion and competition.

In the bedroom below we kept the color palette simple and clean to mimic the feel of a resort getaway. Placing some greenery in the corner helps draw the eye to the quaint fireplace nestled in the far corner while allowing the main focal point - the inviting bed - to remain the star.

A neutral bedroom is easy to work with and buyers are drawn to the spa-like quality.

If you do have a colorful focal piece like a couch, complement it with one or two other accessories while neutralizing the rest.

The blue sofa brings a pop of color to an otherwise neutral palette. The artwork above the fireplace grounds the color to the space helping to define the area. Notice the rug is kept very neutral so as not to compete with the couch or artwork.

3) Remember that beautiful color doesn’t have to equal bold

People are spending more time indoors these days and don’t want to be bombarded with colors that are too stimulating (we all need a little de-stressing, don’t we?). Less saturated and softer hues are forecasted to be popular next year. Think of descriptors like “muted” or “toned down.” Save the bold hues for accent walls, accessories or splashes of art.

4) Remember that you don’t need huge areas of color to make a big difference.

Wall paper is back (yes!) and is a great way to add a double punch of interesting design and color to a space without blanketing everything in the same hue. And wall paper is much easier to install yourself than you remember — things have come a long way baby! Wall paper now comes in so many varieties it could be hard to choose.

Need inspiration? Remember from above how nostalgia is influencing some color combinations this year? The same can be said for design and especially wall paper design. This peel and stick art deco wallpaper pulls in gold metallic (trendy right now) and is easily paired with deep blues, greens or more gold and white. This vintage design’s background color brings in those deep neutrals that are popular now with splashes of pinks and greens that can be highlighted as you please. Use the accessories in the space to bring out the colors of your choice.

Staging your home does not have to daunting task if you start with the basics first. Choosing which color scheme for a room or home is always one of the first decisions any home stager makes because it will determine the mood of the space and effect buyers on an emotional level. With a few tools and knowledge, you too can make wise decision when making those color choices for your own home staging or decorating endeavors.

Color Basics: Where to Start