By Shayla M. Sharp

While we all know that changing the color of a room is as simple and inexpensive as repainting the walls, what we often fail to realize is that viewers usually judge a room by the way it looks when they actually see it--not by how they imagine it. In your home, the colors on the walls can reflect your personal style, but for anyone else, those choices might not be a match. This is fine--at least until you are trying to sell the house to someone else.

At this point, you will have to do something very difficult for most people. Detach. That's right, you will need to let go of that feeling of your house reflecting you. Why? The answer is simple, you need your house to appeal to as many different individual personalities as possible. This increases the speed and price at which your house will sell because when a potential buyer walks in they will instantly see how their decor and furniture will fit right in without the need to make a lot of changes. (If you have questions about decor and colors already in place, you can talk with your Realtor about potential changes.)

The best way to do this is to create what is known as a neutral color palette, something to provide a non-conflicting backdrop to the change in decor. What exactly makes a neutral palette? Well, the purist neutrals consist of black, white and grays. These colors should be used carefully as they have the potential to become clinical and univiting or cliche and boring. Finding pure black or pure white is also difficult in the real world as most colors neutral or otherwise have a tint of another color in them. (This is why you can line up twenty white blankets from different manufacturers and each will be slightly different.)

When it comes to interiors, the rules of the neutral palette are a bit relaxed from the stringent black and white combo to include browns and blends of the classic neutrals which lend themselves to colors such as beige and cream. In addition, these "neutrals" are able to be heavily tinted with other colors such as blue, green, red and yellow. Recently, due to greater awareness of the environment and nature, green has come into play as a new neutral. When it comes down to it, there is quite a large palette of "neutrals" to choose from all reflecting the natural world to some degree.

So how does one choose? The paint store can be a little overwhelming with all those paper paint chip samples to look at. A good place to begin the decision making process is with the yearly Pantone choices. Pantone is considered the global authority on color. They have computerized the process so that manufacturers and designers can match colors easily by inputing the correct amounts of base colors (like red, green and blue) to output the exact tone each and every time. Every year Pantone releases the next year's most directional color palettes for the various design industries including a palette of neutrals. This years home furnishings and interior design palettes are Greenmarket, Resourceful, Transformations, Ambiance, Gatherings, Galaxy, High Definition and Pastiche, along with the Tinged Neutrals. The color forecasts are based upon political, social and economic conditions at the present so, while they are a great place to start from, don't be afraid to depart from the list either.

When working neutrals into your interior decorating, remember, the color doesn't need to just be on the walls. Furniture and other decor can come into play with different shades and colors of neutrals. Play with textures and patterns for variety and visual depth. Textured wood, worn leather, plush velvets and chunky knits can all add a unique vibe within the neutral color palette of your territory.

 

• Pantone's 2010 directional color palettes.
• Dream Home Decorating--a website to help guide you in the neutral territory.

 

 

 

 

 

Article first published at NWAbode.com in October 2009.

Shayla M. Sharp, a freelance writer, photographer and designer, enjoys living in the Pacific Northwest with her best pal Stars, a border collie mix. Shayla spends her free time gardening, quilting and reading, during which Stars is always by her side.