I have had many Bettys say to me “Everyone tells me I need to get color into my house, I feel boring, so splash my walls with red and douse my living room set with orange and purple!” But what she’s really saying is “I love beige and white, these colors make me feel calm, peaceful and clean. Can you please help me make my space comfortable for me, while also making it welcoming and inviting to my friends family?”
So instead of putting on a fire in her living room with all that loud color, we can keep things toned down as she likes, but add splashes of interest and color around the room.
As an example of what we can do to help her, in the before picture here, this living room is cold and uninviting. The blandness of the wall color makes the boringness of the beige sofa and carpet stand out. In the after picture, we painted her walls a nice light brown color, to create a warm, flowing, open feeling in the room. We then painted the backs of her built in shelving unit the same brown, which creates a slight contrast to draw the eye there. We then threw in some accessories of different texture and color and — viola! Warmth and comfort — without a fire!
Kristin McClellan is a professional home stager and redesigner who runs her business, HomeCharmers, with her husband, Nathaniel, a flooring expert and furniture craftsman. They work together to make people’s homes more buyer friendly and help home owners who are staying enjoy it more. You can reach her at 899-1239 or www.homecharmers.net.