Freshly painted walls are one of the top three features that home buyers seek. A coat of fresh paint instantly delivers a clean, updated feel – if you choose the right colour.

Staging wisdom tells us that attractive, modern neutrals are the best way to go when staging to sell. Still, picking “the right neutral” can be very challenging. An icy pale shade can be refreshingly modern – or chilly and stark. A warm shade can add contemporary coziness – or make it feel like the walls are closing in.Should you go taupe, beige, white, grey? Sandcastle or Misty Shoreline?

Here some tips to help you pick the perfect paint.

First, consider the aspect of the room you are painting. Which direction does it face? The same paint will look completely different in a north-facing room vs. a south-facing room. Southern light adds clear golden tones while northern light adds cool bluish grey.

Next we want to consider undertone. Neutrals aren’t really neutral – they typically have an undertone, such as yellow, green, pink, true grey, brown, blue, or purple. Comparing your chips on a white paper lets you see the undertones so you know what you’re working with. Because south rooms get more natural light, you can use cooler and more saturated shades in south rooms – those with green or blue-grey undertones. For northern rooms, think about adding warmth to the walls with golden undertones.

Now let’s look at contrast. I recently painted my north-facing living room in Benjamin Moore’s Harmony – an easygoing beige with golden green undertones. It looked fantastic with the warm woods and cream/moss green upholstery on my sofa. Then I inherited a vibrant red velvet sofa from my grandmother (a family heirloom I have always loved) and suddenly the walls turned a putrid shade of yellow-green! As opposites on the colour wheel, the red sofa and subtle green undertone of the paint amplified each other. Rather than repaint, we reassigned the furniture, and now the room is working perfectly again.

Small paint chips are a great way to narrow down your choices. But once you have the final two or three options – ALWAYS buy the sample sizes. Paint several large white posterboards. Leave at least 4” (10cm) of white around the edges to frame the colour, so that your eye won’t be thrown off by the contrast between the new colour and the old.

I admit, I read the warning labels on cleaning products – “Test on a small area first” –  and promptly ignores them. But when it comes to choosing paint, a test sample is really worth the time and minimal expense. 40% of paint sales come from people having made the wrong choice to start! These larger ‘paint chips’ will help you really see the colours you’ve chosen at different times of day, in different lights, on different walls. A sample is a truer reflection of what you’ll get because it is the actual paint, not a printed version. You can make sure the colours meshes well with permanent features like hardwood or carpet, cabinets, and countertops. That seemingly neutral grey may just bring out the pink undertones in your carpet!

If selecting colours still intimidates you, consider bringing in a professional for a colour consultation. At Fresh Moves we’ll recommend staging-safe colours as part of a Home Staging Consultation. If you’re staging for living, our Colour Consultation can help you narrow your choices and find a colour you’ll love for a long time to come.

You’re well on your way to picking the perfect paint!