What "Color Me Beautiful" Taught Me About Staging

Many years ago, I had my colors done. 

The idea is to figure out which groups and shades of colors make you look terrific, and which ones make you look like an organ donor waiting to happen.  Of course, you want to go with the look-good-feel-good colors that work for you.

They say this approach is also useful when you are working on decor for your home.  You get a good feeling about a room when it's decorated in your colors.

The woman who did my analysis worked for Color Me Beautiful.  They divide people into one of four "seasons".  And people in one season, the "Autumns" like and look good in browns, golds, maroons, olive greens, and unusual shades of other colors.  But the Autumns only make up about three percent of the people on the planet!

So the other day, I showed a house where they had moved out the buyers pretty decent stuff and brought in a stager.  Well, this gal must have been pure Autumn, because it was all the shades that made my buyers (she was a spring and he was a winter) just want to run out the door!  Golden green couch, Chinese rugs with brown and gold patterns, and maroons swags. 

"Wait!" I said.  "You're reacting to the colors."  And once they realized what it was, they were able to see beyond the staging and realize it was a terrific place.  It's on the possible list now.

This made an impression because I am preparing to list a house that has all the wrong colors - out of That 70's Show!  The seller is up for letting us consign his olive green couch to Value Village and bring one in from our staging warehouse.  He's agreed to have the place painted to make the maroon walls in the master bedroom disappear and transform leaf gold dining room into an oasis of cross-season neutrality. 

And to help choose the colors, I'm going to call a favorite colleague who helped me with my own house.  Oh, my friend is a summer, but she's good at picking universal colors that everyone can feel comfortable around.