Colour me beautiful

Love, at first sight, is not a concept that applies only to romance and relationships! It can also apply to the property market. 

Think of it like this; if you are single and looking for love when you go out to a social event, it’s likely that you make some extra effort to look good. You might get your hair done, enjoy a manicure and spend time choosing the right outfit, perfect for the occasion. You might choose brighter colours than you would normally, or perhaps opt for a more on-trend combination. Put simply, you spruce yourself up and this comes down to the simple fact that you want to look attractive and create a good impression.

And thereby lies the key. The attraction is of course one of the factors in achieving a date. It’s that first impression before a true relationship is formed, and strange as it may seem, this also applies to your home.

When you decide to put your house on the market, you should think about how you can make it look attractive so that it is a magnet for dates with potential buyers – and one simple way to do this is to snazz up the exterior of your home with a dash of colour. 

Think of those beautiful rows of colourful terraced Victorian homes you see in cities and towns throughout the UK. They ooze tradition and you cannot deny, they are pretty and eye-catching.  

So, what is the best colour to make the exterior of your home attractive – and potentially snag a love-struck buyer?

First, there is no perfectly correct answer to the best colour you should use. Instead, the decision depends on the style and build of your home and the surrounding landscape. 

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Here’s what you need to think about:
Whatever colour you choose, make sure it doesn’t clash with the other homes in your street! If all the other properties are pastel shades, do not be tempted to paint your home electric pink or muddy brown. Yes, your property will stand out – but for all the wrong reasons. 

Think about the colour of the roof of your home. 
If it is a red tile roof, dark colours generally won’t work, but creams, beiges and shades of off-white will be the best choice. If your tiles are slate grey, pastel colours and deep colours will work perfectly.

If there is a particular part of your house that you feel should be emphasized, such as window surrounds, fancy brickwork or columns you can use light-coloured paint around them to draw attention. 

Conversely, if there are parts of the exterior of your house that are a little more mundane, use a darker colour to draw attention away from them. 

Always purchase tester pots and sample them on an area of your home that is hidden. You should paint strokes a few feet long and a foot or so wide to get the best idea of how the colour will look over a larger surface area. It’s also a good idea to paint in shaded areas and also areas in sunlight to get a real feel for how the different lighting affects the colour.

Let the paint dry! 

Do not immediately judge the results of your experiments. Instead, wait a few hours and then start comparing. Dry paint can take on a very different appearance to wet paint. 

Once the paint is dry, then take a good look at each sample. You will typically find the colours look different to how they did in the paint tin, but you will be able to make an easy and informed decision seeing the effects on the wall in front of you.

Don’t be afraid to experiment – adding colour to your home can make it beautiful.