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Color in Your Pacific Beach Home Tells Buyers Yes!
Many Pacific Beach Realtors and stagers say neutral beige or off-white walls are what sells listings in San Diego California. However, a touch of color may be just what you need to revive Pacific Beach buyers interest in a languishing listing. And although beige may offend no one, the right color on a home's walls or spotlighted in the accessories can trigger positive physiological and psychological responses among potential buyers.
"Color can change how you feel, it has an instantaneous effect." Says design psychologist Contance Forrest, principal of Forrest Painter Design in Venice, CA who incorporates psychological techniques in the design of interior spaces. "If people walk into a space and sense a warm color, they immediately get a sense of cozy Pacific Beach home and will probably react positively."
"White on the other hand, makes the room invisible." Forrest says. "White is a missed opportunity to create a feeling in the space. It doesnt help buyers imagine themselves in the home. Not to mention in Asian cultures, white is associated with death and can add a certain doom to listings." Forrest says that pastel colors, which have a mostly white base, can have a similar invisible effect without offending.
Responsive Hues
Research on color responses has shown that warm colors, such as orange and red, can increase excitement and energy, whereas cooler hues, such as blue, can be calming and relaxing. Indeed, research shows color can influence a person's senses - even body temperature - and make scenes more memorable. Knowing the responses colors evoke offers insight into where and when you should use color in a home to appeal to Pacific Beach buyers.
 Go Green, Cautiously
"Many studies have been done on the impact of color in packaging on purchasing decisions", says Debbie Zimmer, spokeswoman for The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute, a research and education group on decorating and color techniques. "You can take that concept of color and paint and apply it to a space to create a mood in a home."
So what color can lift a buyer's spirits? The most potent color is green, Forrest says. In light-spectrum research that focused on treatments for season affective disorder, she notes, subjects exposed to green colors were in better moods than any of the other subjects tested.
But before you start splashing green on all your listings, take caution. Not all shades of green are a safe bet. For example, lime greens - or any yellows with green undertones- "Look sickly to most buyers," says interior designer Jeanette Fisher, an author of 22 books on design psychology. Fisher has used color techniques to redo and sell homes for more than 20 years. Medium shades of green such as sage - and bedrooms painted in creamy tones of green can be a good choice she says, Fisher also favors buttery yellows inside and out, complemented with white trim accents.
by Meliss Dittmann Tracey
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