Last Monday, Sherwin-Williams revealed its 2017 Color of the Year, and as a home stager, I am 100% behind their paint color choice: Poised Taupe!
Wait, what? Taupe…really?
“Neutrals are shifting,” Sue Wadden, the director of color marketing for Sherwin-Williams, told the Today Show. “For five years everybody’s talking about gray ― well, they’re warming up. It’s like gray and brown had a baby, and it became taupe.”
Taupe gets a lot of criticism for being a boring, safe choice, but when styled right it can add a lot of interest. Taupe is a great background for pops of color and bold prints. It also adds a little more interest than a cold gray or plain beige.
What I love about a good taupe paint color is its versatility — it’s the perfect blend of gray and brown, warm and cool, light and dark. Having a color like that in your arsenal can be incredibly powerful if you’re preparing your home for sale. For home sellers who want to give a more modern feel to a home full of wood accents and brown-toned tile and stone, taupe paint can be an effective and inexpensive way to create a more modern feel that still complements the more permanent elements of the house.
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Some of my personal favorite taupe paint colors for home sellers are Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige, Balanced Beige, and Tony Taupe (I’ve even used these in my own home). This entire color thread is soft and subtle, the perfect neutral to complement a wide array of both cool and warm colors.
Taupe and other neutral paint colors aren’t really that exciting, but for a home that’s on the market, these colors usually present an ideal view of your home in terms of size, shape, and mood. They also allow buyers to envision themselves and their belongings in the home without being swayed by your personal design style.
Do you have a favorite shade of taupe? (*Yes, I realize that question sounds a little bizarre if you’re not into that sort of thing, but if you’ve ever picked out what you thought was a “neutral” only to find it had a weird pink or yellow undertone, you’ll know what I’m talking about) What’s your favorite neutral?
Need Help Choosing the Right Taupe (or an Entirely Different Color)?
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Great article, great advice! Thanks Vanessa!