Color theory 101
For home staging, approach your color scheme decision with three questions: What is my primary color? What is my secondary color? And what is my accent color? To play it safe, use what designers call the "rule of 60-30-10." This translates as 60% primary color, 30% a secondary color, and just 10 % your accent color.
A smart first step to all staging is to paint all the walls in your house the same color, your primary color. Make this color harmonize with existing features you can't change as easily as painting the walls -- things like tiled showers, granite counters, and hardwood flooring.
Here is the post I wrote about how to easily choose interior paint colors. I think it's best to use semi-gloss or eggshell finish in baths and kitchen, but flat finish everywhere else.
Your secondary color will be your large furnishings. You'll have more leeway here. Choose a variety of cool blues, a batch of different mossy greens, or a collection of off whites. For economy's sake, look to your existing, major furnishings, like couches, upholstered chairs, draperies, rugs, and cabinet fronts. Then, repeat these colors elsewhere -- in bedding, painted furniture, and large artwork.
Finally, sprinkle small doses of your accent color around the room. Each room can have a different accent color, or you may want to go with one accent color throughout your home. Be sure your colorful accents call attention to the better qualities of your home. For example, use accents on your mantel or hearth to emphasize your beautiful fireplace, or on shelving to call attention to your built-in bookcases.
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| Although this chair is too large to be considered an accent piece, I couldn't resist including it as a sample of the color citron. Photo: Wayfair |
A love story
My new love is a color. It's called citron, named for the fruit. It's a mixture of equal parts green and orange added to primary yellow. It's bright and clear. It feels fresh and new. It's unusual but it doesn't shout.
In 2018 HGTV called citron a color to watch, and "the perfect color for spring, a warm, smile-inducing shade that evokes sunny skies and cheery flowers." Boy, if that doesn't sound like a terrific color to use as an accent for home staging, I don't know what does."
The Descriptions
I'll let the experts speak about citron because I love hearing them describe the color and what role it can play in home decor.Shutterstock says, "When coupled with white, citron can help you create a space that is airy, light, modern, and playful. However, when you incorporate citron into a space that is predominantly navy, you will get a room that is more sophisticated in nature ... Citron when used in excess, can be loud and overbearing, but accents of this hue are just what your space needs to come alive."
Notes on Design says that "Citron looks lovely when paired with other earthy colors like the colors of stems and leaves."
Ang at her blog, You Look Fab, calls citron "a workhouse...a very acidic shade of neon yellow rather than a regular bight yellow." And she adds that it's a versatile color that works with most of her wardrobe and always makes her happy. We want happy!
Benjamin Moore offers a paint called citron and says "A generous dose of green gives this earthy. organic yellow a mellow, somewhat mysterious quality."
Farrow and Ball also sells a citron paint. It looks a little murkier than the Benjamin Moore color. The folks there say it is a "warm Mediterranean yellow which has a bright intensity in small spaces and is fantastically welcoming in halls. It is softer in well-lighted rooms but is perhaps a little too stimulating for a bedroom."
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| Many colors, including citron, play well with a variety of primary and secondary colors, like greys and navy and white. Photo: Vera Petrunina via Insider |
The drawbacks
It takes some ingenuity to locate items for homestaging that are unusual colors like the color citron. And if you are casual about your search rather than focused and particular, you'll end up bringing home or ordering stuff that you realize too late is actually pale avocado or chartreuse instead of pure citron.
Don't count on the memory of what a color looks like when you go on a shopping expedition. Take along a color chip or a swatch that's reliable. The mind does not hold perfect memories of colors.
When shopping online, you can't count on your screen to accurately represent what color fabric or lamp will actually arrive at your door. It's not Amazon's or Overstock's fault; it's just the technology. So, buy your accent accessories -- and other decor items where color is crucial -- only with a free return policy.
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| Photo: Lamps Plus |
Where to use Citron
Artwork is a natural source of ready-made pops of citron.
Textiles like draperies, pillows, and table linens are also iffy to get right and ought to be purchased IRL. The light reflects off fabrics to create different shades of one color. Think about velvet and how it changes color when you run your hand over it or just wiggle it.
If you have a good eye for color, you might try mixing craft paints to get exactly the accent color you want on paintable items like picture frames, decorative boxes, artwork, trays, and flower pots.
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| Pillows made from citron fabric look terrific on a white bedcover or a grey sofa, for example. Photo" Motif Pillow |
Get the look, get the book
When you thoughtfully plan your color scheme, your home will have great visual flow from room to room. One good test of your color plan is to ask if furnishings can be moved from room to room and "everything still works."
I hope these tips have helped you choose accent colors for the rooms in your home. For more advice to help with staging your own home for the real estate market, be sure to download my home staging eBooks! I've done the homework for you and am happy to pass along my years of experience in home decor and staging.
Top Photo: Young House Love