Using Focal Points in Real Estate
I see hundreds and hundreds of houses each year, and it never ceases to surprise me how people paint their homes. Yes, it’s your home, and you therefore have the right to do whatever you want. However, when you’re selling, the whole point is that you don’t want it to be your home anymore. To appeal to the most amount of buyers, the most effective way to prepare your home for sale is by following the tried and true principles of design. People underestimate how focal points can work for or against you. Use them wrong, and you create a chaotic, negative feeling.
The use of focal points is not only for the inside of your home, but extends to the outside of your home as well. There is nothing wrong with strong colour, as it is very effective at drawing the eye. But you need to consider where you put this colour, and ensure it’s on something that you want people to be looking at.
In other terms, put strong colour on your best assets, to create an effective focal point. You always want people to see your front door, and there is never any good reason to draw attention to your garage doors. There are many 1980’s – 1990’s homes where the garage doors are prominent and the front door is recessed back and hardly noticible. This is a shame because we welcome people through our front door, and should be the highlight of the house. So help your house but keeping the colours on your garage doors calm, similar in colour to your brick, so that when you paint a strong colour on your front door, it really catches the eye and draws people in.
Also, in some cases, you might want to draw attention to your trim moulding, but again, you should respect the fact that your home is very likely some version of a Victorian, Colonial or Georgian home. Put aside the bright Bermuda colours and opt for natural colours that are more in keeping with the style and location of the home.
Using focal points in this manner throughout the inside and outside of your home gives you a strong advantage when it comes time to sell your home. I highly recommend using a design professional to help you create focal points effectively. Buyers will appreciate it, and you will reap the rewards.
