When listing or selling a home, or even moving into your new home the paint colors you choose will matter.

Whether we list a home or assist a client in buying, the color does affect the selling or buying of a home. It is sometimes hard to convince a buyer that all it will need is a little paint to give it an uplift.

Sowhat are some of the things that would make the buyer say “This is the home I would like to make an offer on.”

Sometimes all it takes is choosing the right paint color to enhance your beautiful home. You have the beautiful furniture, art, and all the things (maybe from the past), but sometimes the wall colors will take away from your décor. Color will sometimes date your home and that buyer looking over the internet will already dismiss looking at your home thinking it is older due to the paint color. A new look we are seeing in homes are people painting their entire homes in white and accenting in bright colors. Now, some may not want to go that sterile, but if you choose, white, you might consider looking at Benjamin Moore’s White Dove. A soft tone of white. Never underestimate the power of pristine. White can be art gallery modern, country farmhouse classic or spring flower romantic.

White may not be your choice, so here are two of the No. 1 colors from Benjamin Moore’s Collection for 2019: METROPOLITAN AF-690 green/grey tones or BALBOA MIST OC-27 Soft green/taupe. These colors will blend with any décor. Pick a soft neutral color and accent with other colors to compliment your furniture and wall hangings. You do not want your wall color to take over and eliminate the size of the room or upgrades you have put into your home.

Once you have come up with a neutral color, you start picking out the colors to accent. To make a statement and draw the eye through the house, use a bold hue at one end of a room to view into another room. Looking from one room into the other. If you have an open floor plan, use different colors to highlight different architecture. Use different colors by choosing the accent color to be used and keep alternating the colors from the same color palate. Light to dark. Use the light colors where the rooms are without light and go darker where you have light.

Trim does not have to be white or cream. Try a color like black to give it a contrast.

Divide colors into three simple categories — pale, neutrals and deeps. Choose rooms that you would like to use some color to give your home some personality. A color I like to use is chocolate brown. The dining room will have an inviting look from the soft hue color of the living room. Accent with a wood chandelier and oatmeal cloth draperies. Ornate sculptures on the sideboard.It will provide a warm atmosphere.

Many clients have asked me (Shirley) if wallpaper is still in? Yes, but do not use paper on all the walls in a room. Use it tastefully. Select a room (bathroom) and pick a paper that has a lot of character. Nothing plain. A print, perhaps a foil, a paper that your guest will comment on.

Color is site-specific. Always try out a shade in different lighting and different times of the day. Have you ever noticed that the color you have finally decided on will appear to change color? A paint color will gleam in direct sunlight of south facing rooms and cooler and more muted in indirect northern light. Artificial light will add a warm glow to the wall color.

The finish you pick will depend on the room. We find that rooms that are high-traffic areas should be painted in eggshell. Use a matte paint in your low traffic areas. (Living room, bedrooms, dining area.)

Yes, color does matter, and you can give your home dimension and personality. A little paint can make the difference.

NOTE: Tim Luke, a consultant at Benjamin Moore, Greensboro, Ga. provided me with some of the information included in this column.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If you want your children to improve let them “overhear” you bragging on them to someone else.