As you might already know, for the last six months, we have been talking about and planning to put our house on the market so we can move closer to Bryan’s work. Life keeps happening and we haven’t been able to move as quickly as we’d like, but I’ve been cleaning, decluttering, purging, selling, and basically getting this place as spiffed up as I can in the meantime.
There’s a ton of advice out there on how to set yourself up for success when listing your home, but one of the biggest pieces of advice I keep seeing is to really focus on curb appeal. When a potential buyer is walking up to the door, you want to already have grabbed their interest – if the exterior is off-putting, then it can cast a cloud over everything they see once they’ve walked inside.
So I’ve really been giving careful consideration to our home’s curb appeal and thinking through exactly what I want to project and say to potential buyers. I decided that paint was the most effective update we could do in a short period of time, so next I sat down to pick out a range of coordinating colors.
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Color Psychology
The psychology of color is really fascinating to me. Did you know that certain colors tend to evoke certain emotions/feelings? For example, green tends to be calming, red can promote appetite.
To choose the perfect color palette for our home, I sat down and envisioned the ideal buyer we are hoping to appeal to – a hip, young and growing family looking for a stylish space in a quiet neighborhood – and used that profile to help narrow down our options.
And you guys, I seriously think I am on to something… Walk through this with me…
What’s a shared childhood memory of many in our generation? One of our first exposures to the concept of dream home? Something we were either thrilled to own or pined over zealously? And said, “One day when I grow up…”
Are you tracking with me? Can you see it?
What better color scheme than one that calls up so many wonderful childhood memories and stirs up deep-seated dreams? What little girl (or hey, boy) didn’t fantasize about having her (or his) very own bubblegum pink domicile one day?
Just think of the power of positive childhood associations! The first thought in every potential buyer’s minds… Dream house.
The decision was made, the paint chips were chosen…
I only got a few raised eyebrows when I had my gallons of pink exterior paint mixed, but when I explained my “dream house” vision, even the high school guy working at the paint counter nodded his head in recognition….
“Dude, sweet. I had one of those growing up.”
Popping lids… No turning back now.
I’ll admit, it was a little scary to open the lids and see such bold colors staring back at me, but once I saw them on the house, I was certain I’d made the right call!
Curb Appeal: Complete
Are you ready to see how it turned out?!
It took several long days of painting, but I am thrilled with the outcome and the compliments have been pouring in from our neighbors! I’m thinking we may have just started a trend…
And almost every car that drives by has slowed down or even turned around and driven past a second time to admire – our golden ticket for eyeballs on the for sale sign that will be parked in the front yard [hopefully] soon!
With love from the girl who’s not quite crazy enough to paint her house bubblegum pink, but is just crazy enough to spend a few hours photoshopping, staging pics, and writing this post…
I look forward to April 1st each year and have the time of my life thinking up these posts! You can check out 2015 (DIYing a backyard bunker) and 2014 (The Gathered Home + Buffy: a blog about home decor and vampire slaying) right here:
Introducing: The Gathered Kitchen
Introducing: What I Wore Thrifting
An Exciting New Project
A Small Announcement…
Have fun today!
you are so fun! i knew right away because 4/1 is on my mind! 🙂
I wanted to text you the painted house photo yesterday SO BAD but I resisted! 😉
I was waiting for what you are going to come up with. Love it! Happy April fools day!
It’s just my favorite day ever! I have way too much fun! 🙂
Haha! I was skimming this over breakfast with all the kids running around and started nodding my head thinking OK I’m with you… I’m with you and then I saw the exterior shot and was like, what?! I got it. Just took me a while. So good!
I mean, who DOESN’T love the Barbie Dream House, right?! Haha, I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I think it would have been an EVEN BETTER April Fool’s joke if you had actually painted your house pink and purple in the middle of the night ;). But this one’s pretty good, too 🙂
Of course you’re right – darn my lack of total commitment! 😉
i knew it was a joke but my face still grimaced big time lol xx
Hehe. Those colors are something else, aren’t they? I did my best to stay true to the Barbie Dream house ideal! 😉
Genius! You are a photoshop whiz! I have to say, though, crazy as the pink is, I think I’ve seen worse!!
Thanks friend!
You know, the pink has really grown on me over the last 24 hours… 😉
So awesome!
Thanks Sarah! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Died laughing!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! 🙂
This is the BEST!!!!! Your photoshop skills are amazing, btw!
Thanks Samantha! 😀 I always have a blast cooking these April Fool’s posts up and I’m glad they are enjoyed!
You always have the coolest April fools day pranks, I look forward to then every year. Barbie house, so fun!
Thanks girl! I didn’t have one this year because life has been so crazy and busy, but the idea came to me yesterday morning so I just ran with it!
Had to laugh! But, no foolin’, our house (a 2-story Victorian) really is pink and we’ve gotten everything from Barbie to Pepto to Cotton Candy as descriptors from others. We just think it’s fun (and it’s a color approved by the Trust for Historic Preservation, you know, just in case the Historic District comes knocking).
Oh my goodness, I LOVE your pink gingerbread house! So darling! It’s absolutely the perfect house to rock a pink like that – and I’m seeing a little more “salmon” than “Pepto”. Love it!
Hysterical! I actually like all those colors, but I was shocked that you would do that to a house you were trying to sell. Then I remembered — April Fools today!
It’ a fun color combo, right? I’m not even usually a fan of purple, but I’m thinking I need to track down the color I Photoshopped on the front door and use it somehow in a real project! 🙂
I just started following you today and didn’t even think about it being April 1. Yes, you fooled me! I was already thinking of unsubscribing. 🙂 HA!
Oh no, maybe not my best first impression! 😉 Although I do like to have a little fun over here on The Gathered Home. But for a better idea, I hope you’ll poke around and check out my About Me page or Home Tour. 🙂 Glad to have you here and thank you for following!
You always have the best April Fool’s posts!! Loved this, you genius you!! (Although my favourite was still the Buffy one because I’m a hard core fan girl and I just wanted it to be true!! LOL!) xxx
Aw, thanks friend! These are always a blast to plan! (And guess who’s watching a Buffy episode right now while working on blogging tasks?) 😉