White is out. Fade to black. Neutrals are over. Color is back. People are seeing red.

You no longer have to paint your walls white and furnish your home using a neutral color palette of beige and brown tones. While these neutral color schemes are classically ingrained in home design and will never be out of style, there is a marked departure under way from the staid "beige".

Color is making a comeback in a big way. Take a look around the neutrals are being replaced by warm tones. There is a strong preference for reds emerging - in dining rooms, living rooms and family rooms is becoming widespread. The use of colors like cranberry, khaki, coffee, butter cream, tangerine and sage green are becoming pervasive in home decoration. It's more interesting than white walls for openers, and it is more uplifting.

Despite the introduction of complex colors with fruity names like raspberry pink and sterling, simple and elegant blue remains the most popular color in home furnishings. Believe it or not, it is the number one best selling color in carpet and upholstery nation wide and has been for years. It is a calming color and is one of the more conservative color choices in home furnishings.

Blue, like any other color can be used in many shades. Color psychologist say that blue is a relaxing color. It is also an authoritarian color. Hence, policeman and naval officers wear blue uniforms. Blue is also a color associated with sadness that transfers to its use in our language. "He is singing the blues" or "I have the blues" would be an example of the way color transfers to an emotion.

Brown is considered a reliable color. That is why your friendly neighborhood UPS man is wearing a brown uniform and driving a brown truck. Color subliminally conveys meaning and image in ways that we are not often aware of. Color has been studied and analyzed for centuries and the study of color is very important in sales and marketing. The choice of color conveys the image of a business, or a product in a very important way.

A few examples:

 • Blue is a corporate color.
 • Red and yellow are circus colors. The big top is usually a red and white or yellow and white striped tent.
 • Green is very calming. Hence hospital green walls and scrubs for the doctors and nurses. It is not by accident that nurses and other health care professionals decided to forgo plain green scrubs in favor of colors, yellow, tangerine, blue. These colors may not be as reassuring or restful as the standard surgical green however the stimulation these colors provide also has a positive impact on patients. Just like the printed scrubs that nurses wear today. Their patients have something to look at and comment on. It takes their mind off their problems momentarily.
 • Pink is a color that minimizes hostility. It also saps your strength. It takes away your power.
Hence, football teams like to paint the locker room used by the visting team pink. Pink is also used in prisons and drunk tanks for the same reason. In some countries people paint their houses pink because it minimizes the hostility that visitors approaching the house may have. They are calm by the time they knock on the door.

Pink is widely known as a "girly color". A pink bedroom speaks volumes. Believe it or not, pink is one of the lowest rated colors for walls and carpeting. People do not respond favorably to the color. Its use is less prevalent than you may think.

Yellow is a popular color because it is "sunny" and uplifting. However color studies show that yellow is a color that also makes people lose their tempers. On the other hand, it is an attention getting color that helps people concentrate. It is used for legal note pads and post it notes. It is also the color of school buses and traffic signs because it has high visibility from a distance, unlike other colors which fade into the horizon more quickly and it grabs your attention.

Red is an inflammatory color. It is exciting, provocative, and it is selling. We are seeing a dramatic increase in the warm tones in the home furnishings industry. The reds are popular across the boards. This color is being widely used for walls, window treatments, and upholstery. Sometimes red is used as an accent color to give a room a jolt. Red is also being used as the dominate color for entire rooms. It creates heat, and implies drama. It is also a classic front door color. Barn red speaks for itself. The "red barn' is classic Americana.

Today homebuyers are looking for color. The question is which colors do they want? Is it better to go white which is always alright or should we go out on a green limb and go for some color. No matter what color you pick someone may not like it. However the gain of showing a spec house or your own house with newly painted colored walls out weighs the risk of alienation.

If you are painting an empty spec house you should coordinate the colors. Pick the palette you want, then carry this color scheme throughout the house. The entry way should be painted in a dominate color. Then you can use variations on this shade through out the house, or at least on the first floor in the "public rooms" like the living room, dining room, family room and den. Do not be afraid to use colors in the bedrooms. But make sure that these colors work well with the dominate colors used in the rest of the house. You do not want a "riot" of color. You want a carefully orchestrated color scheme that sends a subtle message. It's a whisper, not a shout.

The most popular colors for new construction are khaki, coffee and sage green. Pale yellows are also well received. Do not go overboard and paint the house purple. Remember certain colors will work better in some rooms than others. Do not paint the kitchen blue. It sends the wrong message. Yellow is a cheerful kitchen color. Red stimulates people's appetites. It is a widely used color in restaurants for this reason. Tangerine and sage green are also emerging as big kitchen colors. So is khaki since it blends well with stone and wood used in countertops and cabinets.

Buyers are seeking color, they just don't know which colors they like until they see them. Granted, they like some colors better than others. That's where color psychology kicks in. "What's your favorite color?" is not such a stupid question after all. The answer will say a lot about the person being asked that question.

Right now the most popular exterior paint color for houses is a pale butter cream sunny yellow. This color with two other accent colors of choice really pushes a home sale. Buyers love the look of houses painted this color. It's refreshing. The color is light and bright. That always goes over big. It is also a departure from the depressing pale grey siding with burgundy trim that we have seen around on builder's spec houses in subdivisions for years. It looks dated because it is. New colors are eye catching.

Dark grey houses with deep burgundy trim highlighted by a third color like white or black to draw out architectural detail also sell well. While blue wins in the interior color category, it loses big as an exterior paint color. Affluent high end buyers are drawn to subtle complex colors with sharp accent colors when looking at a home's exterior. This buyer will not be put off by a dark khaki colored exterior with bold black trim accented by deep red boarders. They will see and understand the statement being made. "This is a house of distinction."

The classic cedar shake home with dark brown shingles and green roof remains a favorite. These colors, brown and green, reflect nature. Like the trees, they are viewed as part of the earth. These colors work well with the landscape. But then again, so does a rainbow, on the rare occasions when we see one. Don't be afraid to go out and paint the town red. If you are on the cautious side, you can always start with one wall.