The Home Guru by Bill Primavera

Color Choices Depend on if You’re Moving or Staying

By Bill Primavera

The Home Guru

 As published in The Examiner, The Putnam Examiner and The Yorktown Examiner

 Color is the most arresting, yet most economical way, to identify a home’s character. While the exteriors of homes tend to subscribe to an unwritten code of neutral colors to conform to the sensitivities of the neighborhood, this is not always the case. Much to the consternation of some of my neighbors, there is a sunflower yellow house in my community not far from an unabashed purple house, complemented by a pink stone driveway.  One realtor told me they were both spite jobs to disagreeable neighbors, but I prefer to think that the homeowners just happen to be winsome and expressive.

Beyond personal expression, paint serves the practical purpose of being the cheapest, most effective picker-upper to a home’s appearance, especially at the time of sale, from its curb appeal to the private master bath. “It’s the most wonderful and easiest way to upgrade a home,” say Mitch Berliner.

As the local franchise owner of CertaPro Painters, a national company with more than 400 territories, Mitch knows a lot about paint that can be helpful to the homeowner, especially in today’s recessionary market.  For instance, he tells us that the selection of color for either the interior or exterior of a home is determined primarily by whether owners plan to “hunker down” and wait out the downturn, or sell, either because they want to or have to. “When they want to move, I suggest a lighter palette of mostly neutral colors, like off-whites, that will appeal to the most people,” he says.  “Primarily they want their home to look clean, bright, and crisp to put on the best face to the buyer.

“People who have decided to stay put are spending more money on upgrading and choosing color schemes that are brighter and more personalized,” he says, adding as a footnote that he’s seeing a lot more historic colors being chosen from the Benjamin Moore color palette.  Those more personal colors have a darker base which produces darker, richer tones. “While beiges and taupes are still popular, there is a bigger trend toward earth tones and yellows,” says Mitch.

As a realtor, I have been showing a slew of homes the past couple of weeks (take note: buyers are back in herds, due to the lowest interest rates and the new $8,000 tax incentive for first-time homebuyers), and I find that some people have taken the safer approach and others have not.  One home I showed in Mt. Kisco was a visual example of Mitch’s advice, but another stand-out in Mahopac was beyond bold in its use of color, where the three bedrooms were painted Crayola colors of blue, red and green.

If you’re not selling, the whole rainbow is your spectrum, and certain colors can create illusions beyond the actual dimension of a room. Tips I learned in a realtor’s decorating course are that cool colors (any that contain the primary color blue) make rooms feel larger and also bring a feeling of calmness. Warm colors (which contain primary colors yellow or red) are stimulating and inviting, and are good for making large rooms feel cozier and warmer.  While softer or muted colors are preferred for the body of the house, deep or bright colors are best used for accents and trim.

For determining the cost of painting an exterior, Mitch says that his representatives listen to the customer’s requirements and factor in all characteristics of the home: the number of windows, doors, shutters, as well as the amount of preparation that must be done. If the home is being painted the same color, it may require just one coat, but a change in color may require several coats.

Asked for the cost to paint the exterior of an average sized home in Westchester or Putnam, Mitch places the range between $5,000 and $7,000.  Inside painting for the average sized home also depends on a number of factors, such as whether the color of every room is being changed, whether there are crown and base moldings, and whether windows are vinyl or wood.  “Here, costs are lower because most clients don’t paint the entire interior,” Mitch notes, “but if the entire house is being re-painted, it tends to be a larger job and costs toward the higher end of the cost for painting the exterior.”

If you decide to paint yourself, here’s a neat trick to determine how much paint you’ll need. For a ceiling, let’s say, multiply the length by the width and divide that number by 350 to determine how many gallons of paint you will need. The 350 number comes from the fact that most gallons of paint will cover 350 square feet.  Do the same thing for the side walls. Add the length of each wall, multiply that number by the height of the wall, and divide that number by 350.

But if you don’t want to go through the trouble yourself, leave it to a pro like Mitch, whose company is now offering an economic stimulus of its own.  You can have any paint job done immediately and, through a special arrangement with a bank, CertaPro gives you six months to pay for the job with no interest involved.  Another special incentive that Mitch provides is the free service of a color consultant.

“My greatest pleasure is having clients thank me when I complete a job and tell me that they feel as though they’re living in a brand new home!  That’s important,” he says, “especially today.”

Contact information for CertaPro Painters: Mitch Berliner, 914-245-2260, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.certapro.com/westchester.

 Bill Primavera is a Westchester, NY-based realtor ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) and marketing practitioner ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who can be reached for questions or comment directly at 914-522-2076.

To read more in The Examiner, go to: www.TheExaminerNews.com