Gray has been the new beige for years now—to the point that it has saturated the market. “People cringe when I say I like to paint every room white, but I think of the walls as a canvas,” she explains. It’s a shade you won’t get tired of, it flatters everything and it lets you easily make a room feel more navy, hot pink or whatever you’re into by just swapping out a few accessories.
4. Confine Your Color Palette
For clients who need a little splash of color in their home, Ward often convinces them to save it for two areas: bathrooms and the master bedroom. Why? Well, for the almighty seven-second rule. “People hardly spend any time in the bathrooms, and most people have decided whether they’re interested in a space by the time they get to the master bedroom,” she says. Even if you’re not selling any time soon, keeping the color story similar throughout the majority of the home can make it feel more cohesive—and those areas with color will have all the more impact (though Ward is quick to clarify that her definition of color is typically the “lightest shade on the paint chip”).
5. Maintain A Low Profile
People always talk about wanting their home to be “light, bright and airy,” and the quickest way to do that is to let in as much natural light as possible. Ward will often take down the window treatments in rooms to illuminate the space, and she’ll trade out the furniture for low-profile pieces that don’t block the view. Provided your view isn’t of a brick wall or a landfill, it’s worth playing it up to give your home that ripped-from-the-pages-of-a-magazine vibe. “When you’re selling a home, you’re really selling a lifestyle,” she explains. “‘If I buy this house, I’ll live like this’ is the mentality.” Now you can achieve it without dealing with closing costs.