By Jude Njoku
Are you thinking of giving your home a pleasant outlook during this festive season or  are you looking for ways to enhance its value either for sale or lease? Studies show that a fresh coat of paints will give your home a clean, fresh and stylish look during this yuletide and when buyers come knocking. Similarly, painting your home will raise the return on investment more than the average renovation.

Painting, according to a Lagos-based Architect, Mr. Emeka Izuwah, is the application of a specific formulated coloured liquid substance on a wall or surface by a paint brush or spray gun after due preparation. Painting, according to him, serves four major purposes -decorative, protective, preventive and informative.

Speaking on the decorative impact of painting, Izuwah stated that a wall or surface is considered unfinished until it is painted. Painting highlights the beauty of a wall or surface.
“Commensurate application of coats of  paints has a protective effect on walls or surfaces. Unpainted iron or wood corrodes or rusts without the application of the right type of paints, he said, adding that  “paints have now been been developed to retard or resist fire spread or even to resist insects like the spread of  mosquito.

Continuing, Arc Izuwah stated that the  application of paints can be used as a signature for certain building or offices. For example, an Army, Navy,  Airforce or hospital installation is known by  its  traditional colours while most banks in Nigeria have distinctive colours.

When painting your home for resale, choosing the right colours can make a huge difference in your paycheck at closing. For instance, the exterior colour of houses which sell most quickly is a certain shade of yellow but choosing the wrong shade of yellow can kill a sale.

Although you are likely to find many brochures in paint stores showing various combinations of exterior paint colors. But most people don’t realise that most of those combinations actually include three colours, and not just two. Limiting your exterior paint scheme to just two colours also limits your income potential.

Experts advise that when choosing your exterior colours,  you should take the sales price of your home into account. Certain colours, especially muted, complex shades, attract wealthy or highly-educated buyers, whereas buyers with less income or less education generally prefer simpler colours. A complex colour contains tints of gray or brown, and usually requires more than one word to describe, such as “sage green,” as opposed to “green.”

On the other hand, simple colors are straightforward and pure. Generally, houses in the lower price range sell faster and for higher prices when painted in simple colours like yellow or tan, accented by white, blue, or green trim.