One of the most important rules of thumb when you're preparing your home for sale is to look at it from a buyer's point of view, not just from your own. Nowhere is that truer than in the wall colours you choose. You may love strong colours and have very stylish interior decor that goes with them, but colour can present several drawbacks when it comes to resale.

As Toronto designer Shelley Kirsch points out, "Colour adds a lot of personality to an environment -- which is good and bad. If a buyer is very visual, they can see beyond a certain colour; but if they aren't, the colour can distract, making it hard for them to visualize themselves in the room."

Of course, that needn't mean you should always paint all the rooms boring beige before you put a house on the market. In fact, that could conceivably have the opposite effect, making a house seem plain-Jane (especially if it's limited in architectural detail or is underfurnished).

The ideal, in Kirsch's view, is to choose colours with just the right touch of life to them: neutral enough to present a blank canvas,but interesting enough to add some character. We asked her to give us some of her favourite all-round paint colours, both for resale and for very livable interiors in general.

Quincy Tan HC-25, Benjamin Moore

"I find this putty-grey-beigey-taupe to be a very neutral, non-competitive colour, but it also adds a certain depth and character that brings out the beauty of the home, rather than merely acting as a backdrop. Also, it allows you to use accents in stronger colours and still maintain a classic look."

 40YY-51/084, ICI Paints.

"Grey is very trendy right now, especially warm greys like this one. It's especially beautiful in townhouses, with architectural detail picked out in white trim, like cornice and crown mouldings, or marble. It's a very sophisticated colour, and classic settings like this seem to suit it better than modern or too-bright settings, which might make it look cold."

Note: Swatch colour may appear different on some monitors.

Main image courtesy of Pratt & Lambert.

Stone White 11, Farrow & Ball.

"This has a vintage, mission feeling to it that I like. They call it a white, but it's really a chalky grey-green. It's beautiful with gumwood trim, wood floors, in fact any natural wood."

Sesame, Sico Paints.

"If you want the warmth of yellow but are unsure -- and I consider yellows to be the hardest colour in the palette to work with -- you might want to try going for an amber or cloudy yellow instead. This is a beautiful, soft greyed yellow that looks marvellous with Cloud White [Benjamin Moore OC-40] trim."

Silver Blonde 2141, Pratt & Lambert.

"A mushroomy tone like this one is very versatile. It looks equally lovely with red, or with cream upholstery. This is what you'd call the most ‘circular' of colours, in that it looks lovely with both light and dark woods and accents. It's a clean, modern, almost Scandinavian look."

Note: Swatch colour may appear different on some monitors.

Main image courtesy of Pratt & Lambert.