Is "Neutrals" a swear word?

Last night I started thinking about choosing paint colours for the house. Since we're planning to sell in about a year, the bold shades that we currently live with are gonna have to go...I'm gonna have to class it up. Or dull it down, as the case may be. Which means I'm going to have to choose...neutrals. I shudder at the thought, but I think I can get through it! It's not that I can't enjoy a calm, neutral home, it's just (clearly!) not my personal taste. I'll just keep telling myself "It's staging, not decorating, it's staging, not decorating."

So, in true way-ahead-of-myself form, I Googled the most popular colours for home staging, glanced over a few design books and read the most recent issues of Style at Home and Canadian House at Home (both of which are conveniently colour-themed this month.) I gotta say, the House and Home bored me outta my head (yes, beige is a colour, but I don't know that it deserves a whole magazine dedicated to it) but the Style at Home was more promising. A lot of the articles in it asked the contributors what their favourite neutral was. Well, my favourite neutral is leopard-print, so I guess that gives you an idea of where I'm coming from.  No matter. I think I'll stick to a subtle palette of "greige" throughout the living room, dining room, foyer and hallway. I'm considering a sage green for the kitchen cupboards with grey walls. Although pale greens and blues are the most popular bedroom colours, I may stick with cream for those rooms. The bathroom, as you can see here, will be white with robin's egg blue and chocolate brown. All of this seems terribly dullsville to me, but..."It's staging, not decorating...It's staging, not decorating!" My new mantra.

Apparently, this is NOT a neutral!