The consumer speaks.

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Better Homes & Gardens conducted its annual survey of its readers' color preferences, finding:

* 57% say that their walls are generally neutral.

* 41% prefer a mix of color on the walls and furnishings; 36% prefer neutral walls with pops of color through furnishings.

* Almost one quarter (24%) of readers say that using color on walls makes it difficult to match their current furniture or art as well as say that they don't have an eye for using color (24%).

* 58% of readers say that orange is the color they are least likely to decorate with, followed by black (43%) and violet (42%).

* 62% of readers say that they are most likely to use shades of blue when decorating, followed by green (49%).