The Greatest Interior Paint Colors for Home Sales

Selecting interior paint colors wisely can have a big impact on how much a buyer is willing to pay for your home when you’re selling it.

According to Amanda Pendleton, a home trends analyst, “Paint is a relatively affordable and easy change, yet it has an outsized impact on a buyer’s perception of the home.” The appropriate paint colors could increase your income. The incorrect ones, though, can end up costing you. This is all the information you need to pick the ideal paint colors for your home when it comes time to sell.

The ideal hues for interior painting in every room

Pendelton said, “All white walls are out,” at the site 2023 Paint Color Analysis Webinar. Buyers of today are bidding adieu to classic, boring paint colors. Rather, Pendleton stated that “current and potential homebuyers are willing to offer more money for a home painted in dark, moody colors.”

In fact, We found that in the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom—all of the rooms in the house—dark gray was linked to higher offer prices than white.

Cooking area: charcoal gray

In kitchens, charcoal gray is a major hit color. It may not seem obvious, but the cost bears this out. Zillow data indicates that homes with charcoal gray kitchens can fetch an estimated $2,512 more than comparable properties.

But the traditional white kitchen isn’t nearly as common as it once was. Today’s purchasers, who stated they would pay $612 less for a home that had one, have lost interest in it. Mehnaz Khan, a color psychology expert and interior designer in Albany, New York, stated that when a potential home buyer sees a picture or a house with a charcoal gray kitchen, they subconsciously feel as though this home is modern.

A mid-tone pewter gray kitchen can fetch $2,553 more than anticipated, while a deep graphite gray kitchen can fetch an estimated $2,512 more than comparable homes.

Christie Cannon, a Dallas-based, stated, “These color trends, especially the charcoal gray, add a richness and a depth to a home that you don’t see with those white walls.”

Dark gray in the living room

While you may naturally lean toward a neutral color, dark gray can also be a crowd-pleaser. The living room is where you relax and feel comfortable. A dark gray living room can fetch offers of $1,755 or more.

Buyers are probably drawn to charcoal on a psychological level, but they have already been exposed to dark gray interiors through home remodeling TV shows and their social media feeds, according to Khan. “Home should be a haven for buyers,” she continued. Dark gray rooms can help people feel secure when they withdraw and flee from the unpredictability of the outer world.

Dark gray in the bedroom

When it comes to bedrooms, go with gray. Although white may seem like the obvious and simple option here, dark gray in the bedroom did better than light neutrals, and it may potentially attract bids of $1,859 more. This is similar to what happened with living rooms.

Grey is the hue of retreat, according to Khan. Buyers want their home to be a haven when they return from their stressful lives and emerge from the pandemic. Dark gray rooms can help people feel secure when they withdraw and flee from the unpredictability of the outer world.

Khan underlined in the webinar how crucial it is to have a sleep-inducing environment in your bedroom. Here, she explained, “the goal of color psychology is to improve your well-being.”

Brown terracotta restrooms

Unbelievably, brown is popular in bathrooms. Pendleton noted that earth tones have turned out to be really fashionable in 2023.

When employed in bathrooms, earth-tone paint colors are linked to higher offer pricing. Terracotta brown, the color of the year for 2023, can add $1,624 to a home’s selling price when applied to bathrooms.

Which hues ought I stay away from?

“While there isn’t a right or wrong color, there are undoubtedly right and wrong ways to use color,” Khan stated.

When it comes time to sell your house, not all grays make gold. In fact, if you choose a midtone gray on your front door, it will detract from the sale price of your home. According to Zillow’s analysis, a home with a cement gray front door would likely fetch $3,365 less from current and potential purchasers. Instead, purchasers would pay $300 extra for a property with a mid-tone rose brown front door and prefer black doors over gray-painted ones.

A prospective buyer should be able to picture the furnishings and décor in your home when selecting the finest paint colors for selling a house. It will also probably be harder for them to accomplish that if your house is painted in really personal colors, such as a bright orange entryway or a sunrise yellow bathroom. You’ll feel as though you own the place, not them. Although using bold, unusual colors in your listing images could be entertaining, they could turn off some potential buyers and reduce the number of people who are interested in your house.

The finish is just as important as the color.

After selecting the appropriate paint colors, be sure to consider the paint finish as well. Paint with a matte (or flat) finish is great at concealing wall flaws, such as dings, scuffs, and waves that are common in any older home. Matte-finished walls appear fresh and smooth.

Paint the ceilings a flat white color to cover up flaws and reflect light, giving the impression that the space is larger and brighter.

Paint with a satin finish works well on door jambs, molding, and trim. The room will appear cleaner and more modern thanks to that glossy paint. On walls, however, eggshell or satin finish paints tend to work differently, emphasizing any imperfections and giving the impression that the walls are older and more worn.

I want to sell my house, should I paint it first?

Indeed. A quick and reasonably priced approach to give your house a fresher, cleaner, and better-maintained appearance is with new paint. The resale value of your property may suffer if the walls or trim have dirty or scratched paint.

However, the state of the paint on your walls is not the only factor that influences the value of your house. Adding the perfect shade of paint to your home could increase its appeal to potential buyers. Before listing your home for sale, you should think about repainting the walls if you recently had your paintwork redone and your painted surfaces are in excellent shape, but your color selections are out of the ordinary (parakeet green bedroom, anyone?).

“If you plan to resell, you can increase the price at which you sell your house by choosing your paint colors wisely,” Pendleton advised.

Does painting raise the value of a house?

Indeed. One of the numerous things you can do to a house to increase its appeal to potential buyers is painting it.

Natural wear and tear, a few dings on the walls, or nail holes where paintings once hung, are common in most homes. Buyers may detect these flaws quickly when viewing a house in person because they are very obvious in marketing images and virtual tours.

Putting on a fresh coat of paint gives your house a modern, appealing appearance that attracts prospective purchasers. According to a recent poll, 40% of recent sellers painted their interiors before listing, and over 30% of them claimed that this activity contributed to the sale of their house.

“A new coat of paint, especially in the right color, can send a strong signal to prospective buyers that a home is modern and well-maintained,” Pendleton stated. She said, “Paint is just this relatively simple, relatively cheap change.” “It does have a significant impact on the value of a home to potential buyers.”