Best Interior Colors For Selling a House

Interior Paint Colors For Selling & Adding Home Value

When selling your home, you may consider repainting the inside and outside using the top neutral shades from Sherwin Williams, such as Alabaster, Accessible Beige, and Agreeable Grey.

With more than 20 years in the business, painting residential homes, and working closely beside some of the leading local realtors, we have first-hand experience with colors buyers are drawn to.

We outline the added value of painting before selling and provide our most popular recommendations for updating and selling your home quickly. 

Painting Before Selling

There are several good reasons for painting your home, and appeal and value are the top reasons for painting before selling. Painting your home will boost its curb appeal, helping to refresh its appearance and give it the clean and modern look that many buyers today are looking for. 

In the current real estate market, where buyers are starting to regain bargaining power, catering to their wants and preferences can help your home attract buyers more quickly and spend less time on the market. 

Understandably, some sellers are naturally apprehensive about taking on the financial burden of investing in a home they will move out of. Though you may not want to invest in your home right before you move out, repainting your home has a high return, according to Open Door

Even if you don’t want to handle the painting work yourself, in Raleigh, the average cost to paint home interiors by professionals is between $2,400 and $8,200. Hiring someone to repaint your interiors before selling can bring you an ROI between 113% and 629%!

Additionally, most potential buyers don’t want a home they have to put a lot of work into once they move in. Repainting your home before listing can signal to potential buyers that it’s a turnkey property that’s move-in ready. 

Top Interior Paint Colors to Sell

To help prep your home for the market and boost its value, we’ve compiled a list of the best interior paint colors for selling a home, broken down by room. 

You’ll find that neutrals like white, off-white, beige, and gray are popular choices, giving prospective buyers a blank canvas to envision themselves living in the home. But there is an opportunity to explore more colors to complement your home’s flooring, trim, and other architectural details. 

Common Areas
Best-Common-Area-Colors

In spaces like the living room, dining room, and hallways, neutrals are always a great choice. They help brighten up the area and reflect the natural light that enters the home.

If you’re figuring out how to choose paint colors for your interior walls, remember that selecting one consistent color to paint each of these areas creates a sense of cohesiveness. Doing so can create a flow from room to room, appealing to modern homebuyers. 

White Paint Colors For Common Areas
  • Sherwin Williams Alabaster: Home buyers will love how this balanced white looks clean and simple throughout the home without sacrificing warmth.
  • Ben Moore Chantilly White: A radiant color that brightens a home’s common areas.
  • Benjamin Moore Atrium White: This refreshing white paint color has a slightly rosy undertone.
Beige Paint Colors For Living Areas
  • Shaker Beige by Benjamin Moore: A typical tan color that is both warm and elegant
  • Balboa Mist by Benjamin Moore: This is more of a “greige” or a grey beige that is highly versatile for various interior styles
  • Accessible Beige by Sherwin-Williams: A unique beige that has a slight grey tint, so it pairs well with other earth tones that might be found in the home’s flooring or trim
Top Gray Paint Colors For Open Areas
  • Agreeable Gray by Sherwin-Williams: Many home buyers are drawn to grey walls, with Zillow noting that a grey living room can drive up a home’s value by $1,755 or more. 
  • Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore: A lovely light grey with a cool cast that works well in any room
  • Anew Gray by Sherwin-Williams: Studies show that painting walls in a mid-tone grey like this shade could add at least $2,553 to a home’s value.
  • Wickham Gray by Benjamin Moore: On the cooler side, this grey has a hint of blue that can be pleasing throughout the home

Kitchen Colors For Selling

It’s often recommended to paint the walls in your kitchen the same shade as other common areas, though dark gray and charcoal shades are becoming more popular with buyers. According to Zillow, homes with charcoal gray kitchens can sell for about $2,512 more than similar homes. 

Cabinet-Painting-And-Refinishing

You can get away with bolder accent colors on the cabinets and island for more dimension, although white is still the go-to choice. Refer to the above list for neutral wall colors if you like, though you can browse the following options to find additional color options for painting your kitchen.

Dark Gray Paint Color For Walls
  • Gauntlet Gray by Sherwin-Williams: This can be a great choice if you want to opt for the dark gray that many buyers are looking for but still with a warm feel
  • Peppercorn by Sherwin-Williams: A deep yet versatile dark grey color that would look stunning against lighter countertops and cabinets
  • Chelsea Gray by Benjamin Moore: This is a rich dark grey with brownish undertones, catering to both warm and cool elements
White Colors For Kitchen Cabinets
  • First Star by Sherwin-Williams: This is a white shade that can cater to many buyers with its slight grey color and clean appearance
  • Downy by Sherwin Williams: A white shade that has a warm and radiant glow 
  • Ice Cube by Sherwin-Williams: This is a cool white with bluish undertones, which works best if you have other cool elements in the kitchen
Accent Paint Color For Cabinets
  • Dark Harbor by Benjamin Moore: A trendier teal shade that can look great on kitchen cabinets or islands
  • Pewter Green by Sherwin-Williams: This is a calming green with cool undertones that can ground the kitchen space
  • Sommelier by Sherwin-Williams: A deep red that would contrast nicely against stark white countertops or walls

Bedroom Color Selections

Again, opt for the neutral shade you used throughout the rest of the common areas when repainting the bedrooms. Though people may be more inclined to use color in their bedrooms to match their bedding or decor, white walls still create the sort of blank canvas that many prospective homeowners are looking for. 

Here are some additional white paint colors to consider if you want to create a subtle difference from the rest of the home. 

White Bedroom Paint Colors
  • Sand Dollar by Benjamin Moore: There is a light pink-grey cast to this shade, which can complement a variety of shades
  • Roman Column by Sherwin-Williams: A white shade that is bright and warm, perfect for any bedroom
  • Origami White by Sherwin-Williams: This color features violet undertones, offering just enough character for a white paint shade

Bathroom Colors

You can use the neutral color you used in the common areas, but you have more flexibility regarding paint color choice in the bathroom. 

A recent survey by Zillow found that bathrooms painted in terracotta brown could increase a home’s value by $1,624. The following are some of the top earthtone paint shades that you can consider using in the bathroom before you sell.

Top Earthtone Colors
  • Nomadic Desert by Sherwin-Williams: A warm earth tone that pairs well with other neutrals 
  • Tatami Tan by Sherwin-Williams: If you’re looking for a bolder color choice, you may be drawn to the deep orange tones in this shade 
  • Venetian Portico by Benjamin Moore: This color offers a rosier undertone but is still neutral enough for many prospective buyers to enjoy

Paint Color Palettes That Hurt Selling

Vivid color accents and drastic personalization should be avoided if you are selling your home. When giving your home a fresh coat of paint before listing it, it’s also best to avoid dark shades or unique color palettes. 

Your personalization won’t appeal to the average buyer who wants a clean slate when they move into a new home. 

Stick with one or two paint colors for the main areas and focal rooms. Avoid multiple drastic color variations from room to room, as it is often not appealing to prospective buyers. They may see the color variations as more work to repaint the entire home after moving in, which devalues the home.

Best Exterior Paint Colors for Selling

If you plan on selling your home, don’t neglect your exterior paint. The exterior of the house is what sets the first impression for buyers and can influence how they view the rest of your home. 

Exterior house paint fades; therefore, it is best to refresh your exterior paint to attract more buyers. Neutral whites and greys often cater to a broader audience for a more classic and modern appeal. You can play with blues, greens, and black colors for shutters, front doors, and other accent areas. 

Black windows and gutters will invite potential buyers and sustain an attractive street view.

Neutral Colors To Help Selling
  • Cloud Cover by Benjamin Moore: A creamy white that looks great against an expansive lawn or accent color front door
  • Harwood Putty by Benjamin Moore: This is a shade that mimics the historical whitewash look popularized in the 18th century that has remained timeless to this day
  • Colonnade Grey by Sherwin Williams: A versatile grey shade that looks attractive against both cool and warm trim and other architectural elements
Blue & Green Colors For Selling
  • Naval by Sherwin Williams: This is a deep blue in a calming shade that pairs well with stark white trim and doors
  • Foggy Day by Sherwin Williams: A lovely blue with a slate grey undertone that is pleasing to the eye
  • Wedgewood Grey: If you can’t decide between the two, this blue-green shade is highly versatile 

Paint Brands

When it comes to brands, they’re not all equal. Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams have superior paint. You won’t save money on cheaper brands like Behr from Home Depot.

The cheaper brands don’t cover well, which means more coats. You’ll need more paint, and it’ll take more time. It’s worth a little extra cost for a better paint that requires fewer coats.

Look for mid-priced paints like Promar 200 from Sherwin Williams or UltraSpec from Benjamin Moore. If you’re painting to sell the house, there’s no need to use high-end paint.

Conclusion

Adding a fresh coat of paint in one of the popular colors listed above to your home’s interior and exterior can not only help your home sell quicker but also increase its final sale price. 

When listing your home, you have a lot on your to-do list. So, if you’d rather entrust this project to the experts who will get it done right, contact our Raleigh-based team today for a free quote.

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