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What color to paint rooms in your house to sell it fast?

By
Real Estate Sales Representative with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

What color to paint rooms in your house, to sell it fast? I have a few suggestions.

First off, it's always good to freshen up interior with a new coat of paint. Besides, there might be minor defects on the walls - say, you removed paintings or curtain rods, and there are nail holes to spackle, they need to be painted over anyway. Or you updated electricity, added a ceiling light, and now have patches to paint over. Even if you still have a can with leftovers of paint you used in this room last time, it would be a wiser solution to repaint the whole room, since you are preparing your house for sale. 

Now, what COLOR should you choose? Most often, real estate professionals as well as interior decorators will suggest a neutral shade, usually a warm one -  a nice beige, cream, very light peach, pink or yellow. Colors from the cool family (light grays, blues, greens) seem to be second choice. You can visit model homes that are for sale in your area, and pay attention what colors builders used in their model units - that is usually a shade that appeals to most buyers, and is something to to consider. 

Should you paint every room a different color or same color? Go with the flow of your home. If you have a spacious, open living / dining room area, that also flows into the kitchen, it may be a good choice to paint everything same color. You can safely use different shades in different bedrooms. 

But I noticed anther trend recently. It might add interest and appeal if you paint your rooms different bright and bold colors. Deep rich earthy shades seem to be most appealing. Forest green, deep warm beige / light brown, deep peach, burgundy red. I noticed several homes in my area (Natick, MA) that sold over the summer, after being on the market for only a short time, and they had cheerfully painted interiors. Of course, they were also priced according to their condition and location. 

Decorating magazines as well as websites are a great source of inspiration. Keep in mind the ceiling height in your house, southern/northern exposure, as well as amount of natural and electrical light. Check websites for suggestions as to how new choice of interior paint can help. 

The last but not least: if you have any wall space in your house with wallpaper on it - please consider removing it and painting the wall instead. Wallpaper patterns have an extremely subjective appeal, and majority of the buyers will want to remove it. Removing wallpaper is a chore, and while you as a seller might shudder by the pure thought of it, so does the buyer. So much that he might decide to look at another house all together. 

Talk to your real estate agent about this, and consider removing wallpaper, either by yourself, or hire a handyman. By the way, it is not necessary to use a lot of chemicals to do this job. A little secret weapon is to dilute some fabric softener in a bucket of water, then thoroughly wet the wallpaper with the mixture using rags. Scrape them a bit with wallpaper scraper you get at home improvements store - so that the mixture can penetrate better. 

 

Posted by

Anna Glebova

REALTOR®

If you are looking for an agent to help you buy or sell a home

in Brookline / MetroWest Area

give me a call: (617)966-7949 

Brookline, Framingham, Natick, Newton, Sudbury, Wellesley, Wayland and more 

Anna Glebova on Zillow
Show All Comments Sort:
Kymberly Caldwell-Muniz
(909) 973-0410 - Fontana, CA
TCR Group Keller Williams Realty Rancho Cucamonga

Hi Anna, I have some wallpaper that I have to take off of a bathroom wall. Thanks for the great information.

Aug 26, 2010 08:25 AM
DONNA SINGH
Royal LePage Connect Realty - Toronto, ON

Hi Anna, thanks for the fabric softener tip. You should list some of your favourite colours, such as Benjamin Moore XXX, etc. There are so many shades.

Aug 26, 2010 09:27 AM
Anna Tolstoy
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Natick, MA

Hi Kimberly, 

try the fabric softener solution in a small spot first. Depending on the type of wallpaper, and the adhesive that as used, it might work well, or not well enough. Another possibility is using DIFF product form Home Depot, Steamer, or joy dish soap diluted in water. 

But, in the end I would still recommend hiring someone to do it for you, and you can sell some houses in the mean time ;)

Aug 26, 2010 11:41 AM
Anna Tolstoy
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Natick, MA

Hi Donna,

there are so many colors to choose from, and every brand is so creative by giving them elaborate names, one gets lost at times... One thing for sure: you can get ANY color custom mixed for you in any brand. Just bring them a sample, and they will scan it in the computer. I like the brand that offers big square samples with only one color on them. I can usually choose a color very easily with them, testing against white and/ or wooden trim, or next to the window. Then I bring it to the store and have it matched in the brand I like to use. 

Brand wise, it probably depends how you apply the paint: with roller, sprayer, brush etc. Some are thinner then others (while offering similar coverage).

 

Aug 26, 2010 11:48 AM
Barbara Todaro
RE/MAX Executive Realty - Happily Retired - Franklin, MA
Previously Affiliated with The Todaro Team

Anna....that's a great tip on removing wallpaper....no one likes that job.....

Aug 26, 2010 08:31 PM
Anna Tolstoy
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Natick, MA

Hi Barbara,

you know, I wrote a whole new post about removing wallpaper, seems to be of interest to many :)

Aug 27, 2010 03:58 AM