The Best Paint Colors for Selling a House (Interior and Exterior)

When you are getting ready to sell a house, or are wondering, should I sell my house now or wait, then you may be thinking about repainting to get your home ready to sell. If you are repainting your home for yourself, then it’s ok to go bold, and get creative either on your own, or by working with an interior designer. When you are repainting your house to sell, however, you’ll want to keep color trends and home staging best practices in mind. A real estate agent or professional home stager can be your best source to find the ideal solution. But before you hire the professionals, consider these tips.

Choose one neutral color for common areas

One of the best strategies when repainting to sell a home is to pick a neutral color and stick to it in the living room, family room, entryway, dining room, and kitchen. Following this neutral plan will give your home a clean slate to then add colors and add light as needed. Grays, whites, and beiges can work for most homes. Some colors to consider are: Agreeable Gray by Sherwin-Williams, Stone Hearth by Benjamin Moore, and Strong White by Farrow & Ball.

Pay attention to kitchen accents

While kitchens should generally be painted in neutral tones similar to the rest of your home, you may also want to give it its own palette, or add accents to distinguish the kitchen from the rest of the house. Add accents to an island or cabinets in a pop hues such as green or blue, or and a tiled backsplash behind your stove. An accent wall either from paint or wallpaper will also add some energy to your kitchen, and make your home appeal to buyers.

Creative powder rooms

Powder rooms or bathrooms are other areas in your home where you have options about whether to paint or not. You can start with a neutral tone as in the rest of your house, or you can do something different in the bathroom to add some flair, such as a green hue with October Mist by Benjamin Moore, or a gray such as Sherwin-Williams Sweater Weather. Wallpaper is also on trend right now for bathrooms as in kitchens, and can be used as either an accent wall, or to wallpaper the entire space. Keeping the bathroom walls neutral and leaving accents for fixtures and textiles is another way to update.

Minor exterior updates (without a complete repainting job)

Unless you are selling your home as is, you probably will need to paint some of the interior, especially high-traffic areas like the kitchen and bathrooms where you’ll need to cover up wear and tear. The exterior, however, may have more flexibility, especially if you have recently repainted your home. If you do need to repaint the exterior, because of water damage, chipped or peeling paint, or fading, consider light colors that are on trend such as Creamy by Sherwin-Williams, October Mist by Benjamin Moore, and Evergreen Fog by Sherwin-Williams. Another way to give your home’s exterior an update is by painting just the front door in a shade of green, blue, yellow, or even red.

Your real estate agent is your best source to determine the painting project for your home — whether you are selling or just giving it a refresh to enjoy.