Lifestyle

7 Paint Colors That Make a House Sell for More Money

Forget the all-white kitchen. It’s one of the golden rules of real estate: Paint your walls white before your home hits the market so buyers can imagine a blank canvas. But the most recent paint study from a major real estate site shows that, on the contrary, adding rich, moody hues to your home can help you drive up the sale price. According to Zillow’s paint color analysis, buyers pay, on average, $2,512 more for a house with a kitchen painted in charcoal gray, while a dark gray living room can net sellers $1,755 more. In 2024, color—particularly bold, dramatic, statement-making color—remains a top priority, Amanda Pendleton, home trends expert at Zillow, says. “All-white walls are not only falling out of fashion but can even hurt a home’s value,” she says. She expects to see more homeowners take color risks in 2024 and increasingly see those risks pay off when it’s time to sell. Designers say the study rings true to their experience. “The moody work of designers like Jake Arnold, Amber Interiors, and Heidi Callier has been dominating Pinterest, so it’s no wonder homeowners are emulating the cozy styles and searching them out when they go to purchase a new home,” Bethany Adams, principal of her eponymous design firm in Louisville, Kentucky, says. “Whether dark gray, green, blue, or another deep color with neutral undertones, these spaces are incredibly evocative and easy to imagine oneself in.” The Problem With White Paint Colors By contrast, the Zillow study shows that a white kitchen is losing ground and can actually cause a buyer’s offer to drop by more than $600. That may be because a blank canvas can sometimes read as boring and basic. “When staging a home for sale, most guides will tell you to simply paint everything white, but luxury home buyers are looking for turnkey properties that look and feel designed, not institutional,” Jason Saft, founder of Staged To Sell Home, a staging service in New York, says. “People strive to have the perfect backdrop at home.” That doesn’t mean that you can't have a single white wall. Houston designer Benjamin Johnston says, “White walls will never go out of style. They lend a beautiful foundation to introduce color through decor, furniture, and art.” But he agrees that rich hues can boost a sale price, explaining, “That being said, social media and the ease with which others can now showcase their homes can cause a bit of design FOMO. People see others experimenting with color, pattern, and wallpaper, and want to try it themselves. There’s now just an abundance of color and creativity to explore.” The penchant for dark, rich colors certainly comes from exposure to mood boards and projects seen on social media, but it connects with us on a deeper level. “Human beings have an innate desire for belonging,” Mehnaz Khan, a color psychology specialist and principal at Color Conscious Living in Albany, New York, says. “And if you have a house that has the same interior colors as a favorite influencer, that creates a sense of belonging and community. That’s why people follow trends.” Also, Khan points out, no one wants a boring home. On a subconscious level, the beiges of the aughts create an illusion that “the house is stuck, and nobody wants to spend their life savings on a house that needs work,” Khan says. Where to Focus Your Budget When Repainting Ahead of summer, a busy time for home buying, Zillow’s latest Market Heat Index shows that nationally the market is turning neutral, though sellers still have a slight upper hand. Just keep in mind that all real estate is local. Some metro areas are tilted strongly in favor of buyers, while others favor sellers. It all depends on demand and how many homes are listed for sale in your area. Regardless of whether you’re in a buyer’s market or a seller’s market, certain homes that have desirable features and are up-to-date and move-in ready can still sell faster and for money, Pendleton says. “The right paint colors can deliver a powerful visual signal to a buyer that a home is well maintained and contemporary, while the wrong paint colors can create the opposite impression,” she adds. Zillow research finds that painting a home’s common spaces has the greatest impact on resale value. “Homeowners will get the biggest bang for their buck if they’re strategic about the colors they select in their kitchen and living room,” Pendleton says. For more paint color inspiration: Joanna Gaines Reveals Her Go-To Paint Colors 11 Versatile Paint Colors Designers Swear By These Are the Absolute Best Paint Colors for Your Living Room

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