Selling Your Home? Color Matters!

Choose the Right Colors to Get Top Dollar for Your Home

Credit: Getty Images

If you’re thinking about putting your home on the market, you’ll likely get advice that some cosmetic updates may be needed to help bring the highest offers. Yes, even in today’s market. One of the most cost-effective ways to give your home a refresh is a fresh coat of paint. Knowing which colors to choose to appeal to buyers is important.

According to a July 2021 survey by real estate marketplace Zillow, certain paint colors can increase the amount of money a buyer is likely to offer for a home. Their research also discovered which paint colors can decrease the amount buyers will spend. So keep reading before heading out to your local paint store!

Bathroom: Light Blue

Designed bathroom with stylish blue cabinet, blue wall tiles and big round mirror

Surprisingly, a light-blue bathroom garnered the most interest, with survey participants noting they’d be more likely to tour and purchase these homes over others. Plus, they’d be willing to pay 1.6 percent more for a home with a light-blue bathroom. That’s an increase of $24,000 for a home with a sale price of $1.5 million, which is close to the median sale price in Santa Barbara.

Pro tip: When selling a home, try to create a Zen-like feel in the bathroom. A bathroom with white walls and blue cabinets paired with warm wood accents and fluffy white towels can go a long way in making buyers feel like they’ve entered a luxury spa.

Kitchen: White

Although design trends are veering away from the all-white kitchen that has been so popular for the last decade, I always recommend playing it safe and painting a kitchen mostly white or neutral when selling a home. According to the study, on average, a neutral light color greatly increased interest in touring a property. It also ups the likelihood of a potential buyer purchasing the home.

Pro tip: White kitchen walls paired with two-toned cabinets — upper cabinetry painted white and a darker color on the lower ones — is a great way to bring on-trend design while keeping a kitchen mostly light and neutral.

Bedroom: Dark Blue

Blue for the win again! Survey respondents gravitated to bedroom walls painted in deeper shades of blue, indicating that they’re willing to offer more for homes with dark-blue walls in the primary bedroom. Like the bathroom, bedrooms should be a calming space, and a deep blue can help foster a cozy atmosphere.

Pro tip: Whereas a dark-blue accent wall can be stunning, it can make some rooms feel smaller. When selling homes, I recommend painting the bedroom walls white and decorating with blue bedding and artwork for appeal.

Avoid: Bright Colors

Most of those surveyed had a negative reaction to bright colors, indicating that homes with bright paint colors in any room were least likely to inspire intentions of viewing or making an offer on a home.

So, if you’re preparing to sell your home, keep your home’s new owners in mind when making cosmetic renovation or decorating decisions. Hopefully you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank with the paint brush still in hand!

Christine S. Cowles is owner of Styled & Staged Santa Barbara, offering home staging and interior styling services. She is a certified Staging Design Professional™, member of Santa Barbara Association of Realtors and Real Estate Staging Association, and a proud WEV graduate. She can be reached at info@styledandstagedsb.com.

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