Paint Colors: realtors? (agents, house, buyers, cost)

[twinmma]

Any suggestions? I mean do you all have a go to paint color to suggest when someone is selling their home? If you have a name, that would be great! We are picking out paints...I know we are not selling, but will SOMEDAY.
I am picking neutrals, but with some kick so to speak. For example, one I like is Sherwin Williams Blonde. Another is Warm Buff from Lowes American Tradition (which Nate from Oprah used on a home I liked on one of the shows) Just curious what you all recommend. (Some agents are strictly agents and I know some offer some staging advice...so I thought this fit here.)

[2bindenver]

neutrals are in - today for houses.

do what you want. you can repaint in the "popular" colors before you put the home on the market.

[Gretchen B]

Good advice from 2b - paint your home in colors you love and that make you feel good. Unless you're planning on selling in the next couple of years, the "popular" colors will have probably totally changed by the time you're ready to sell.

I'll be telling my age , but I remember looking at model homes back in the late '70's and we were oohing and aahing over burnt orange countertops and harvest gold appliances (no kidding)

Then after too much color, we settled back into the "earthtones", as neutrals were lovingly referred to in the 80's.

Then on to "country blue" and "mauve" in the 90's (you could never call "mauve" pink - however you could substitute "dusty rose" if you preferred that tone of pink to "mauve" ) Oh, and don't forget the geese wallpaper borders.

So now we've been living with "neutrals" again for several years. And now we're hearing about the "new neutrals".

Of course each decade thinks their colors are absolutely THE best and look back on the previous color schemes and get nauseous . . . but in reality, I'm sure we'll have some new color palettes thrust upon us in the next few years, and we'll all think those are the best colors there are and "how could we have lived with all those drab colors of 2005!"

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

do what you want. you can repaint in the "popular" colors before you put the home on the market.

I Agree. My own realtor purchased a new home just this past year. He invited my wife and I over for dinner a few months ago. He couldn't wait to give us a tour. He was particulalry thrilled with one bedroom that he had painted using a color from Lowe's Nickelodeon paint selection....it was called Atomic Vomit Green!

I'm sure his teenage son loves it, but my guess is they will repaint it if the ever decide to sell!

It's your house now. Paint it whatever color makes you happy!

[NCMommy2-4]

The only LOUD color we have in our house is that popular burgundy in the study/office. Its very good and doesn't darken the room since there are 4 windows in total. The trim is white as is the wainscoating... so its only the top half that is painted. But all the colors are fairly neutral.

I know as a buyer, if I walk in a house with awful paint I just think "no biggie.. I can fix that" But WALLPAPER IS A KILLER! Borders are ok but too many mean RUN RUN RUN because to remove those will be a pain in the behind.

I removed wallpaper from my 1st house in 2 rooms and it was not very hard but just a lot of work.

So paint away... it can easily be repainted.

NcMommy

[Bill Keegan]

Originally Posted by twinmma

Any suggestions? I mean do you all have a go to paint color to suggest when someone is selling their home? If you have a name, that would be great! We are picking out paints...I know we are not selling, but will SOMEDAY.
I am picking neutrals, but with some kick so to speak.

If you're painting to sell, I say stick with the more neiutral tones, which still allow a great deal of flexibility. But when painting for yourself, paint the way you want. Go ahead & use all the brightest boldest colors you want. Live in your house & enjoy it. At the very worst, you neutralize it when you paint it to sell in a few years. A fresh coat of paint always helps the place look better & more attractive anyway, so having a color or two that you feel obligated to change is a good thing.
Even if you have a room or two that's brighter or more colorful than they should be, most buyers aren't going to dismiss a house soley on that criterion, so long as the rest of it is what they want. As I always tell buyers who complain that they don't like the color of a room or a wall, "Look at the house, not the color. Paint's Cheap."

[lovemaine]

I painted most of the rooms in my house Water Chestnut by Glidden. It's warm, but neutral. Then for some kick I did a couple of accent walls in more vibrant colors. It livens up the neutral, but will be easy to paint over when it's time to sell.

Happy New Year!

[olecapt]

As long as it is some shade of Navajo white....

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by twinmma

Any suggestions? I mean do you all have a go to paint color to suggest when someone is selling their home? If you have a name, that would be great! We are picking out paints...I know we are not selling, but will SOMEDAY.
I am picking neutrals, but with some kick so to speak. For example, one I like is Sherwin Williams Blonde. Another is Warm Buff from Lowes American Tradition (which Nate from Oprah used on a home I liked on one of the shows) Just curious what you all recommend. (Some agents are strictly agents and I know some offer some staging advice...so I thought this fit here.)

My suggestion is to hire a professional color coordinator. It will cost you about one hour, probably not more than $100 no matter where you live.

Your realtor should be able to refer you to one.

[DawnW]

We have sold 3 homes so far (fixed them up and sold them) and we are on our 4th.

We used Craftsman Gold at Lowe's (I think Eddie Bauer) for the kitchen. If you have light to med. wood cabinets, this just makes them pop out and look beautiful.

We use tans and greenish tans. Eddie Bauer makes a color called Khaki that is light and neutral. In our last house we used an off-white trim with that and it looked great.

In this house we have already gotten the above 2 colors and started. We also painted our sunroom a Benjamin Moore color called Camoflage. It sounds dreadful, but it is a light sage and really nice in a sunroom or small area.

Just some neutral suggestions.

I don't think neutrals will be "out" in the next few years. That is just my opinion.

Dawn