These days, homeowners are taking no chances whatsoever when it comes to the value of their property. Up and down the United States, the fight to maximize property values has never been more intensive or more important. When the time comes to sell, there’s plenty that can be done to create the kind of image that resonates with buyers. But at the same time, if you haven’t made all the right moves when it comes to design and décor…well, there’s a pretty strong chance you won’t quite come out with the kind of perceived value you expected.
What’s In a Color?
If you’ve ever wondered exactly how the colors you select for the different rooms of your home affect property values, the answer is considerably. According to the results of a recent study carried out by leading real estate website Zillow, the extent to which simple color choices affect perceived home values is actually quite astonishing. Especially given the fact that all we are talking about here is paint – paint that could quickly, cheaply and easily be painted over by the new owners, should they decide to buy the property.
In specifics, Zillow came to the conclusion that if you play your cards right with regards to the interior colors you choose for your home, you could end up adding an extra $5,000 to the sale price. They came to this conclusion by taking into account data from 50,000 property sales across the United States, in order to see if there were any patterns between color choices and prices.
The results were pretty conclusive – there really is a connection!
So according to the report published by Zillow following the study, here’s a quick rundown of just a few examples of how specific colors can have a positive impact on home values:
The Kitchen – Yellow
The undisputed heart of the home and increasingly the single most important room in the eyes of house-hunters chasing their perfect property. It’s no secret that a fantastic kitchen really can drive up the value of any residential property enormously. But how about the color of the kitchen? Well, in carrying out their research, Zillow found that properties with kitchens decorated in yellow added on average an extra $1,360 to the value of the property, when compared to similar kitchens in different colors. Interestingly, they also found that while white is usually the color of choice for showroom kitchens and display models, most homebuyers are actually turned off by ‘cold’ and ‘sterile’ bright white kitchens.
The Bedroom – Light Green
It can be extremely difficult to get it right when it comes to choosing the best possible color for the bedroom, given the fact that it is the single most personal room in the property. As such, what sets the most outstanding ambience in your eyes may be nothing short of unbearable in the eyes of a potential buyer. As such, the experts at Zillow recommend sticking with soothing tones and colors – khaki and lighter greens having been found to increase overall property values by around $1,300 on average. If looking to sell, you have to remember that you are catering to the tastes of buyers – not your own!
The Living Room – Light Gray
Unsurprisingly, the study also brought to life evidence that the best colors and tones to go for in the busiest room of the home are neutrals. Specifically, the research carried out found that dove or light-grey paint resonated particularly well with buyers – generally adding somewhere in the region of $1,100 to the value of the property as a whole. Right at the other end of the scale, it was noted that living rooms decorated in terracotta colors generally brought about a dip in overall property values of just under $800. In general, orange did not perform particularly well as a living room color!
The Bathroom – Oatmeal
The most uninfluential room of the home when it came to property values in accordance with color choices turned out to be the bathroom. Generally speaking, it was found that relatively understated and neutral tones like beige, oatmeal and tan came out as the most attractive in the eyes of potential buyers. In such instances however, the average improvement on overall property values attributed to such colors came out at approximately $300. As for colors to avoid, the research carried out by Zillow found that bathrooms decorated largely in dark brown had a habit of knocking more than $450 off the overall value of the property.
The Dining Room – Purple
Last but not least, dining rooms are also extremely personal and often decorated entirely in accordance with the unique tastes of the property owner. However, if you’re looking to spruce up your dining room with the intention of improving the value of your property, evidence suggests there’s one specific color you should be going for…and it’s purple. Perhaps not quite the color you’d have expected, but the study carried out by Zillow nonetheless found that dining rooms painted in eggplant, mauve or lavender generally added an impressive $1,120 to the value of the property. By contrast, despite the fact that greys proved highly popular and influential in other rooms of the home, darker-grey dining rooms were found to knock an average of $1,100 off the property.
For more information or help with your own interior decorating projects, get in touch with the Homm CPS team today.