If you’ve been keeping up with our blog…which of course you should have been…you’ll know that we recently published a post discussing home staging tips and advice. The basic premise being that if you’re planning to sell your home at some point in the near future, there’s a lot you can do to increase its appeal and even its value.

Just a few examples of the kinds of staples that can make a big difference include clearing out the clutter, hiding a few of those family pictures away, cleaning the place like crazy and ensuring there’s the inviting smell of freshly baked bread or cookies about the place. Not to mention, the appeal that comes with a fresh coat of paint.

Freshly painted walls and ceilings have the kind of appeal that’s pretty universal. Significantly more so than walls and ceilings that look as if they haven’t been graced with any time or attention for years. Still, this doesn’t answer the all-important question for prospective sellers:

Which interior colors help sell homes successfully…and ideally for the best possible price?

Interior Paint Colors That Sell

The short answer…well, as usual – there isn’t one! The reason being that personal preferences are always going to vary significantly from one individual to the next. Hence, it technically is impossible to 100% guarantee a positive response to the way you present your home.

Nevertheless, it’s not to say that strategically painting your interiors cannot make a big difference. It can. Particularly if you focus on high-traffic surfaces (hallways, entries, your living room, etc.) which have a tendency to look rather tired and worn much earlier than other areas of the home.

As for color choices, the vast majority of home staging experts will tell you to always go with neutrals. Even if doing so goes largely against your own personal preferences, neutrals typically come highly recommended for two important reasons.

First of all, neutral colors (for the most part at least) help maximize natural light, making the room feel brighter, more spacious and that little bit nicer in general. Secondly, neutral colors represent something of a blank canvas. It’s a little like seeing a blank sheet of paper, rather than one that’s already been scribbled all over. You – or the prospective buyer in this instance – immediately begins using their imagination, imagining what they can and might do with a blank canvases that are your walls.

Just remember that if you do go for neutrals, this doesn’t mean that you have to limit your choices to white and off-white. In fact, going a little too sterile could end up having the exact opposite of the intended effect.

Are Neutrals Always Best?

In a word, no. Much as it may come across as contradictory with what’s been said above, there are many instances where bright and bold colors have had a positive effect on property values.

For example, recent history would seem to suggest that blue bathrooms add significantly more value to the property as a whole than those that are white or beige. Likewise, it seems that very specific shades of purple can have a strong impact on the perceived value and appeal of certain dining rooms.

But does this mean that it’s necessarily a good idea to go nuts with vibrant colors when selling your home? Not exactly.

Think of it like this – if your home is already colorful and features a much bolder color palette than the average, don’t for one minute feel as if you are obliged to paint over it all. Chances are you will have decorated and furnished your home in a manner that complements the color scheme. As such, if you suddenly go about a radical transformation with the intention of pleasing prospective buyers, you could erode much of your home’s appeal in doing so.

Instead, you might want to think about touching up and recoating your walls, in order to make whichever colors you’ve chosen look as perfect as possible. If the current colors work, stick with them. If you’re acutely aware that things look a little on the weird side, think about downgrading to neutrals.

Ask the Experts

Of course, plan B is to have the experts pay you a visit and share a little wisdom on the subject. Along with experience and expertise, professional painters can also view your home from a neutral third-party perspective and give you an honest overview. Even if the truth happens to be a little on the brutal side!