Tips & Trends: Increasing Home Value

When it comes to selling your home, first impressions are everything. Eager buyers may ask questions about house maintenance or the quality of your neighborhood and schools, but these things will pale in comparison to the feeling a buyer gets the first time they step into your home.

So, if you want to sell your house quickly, it’s critical that the decor is up-to-date and attractive. This includes the freshly-painted colors on your walls! Painting your home is quick and inexpensive way to make a dramatic improvement.

Get your painting project started!

Here are a few tips for painting your home for resale:

1. CHOOSE A PERFECT PALETTE

Think of your home’s color palette as a backdrop. This backdrop sets the stage for the home’s furnishings and decorations and gives rooms their unique feel.

Paint is a simple way to apply or change the whole feeling of a home. The wrong color inside or out can turn a buyer off from the entire house. To help appeal to the most buyers, seasoned real estate professionals recommend painting your home in neutral colors.

You’ll want to look at Earth tones, including shades of brown, green, blue, pale orange, and tans that are often depicted in nature.

Humans are naturally attracted to the great outdoors so warm and inviting colors for living rooms and dining rooms are often perfect for when selling your home. Because these colors are often flat and muted, they’re soothing and relaxing to the eye and will go well with most people’s furniture. Earth tones also complement rooms with a lot of wood, stone, metal or glass.

2. WHAT IF YOU ARE STILL LIVING THERE?

If you’re still living in the home you’re selling, changing things up can be tricky. Just know it does not mean you’ll be stuck inside a bland, beige nightmare until your home sells!

Neutral colors are not limited to shades of white and beige. With a little pre-planning you can use shades of browns, greens and even bolder colors to highlight your home but still set the stage for a sale.

 

3. EXTERIOR MATTERS

Don’t forget about the exterior of your home when it comes to preparing for resale. Painting the exterior can also help attract potential buyers. Look around your block and see what’s trending in your community. This is not a time to go bold.

You’ll also want to know the type and style of your home before selecting a color. This is because beige might not work on all styles of homes. When picking an exterior color consider the type of house. Muted colors might not work on a Victorian home, where bolder hues would make the interesting architectural details pop. A farmhouse, would look odd in bright red because more traditionally, they are light colors like white or light gray.

4. HOW DO COLORS STACK UP?

Zillow did research on what colors work best for what homes. It’s impressive to see that just a simple change of color can increase your home’s value by thousands of dollars.

Here are Zillow’s findings on what colors to choose (and which to avoid at all cost):

Kitchens:

• Blue (light blue to soft gray-blue): home sold for $1,809 more on average.
• Yellow (straw yellow to marigold): home sold for $820 less on average.

Bathrooms:

• Blue/purple (light powder blue to periwinkle): home sold for $5,440 more on average.
• White/no color (off-white or eggshell white): home sold for $4,035 less on average.

Bedrooms:

• Blue (light cerulean to cadet blue): home sold for $1,856 more on average.
• Pink (light pink, to antique rose; often found in kids’ rooms): home sold for $208 less on average.

Dining Room:

• Blue (slate blue to pale gray blue; navy blue also found in dining rooms with white shiplap): home sold for $1,926 more on average.
• Red (brick red, terracotta, or copper red): home sold for $2,031 less on average.

 Living Room:

• Brown (light beige, pale taupe, oatmeal): home sold for $1,809 more on average.
• Blue (pastel gray, pale silver to light blue, periwinkle): home sold for $820 less on average.

Home Exterior:

• Gray/brown (greige — mix of gray and beige): home sold for $1,526 more on average.
• Brown (medium brown, taupe, or stucco): home sold for $1,970 less on average.

Front Door:

• Gray/blue (navy blue to dark gray or charcoal): home sold for $1,514 more on average.

 

Keep these tips in mind, and you’ll be able to increase your home’s value with just a simple coat of paint! And stop by GNH Lumber for paint suggestions, guidance and help at every step along the way.

Whether your home is brand new or in need of an update, the best way to make it stand out on the curb is with a beautiful coat of exterior paint. While this might sound like an opportunity to go crazy expressing yourself with bright and busy colors, there are many things to consider before choosing a color scheme for your house:

• Do you intend to resell your home in a few years?
• How will the color scheme work with your gardens and landscaping?
• Does your house have wood or vinyl siding?
• Are there pre-existing colored materials, like brick, stone or stucco, to complement with your palette?
• What is your region or climate? What are your neighborhood trends?

Get your painting project started!

If you’re planning to sell your home in the future, sticking to a more neutral color scheme is a good resale strategy. Keep in mind that tried and true combinations are always a great choice.

Five of the most popular house colors are:

• White/Off-white
• Tan
• Gray
• Yellow
• Blue

These are time-tested hues that work well against green lawns and gardens, and complement reddish brick fireplaces and roofs. You can add more impact by using darker or lighter variations of the main house color to accent things like window frames, shutters and trim.

If your plan is to keep your home for generations to come, or you want to make it stand out from the rest in the neighborhood, there are ways to successfully add vibrant colors without losing curb appeal.

• Consider using that daring red paint on your front door in order to easily direct visitors to your doorsill.
• Or add bright yellow shutters against a pale blue house to create nice visual contrast.
• Sometimes highlighting an architectural element like an archway or chimney with a bold color can have a whimsical result.

If you’re working with natural wood stains, you can choose to highlight the natural warmth by adding cool-hued accents. Very large homes appear less sprawling with a bright white coat of paint accented with primary colors. Smaller homes are more forgiving with a vibrant color palette, especially when the roof and trim are neutral toned. Using pastel versions of a bright color is a great way to add uniqueness and charm without creating disharmony with the environment.

Whatever color scheme you choose, make sure to follow general rules for color harmonies, so your hues won’t compete or clash.

Not sure what your final color scheme will look like? Looking for a way to test out some wild ideas? Check out this great tool from Benjamin Moore! Paint your home online and see how colors will look before making a purchase with the Personal Color Viewer virtual paint color visualization tool.

How does it work? Simply choose a home exterior that is similar to yours (or upload a photo) and have fun experimenting with all kinds of color schemes for body, trim, shutters and door. The best part is, when you’re done, you’ll have a list of Benjamin Moore paint colors to bring in to GNH Lumber for your new home exterior color scheme.

So, explore your color options and get creative with the possibilities! Your home’s exterior color scheme will greet you every time you turn into your driveway. So, make choices that will enhance your home’s appearance for years to come… And don’t forget to have fun!