The Best Colors To Paint Your Walls When Selling Your Home

Let’s assume you already agree with me that it’s critically important to paint your walls inside of your home when you’re planning to sell.

Let’s also assume you understand that it’s not necessary to paint every single room. And you already know which rooms you absolutely must re-paint.

If we’re not on the same page, before you read any further, please go read my article, The Most Important (and Cheap) Investment to Make When You Sell Your Home. Then, when you finish, come on back. I’ll wait for you.

Now that you understand why it’s so important to paint your walls, the last thing you need to decide is what colors to choose.

Take a second to look at the Behr website. Not such an easy choice.

There are thousands and thousands of colors to choose from. Totally overwhelming.

So how do you choose?

Here’s how.

First, Name Your Three Favorite Colors

Quick quiz… what are your three favorite colors? How long have they been on your walls?

I can assure you that if you’ve lived in your home for more than 15 years, these are all outdated and unappealing to today’s buyers. Fashions change. It’s that simple.

Once upon a time when the most popular colors were warm tones. Yellow, cream, beige.

When I moved into my home in 1996, I remember feeling that my interior could have been featured in a home design magazine. I received compliments galore.

Well, that was then. When we decided it was time to sell our home last year, I was told by my realtor friend that the first thing I had to do was repaint my living room.

What? Not my precious BARLEY color?!? Not Benjamin Moore 199!

I swore by that color shade. Then I swore again when I realized it was true. Tastes had changed and so have the most popular color palettes.

My Two Simple Rules For Choosing New Colors to Paint Your Walls

There are literally thousands of colors available. I know, it’s confusing. Here are two simple rules to follow that will always work.

Remember the Four C’s

Cool. Warm colors are no longer cool. Cool colors are cool. That means varying shades of gray, gray-blue, gray-brown, gray-green. Gray. Don’t run screaming. These colors appeal to the Millennials who have purchasing power. Remember? The ones who have no imagination. Make it easy for them and follow the colors you’re seeing in home magazines.

Cohesive. Be sure all the colors blend well together. Be Cohesive. Even if your home doesn’t have the increasingly popular “Open Plan,” make it feel that way. Have shades of similar colors flow from one room to the next.

Calming. No multitudes of different jewel-like tones. No bright blues, reds, greens and yellows. No purple (unless it’s a gray purple). This is not the Rainbow Generation. These buyers are stressed and want to meditate on a regular basis, but they’re always too busy. Calm them down.

Crisp. Agents are always talking about how rooms should look “crisp.” I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I know it’s good. If you follow the suggestions I set out in this blog, your home is sure to achieve the proper “Crisp-ness”.

Start with the Benjamin Moore OC Line

I recommend and often use colors out of the Benjamin Moore OC Line — the Off-White Color Chart. There are 140 of them. Just stay neutral and on the gray side.

My particular favorites will work well in almost any room:

OC-18     Dove Wing

OC-27     Balboa Mist

OC-41     French Canvas

OC-49     Titanium

OC-50     November Rain

OC-52     Gray Owl

Then there’s my absolute favorite page in the color wheels. Yes — I have a Benjamin Moore page that you can use anywhere in any combination. It’s HC-170 to HC-173.

HC-170     Stonington Gray

HC-171     Wickham Gray

HC-172     Revere Pewter

HC-173     Edgecomb Gray

I’ve used these color combinations in homes I’ve renovated and in homes I’ve staged. They work.

DO NOT paint your walls with the colors on the top or bottom of that page. Coventry Gray and Lancaster Whitewash come out ugly when they hit the walls. You just have to trust me.

Try a sample patch on a wall and see what happens when the light hits it. Colors change hue depending on the amount of light coming in. Do this before making a commitment.

Always choose flat paint for the walls with White Dove in Semi-Gloss for the trim and doors. Ceilings should be just plain flat Ceiling White.

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