What color to paint rooms prior to listing house for sale?

We are preparing to put our house on the market. I want to paint the walls a color that will be attractive to the most people - without going pure white! Suggestions? Also, would you use just one color throughout the house? It's a small, dark house!
  13 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Jan 12, 2016
    I would maybe go with soft shades of beige,taupe or pale gray.Since you are stating the house is small and dark,keeping the color lighter will brighten up the rooms.
  • Tracy Hudson Tracy Hudson on Jan 12, 2016
    I agree with Janet on the colors. You might also use a pale yellow in the kitchen. When I sold my last house my realtor also suggested changing every light bulb in the house (including closets and garage, as they turn on almost every light for an open house.
  • I have renovated a few houses in the past and here are some color ideas for you- Oatland Subtle Taupe & Woodrow Wilson Putty (these are Valspar colors at Lowes) I love Oatland because it is a nice color and changes with the amount of sun in a room and it is very neutral and more of a medium color and will make white trim pop. For renovating go with an eggshell or satin and I just used Behr i300 paint in a gorgeous blue for my teen son's room and I love this low cost contractor grade paint. eggshell is great because it will not reflect as much light on the walls and show less imperfections. Depending upon how much you want to spend- change out key light fixtures to LED lights which are better lighting than CFLs which I dislike with a passion. Yellow is not a good color to paint (even though it is a bright and sunny color) because many people are turned off by it. I want to add that Daylight in LEDs are just that- bright and will help with lighting up the place. Even if you have flurorescent light fixtures you change them to LEDs too which will change the color of the lighting in the room. Other small projects would be to update light fixtures (or spray paint with hammered spray paint) and make sure door knobs look good. The little things people notice. good luck
  • Kini Kini on Jan 12, 2016
    Grey seems to be the New neutral color for 2016
  • Edith Maxey Edith Maxey on Jan 12, 2016
    Definitely pale gray according to my realtor.
  • LD LD on Jan 12, 2016
    The rule of thumb when selling a home, is to stay with neutral range colors, in older to pull a larger drawing of potential buyers. I own a condo which only gets indirect sunlight, so I choose to go with the following colors throughout for uniformity and to give the space a light airy feel. Sherwin Williams Paint: SW 7556 Creme for walls, SW 7007 Ceiling Bright White for ceiling, and SW 7005 Pure White for trim, baseboards and doors. White ceilings give not only height to the room, but also reflect light throughout the room. White trim is classic and will go with anything. I know reactors and designers are into light grey, but this is a color that some home buyers don't like. You want to stick with classic colors thereby appealing to the majority of buyers, for buyers today just want to move in and unpack. With going with classic colors then the new home buyer can add their splash color through wall art and accessories.
  • Cindi Cindi on Jan 12, 2016
    Light, and neutral. Whatever you might like yourself, if you keep it neutral, and light, it will show your house best to the majority of buyers.
  • Diana Deiley Diana Deiley on Jan 12, 2016
    A light neutral color is Sundrenched Sand (WalMart). It's a very calming goes with anything kind of color. Not yellow, not beige, not cream, just one of those GREAT light colors. Good luck.
  • MN Mom MN Mom on Jan 12, 2016
    If you're working with a realtor s/he should be able to guide you on what's "hot" in your area. Best wishes with the sale of your home!
  • Sandy Sandy on Jan 13, 2016
    have seen where sellers give an amount for painting allowance in our area
  • Dfm Dfm on Jan 13, 2016
    "light bright and airy, warm and inviting". and neutral. yup, boring. the buyer has to see a blank canvass to envision their stuff in this new place. If every room is neutral it's more cohesive and perceived to have better "flow". if you have one of those areas in the house that's problematic with a furniture placement- leave a few pieces in place to suggest its use. speaking of furniture- if you haven't moved out before showing the house- neutral slip covers - i came back after a showing to find muddy boot prints on the couch. AND...have the place squeaky clean. the chrome should shine. no water spots in the shower or tub. garbage cans empty. home baked cookies cooling on the counter or baked bread- good things. smells like home.( and the oven works)...candles left burning = irresponsible home owner....what else have they been careless with? just a few thing beyond paint to consider.
  • Jack Jack on Jan 14, 2016
    A light beige and use it thru the entire house..........yes it's boring but it's"neutral " and lightens up the house just enough🤓
  • Lorraine Lorraine on Jan 17, 2016
    We are renting,and all the walls are a light beige and white trim....bleh! All houses used to be egg shell....bleh!! Since you said your house is small and dark,I would paint it White,a clean bright white to bring as much light as possible. If you stage your home maybe add an accent color to give a wall some depth or just intrest,maybe a pretty Grey, or sea glass aqua. Borrow if you don't own Large Mirrors placed strategically to also bring more light in.