Best Paint Colours for Selling Your House (2024)

When it comes to selling your house, first impressions matter.

The colours you choose to paint your home can greatly impact potential buyers' perceptions and ultimately influence their decision. In a competitive real estate market, selecting the right paint colours becomes crucial in creating a space that appeals to a wide range of buyers.

This article aims to guide you through the process of choosing the best paint colours for selling your house, helping you create an inviting and neutral environment that will captivate prospective buyers.

By understanding buyer preferences, exploring popular colour choices, and considering room-specific considerations, you'll be well-equipped to make informed decisions that enhance the overall appeal of your home. So, let's dive in and discover the transformative power of fresh coat of paint in selling your house successfully.

While vibrant or unusual paint colours are perfectly fine to opt for in your home, the best practice around paint colours is a little different for those looking to sell a house.

You want viewers to be able to envision moving into your home and adding their own interior preferences to it. Not distracted with styling which doesn't match their own tastes.

There are many factors which can play a direct role in how you should style your home for sale. There are many ways to get this wrong. For example, not tying in with current interior design trends, considering the demographics of potential buyers, and not considering the architectural style of the property.

Let's take a look at the main factors worth considering.

One of the safest places to look for colour inspiration for your home's interior is current design trends.

Spend a little time looking through interior design websites and resources such as the Tikkruila blog which is packed with helpful information to inspire and inform. Take some time searching online for inspiration, there is no shortage of resources online to help.

Current trends tend to focus on soft neutrals, standard white, off-whites, greys, or other lighter shades.

Who is most likely to purchase your house is another consideration to take before choosing colours and buying paint.

The target buyers for a five-bedroom detached house with traditional architecture and a one-bedroom flat next to a University or college would be very different. And the amount of creative licence you would get along with it would be quite different.

As briefly touched on above the style of property you are looking to sell can also be a factor worth considering.

For contemporary spaces, current interior design trends are an excellent go-to option. However, choosing paint colours for traditional spaces should be treated a little differently. Depending on the era, and current design elements in your space. Period design can mean quite a few different things and the paint colours worth focusing on for each are a little different for each. We have actually written quite extensively about this topic here.

Of course, you still have the option of opting for a more contemporary colour scheme. The choice is always yours.

The amount of natural light a room gets is another factor which can impact which paint colours work best. Rooms which don't get enough natural light will greatly benefit from lighter paint colours.

Do take the time to test out paint colours in both natural light and artificial light as it can make a difference to the vibe they give off. Make sure you take the time test out colours with sample pots to get a good idea of how they look in different situations.

While this may sound a bit strange stay with me, as it will make sense!

For this consideration, we are focused on how the sun hits your house bringing warmth into entire interior of your home.

North-facing rooms have cooler light to deal with. You may want make use of warmer shades in these spaces to counter the cooler tones the room naturally have.

Colours such as yellow, pink, or dark brown, will work well to give a north-facing room a cosy vibe.

If you are looking for lighter hues to use here, off-white shades with undertones of the above colours will work well.

East-facing rooms get more natural light in the mornings, while West-facing spaces shine more in the early evenings.

Try to consider which times you will be using the space to know which colour would work best.

Neutral shades are a solid pick for decorating to sell your house. This group of colours tend to be quite effective in attracting a wide range of potential buyers as it offers a soft unassuming backdrop.

Feather F487 is one of our go-to neutral shades for creating relaxing and alluring spaces. This neutral has a pale cream vibe with the slightest touch of grey. Ideal for creating a sense of openness and space.

Keen to create a sense of warmth in a space? Halva G459 is the answer. This shade is essentially a warm beige with soft yellow undertones. This shade works very well with soft whites to create a very tied-together look.

Our last neutral shade to touch on is one of our most popular shades, Mulberry H484. Mulberry has a gentle calming vibe and creates a sense of reassurance and relaxation anywhere it is applied.

Off-white shades interior paint are also commonly seen in houses for sale. These colours offer a more visually interesting option to typical whites while still offering the space-creating effects that standard white paint does.

The great thing about off-white shades is that they are a very diverse group of colours capable of evoking a wide range winning combination of emotions and vibes.

For example, we have Arctic Fox S503. This off-white hue has a little drop of yellow through it giving it a warm and comfortable softness. Ideal for a bedroom or space where you look to relax.

To showcase just how diverse this group of colours can be we have Palace K503. Essentially, this is white imbued with a touch of pink. The end result is a shade that creates a sleek contemporary look wherever it is painted.

Lastly, we have Seagull F496. Another off-white shade but this time with a cool, soothing blue undertone. This shade excels at creating the illusion of space and openness. A solid pick for small spaces which feel a little claustrophobic. A couple of coats of Seagull F496 is sure to dramatically change the vibe for the better.

Lighter greys are another group of colours that can be used to great effect to help sell your house. Light grey brings a unique elegance, soothing edge, and a sense of luxury to a space which is very challenging to replicate with most other colours.

Bungalow G500 is one of our favourite pale grey hues for brightening a home. This lighter grey is more of a classic example of the shade with slight blue undertones, bright, and a soft, cool appeal.

Another one of our favourite grey shades is Necklace F428. This colour is stunning light grey. This time a subtle shade evokes a calming and relaxing appeal. Ideal for making a potential buyer feel at home as they view your home.

Searching for something a little more complex? Salvador Sky has got you covered. This grey has quite a few soft undertones in it. This includes a tiny touch of blue, mint green, and the slightest drop of cream. The end result is a versatile shade that will work beautifully in a wide array of spaces.

If you have made it to this point I'm sure you will have noticed that all of the colours we have spoken about it have all been quite light. This doesn't mean you can't explore darker shades or brighter hues as accent colours to add a little more depth and visual appeal to a space.

Strategically selecting complementary shades is a clever way to enhance your home's appeal.

You can be quite creative when it comes to this though in terms of the amount of colour you would want to use I would recommend leaning on the 60:30:10 colour scheme concept and trying to keep any very vibrant hues in the 10% part. The 60%, and 30%, can be some of the hues we recommended above.

Decorating too liberally with the 10% shade will only overpower your space and ruin all of the hard work you have done so far making this room stylish and visually appealing.

While keeping the advice in this article in mind while decorating any space or entire house will benefit the vibe your home has when looking to sell your house, there are a few considerations you may want to have to make the most out of your efforts.

Here are a few examples of the most common areas in your home.

Living rooms are a place we spend a lot of time relaxing after a long day. Try to stick with warm, and cosy shades such as the neutrals we discussed above. The goal here is to create a warm and welcoming vibe and a spacious atmosphere.

If you are decorating a hallway try to stick to light greys, or play with one of the off-white shades we talked about above to create a bit more visual interest. Many entranceways can be a little short on light and feel small the light paint colours above can make a huge difference. Do try to open the space up even more with large mirrors to reflect the light it does get.

In a kitchen, the best colours tend to be those that promote freshness and cleanliness. Think bright white, or off-white hues with a green undertone. Creating warmed with soft neutrals is another brilliant path to take. Kitchen cabinets and worktops are great ways of adding a bit of your own personality into your space with colour.

Bedrooms are a place we all go to relax and in these spaces creating a serene and calming environment is typically the focus when decorating this space. Pale blues, whites, or earthy tones are all great choices.

So, which paint colours are best for selling a house? It depends.

There are many considerations which will play a role in the colours which colours are best to choose including the type of property you are renovating, who the target buyer is, and the space you are decorating to name a few of the main factors.

If you were only to take one point away from this article it would be to try to keep your home as open and neutral as possible to maximise appeal to a potential buyer.

You want buyers to be able to envision living there and not be focused on styles which do not match their own. White, off-whites, neutrals, and light greys are very commonly seen in homes for sale. There is a good reason for new build houses are always painted in these colours.

Decorating your home is a great way of enhancing its appeal and helping close the sale. Hopefully, this guide has been helpful in inspiring your creative juices in ways you can start your next project.