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The Wall Colors Homebuyers Are Loving Right Now
Ever watch a house-hunting show on TV where the homebuyers are touring a beautiful home, but they can’t seem to look past the paint colors on the walls? I can’t help but sympathize with the perplexed real estate agents as they feverishly explain the wondrous concept of a fresh coat of paint.
Turns out this happens often with buyers in real life, too. If you’re trying to sell your home, you might want to consider doing something about those walls to attract buyers, many of whom are apparently more willing to knock them down than paint them.
White Paint Isn’t Always the Answer
“Bright and bold colors can be a seller’s favorite, but these can also be polarizing and dated in the mind of buyers,” says Krista Forsberg, a real estate agent at Keller Williams Realty Integrity Edina in Minnesota. She recommends neutral palettes to sellers, though stark white isn’t the objective. Her go-to colors for wooing buyers? Swiss Coffee (a warm white), Revere Pewter (a version of the famous greige you’re always hearing about), and Silver Song (a cool gray), all from Benjamin Moore.
A neutral palette for the walls is key for making them “forgettable,” explains Andrew Westphal, an agent with Corcoran in New York City. “I like to say make the color clean and nice, but try to make the buyers forget what color the wall was as soon as they leave the listing,” he says. “Then they are seeing the whole property and not worrying about a red dining room or purple bathroom.”
Some homebuyers might like a purple bathroom after all, says Charles Weinraub, CEO of Handsome Homebuyer, a property-purchasing firm based in Long Island and New York City. In fact, a Zillow color analysis report from a few years back found that bathrooms painted in shades of blue or purple could potentially add an average of $5,000 to the sale price. A more recent update of Zillow’s color survey shows that light blue is now a hit with buyers and could add value at resale.
Still, Weinraub understands the allure of more muted color schemes for a home’s exterior. “Homebuyers are usually attracted to neutral colors because they want the creative freedom of designing the houses to their tastes after they’ve acquired it,” he says.
50 (Million) Shades of Gray
Purple might not be your thing, but don’t feel the need to default to beige, says Jennifer Baptista, a Realtor in Massachusetts. “Buyers generally want some form of a warm gray in the home.” She seconds the vote for Revere Pewter (which she says is quite similar to Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray) and also for Gray Owl, also from Benjamin Moore.
Gerard Splendore, a broker with Coldwell Banker Warburg in New York City, is also on Team Gray, noting you should pay special attention to where the sun rises and sets on the home. “South-facing rooms should use a cooler gray with a bluish cast, and north-facing rooms should have a warmer shade with pinkish undertones,” he says. Keep ceilings, doors, and moldings white, but “if homeowners desire contrast, they can add an accent color in a more saturated gray,” he says.
Parisa M. Afkhami, an agent also at Coldwell Banker Warburg, says in addition to gray, that white, black, and cream are in, though she’s not a fan of greige (sorry Revere Pewter fans!) and says yellow-greens and multicolored rooms are out. If the thought of all those swatches of neutral paints have your head swimming, Afkhami says, “A nice fresh coat of white paint can instantly transform a space.”
Marilyn Wexler, licensed associate real estate broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, says that even if she’s virtually staging an apartment, neutrals are her palette of choice. “Some buyers cannot see past paint color to a home that otherwise checks items off on their wish list,” she says. “If that’s the case, I refer them to before and after virtual staging examples for a reference as to how an apartment might look.”
Baptista has some advice for buyers looking at homes with less-than-desirable interior paint schemes: Grab a paint brush and get to work. “While loud paint colors in a home might seem like a real bummer [for buyers], painting is one of the easiest and most cost-friendly fixes,” she says. “Every home is going to cost you in some area, and if a home with a gorgeous layout and ugly paint comes into play, make sure you go all in on that home. Paint is easy to fix. Layout? Not so much.”
The Bottom Line for Sellers and Buyers
It’s understandable that you don’t want to pour too much money into a home you’re about to list. But certainly painting — which can be DIYed if you’re game — is a more doable option than, say, redoing your kitchen or bath.
While a fresh paint job is probably best appreciated in person, Forsberg notes that it’s important for property photos, too. “Even though painting is a quick fix for a new owner, it can be a turn off in the property photos,” she says, noting that it might even prevent a buyer from booking a showing. Her duty then is to then remind reluctant buyers of their must-have lists for a new home. If everything else they want is present in that home, she’ll remind them of how all it takes is a fresh coat of paint to transform the look.
If you’re on a house hunt of your own, don’t be too scared of bold colors or garish accent walls, says Forsberg. There might be a big opportunity for you as a buyer.
“In a competitive market, having buyers look at a property that has solid bones but wild color choices may mean they are able to purchase a home that other buyers have already passed on,” she says.
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A Colorful Copenhagen Apartment Has Rainbow Curtains & Papier-Mâché Fruit
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Name: Lærke Victoria Plougmann
Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
Size: 721 square feet
Type of Home: Apartment
Years Lived In: 2 years, owned
Lærke, who runs a popular Instagram account and is a sales advisor for Danish fashion brand By Malene Birger, loves to express herself artistically and visually. “Creativity is the focus point of my everyday life,” she writes. And the small apartment in Copenhagen she owns is an expression of her passion for creativity.
“The building is more than 80 years old, which brings out a lot of quirks and beautiful details in the architecture, like rosettes on the ceiling and French glass doors,” she writes. “Since I moved in two years ago, the space has seen its fair share of DIYs and renovation projects. I love that I’m able to mix the 1940s with the 2020s. I’m a firm believer that ‘old meets new’ creates the most integral connection.”
Apartment Therapy Survey:
My Style: My style is a mix of Danish design classics, kitsch, colors, patterns, and shapes. By now, I don’t think that anything is too crazy or “too much” for me. I love the odd and sometimes almost “ugly” pieces, which brings out personality and makes the space completely my own.
Inspiration: I find great inspiration in colors, art, patterns, and atmospheres. I cherish the feeling a certain place or situation can contribute, so it’s completely natural for me to think in these lanes when decorating. The color scheme in my bedroom, for example, is inspired by a sunrise and the curtains in my living room evoke a rainbow.
Favorite Element: My favorite element must be my living room! It’s a multifunctional space with room for coziness, clutter, and play. I love the color scheme and the joy it brings me. The living room is a collection of shapes and patterns — a color explosion, if you will, and I always find myself happy and content looking at this space. My friend once drew parallels between my living room and Pippi Longstocking’s Villa Villekulla, a place where norms exist to be broken. That’s the greatest compliment anybody could have ever given me.
Biggest Challenge: The apartment is quite spacious for it to be just me living here, but I still had a hard time figuring out how to fit in all of my ideas and purposes in each room. I tried to overcome it by making the living room a multifunctional space. It’s a television area, dining space, and workspace all in one. I can change the layout of the space regarding the purpose, which has been very helpful!
Proudest DIY: My proudest DIY is my papier-mâché fruits. I made them from scratch, and the design process and the actual execution took me hours. I love the dimensions of them and the childish almost theatrical feeling they bring to the space. So far I’ve made a strawberry, an orange, a pea pod, two cherries, and a banana. I’ve become obsessed.
Biggest Indulgence: My “Secret Garden” rug designed by Poppy Kalas for Layered is a precious possession of mine and my biggest indulgence. The rug was on the top of my wishlist and I enjoy it every single day. It’s formed the framework for the rest of my living room — worth every single penny!
Is there something unique about your home or the way you use it? My passion is to create, therefore my home is filled with furniture, decorations, and art I’ve made myself. For instance, the giant papier-mâché fruits, the tile tables I made with my father, the mirrors in the hallway, and the gold mobile I’ve made with my mother all coexist.
What are your favorite products you have bought for your home and why? I’ve chosen everything carefully and am therefore connected to it all, since everything means something special to me. If I have to highlight something, the rainbow curtains in my living room mean a lot to me. The colors stimulate me and make me feel happy and safe. For me, it’s pure color therapy. The weather in Denmark is often gray and wet, so the idea of the rainbow curtains was to make sure I would always be guaranteed great, sunny weather in here. If it’s dark and cold outside, I can draw the curtains and suddenly I’m in a bubble of warmth, color, and energy. It’s my very own rainbow hideout.
Please describe any helpful, inspiring, brilliant, or just plain useful small space maximizing and/or organizing tips you have: I’m truly an unorganized organizer. No matter how hard I try to become one of those people where everything is labeled and easy to access when needed, I have to surrender to being a mess. If you’re a bit of a collector like me, and an unorganized one as well, I have found that hidden storage space is key. Do you have high ceilings? Then build in shelves to use in that space. Do you have lots of room under your bed? Go ahead and use the storage space under there.
What most people get wrong about using color in their home: That it has to be chaotic and tiring to the eye. It doesn’t! You can achieve just as peaceful and calm a space by using colors as you would white or beige.
What are the biggest tricks/secrets to using color in decor? Stick to a common thread: a certain color scheme, or a color you like that can be the blocker or repeater in your interior. If you wish to fill your space with lots of colors, though, forget about coherence and let the colors speak for themselves. Don’t be scared, take a leap of faith! If it turns out wrong, a re-do is always a possibility.
What’s your favorite wall paint color of all time: I have a hard time choosing, hence why all rooms in my apartment have different wall colors. But, I must say, I love the peachy wall paint color in by bedroom. It’s so warm and inviting, and feels like waking up to an embrace.
Finally, what’s your absolute best home secret or decorating advice? Jump into the crazy ideas, and be completely indifferent to what people may think about you or your decorating style. A home is personal, and the most important thing is that it creates happiness and a feeling of security for you.
This submission’s responses and photos were edited for length/size and clarity.
This piece is part of Color Month, where we’re showing you the best ways to inject more color into your home and life. From paint color combos to vibrant house tours, head over here to see it all.