House for sale - must all walls be white or cream?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that there's no need to repaint with those soft colors. Wouldn't bother me at all. I do get annoyed when I see very intense colors on bedroom walls because they aren't as easy to cover, but I wouldn't pass on a really great house over paint colors no matter how much I hated them.

The key is for the house to be sparkling clean. And I mean CLEAN. No scuff marks on the walls, no dirt on the carpets, no rust on bathroom fixtures. If I see that kind of carelessness, I immediately assume the owner is negligent and has also neglected important maintenance.

I think it's silly to assume negligence based on those things, especially scuff marks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have also heard that no pictures on the wall is a good idea so people can imagine themselves there, but it always seemed odd to me when there were no family pics in the house. It really felt better for me when I could see pics of the people who were living there, so I wasn't busy imagining what they were like. It didn't make it feel like "their" house.

Agree here. We had a realtor over last week as we plan to sell. She emphasized a shit-ton of de-cluttering (as in whole pieces of furniture), and only noted a botched repair job of mine that needed tending....which was my failed attempt to paint part of our ceiling to clean candle soot. She never said we need to repaint the house, just the ceiling that needs it. She also complimented our family pics and refuted that theory that they need to go.

OP, also take note of a previous conversation about the fact that fresh paint smell can be a turn off and some buyers think its masking other flaws.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have also heard that no pictures on the wall is a good idea so people can imagine themselves there, but it always seemed odd to me when there were no family pics in the house. It really felt better for me when I could see pics of the people who were living there, so I wasn't busy imagining what they were like. It didn't make it feel like "their" house.

Agree here. We had a realtor over last week as we plan to sell. She emphasized a shit-ton of de-cluttering (as in whole pieces of furniture), and only noted a botched repair job of mine that needed tending....which was my failed attempt to paint part of our ceiling to clean candle soot. She never said we need to repaint the house, just the ceiling that needs it. She also complimented our family pics and refuted that theory that they need to go.

OP, also take note of a previous conversation about the fact that fresh paint smell can be a turn off and some buyers think its masking other flaws.

And you can always bake a batch of cookies right before the open house to mask any smells.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have also heard that no pictures on the wall is a good idea so people can imagine themselves there, but it always seemed odd to me when there were no family pics in the house. It really felt better for me when I could see pics of the people who were living there, so I wasn't busy imagining what they were like. It didn't make it feel like "their" house.

Agree here. We had a realtor over last week as we plan to sell. She emphasized a shit-ton of de-cluttering (as in whole pieces of furniture), and only noted a botched repair job of mine that needed tending....which was my failed attempt to paint part of our ceiling to clean candle soot. She never said we need to repaint the house, just the ceiling that needs it. She also complimented our family pics and refuted that theory that they need to go.

OP, also take note of a previous conversation about the fact that fresh paint smell can be a turn off and some buyers think its masking other flaws.

And you can always bake a batch of cookies right before the open house to mask any smells.

That isn't going to mask the smell of new paint to anyone with a nose.

[Anonymous]

OP, I would leave it. Unless you can paint everything yourself, paying someone to paint it all in neutral colors will cost you thousands. We sold a house with an orange playroom, a red office and a green dining room. As long as it looks good with what you have in it, it should be too big a factor. And, I might add, this was a house on a VERY busy street, so it wasn't like it was going to get snapped up regardless of what we did. We did repaint the halls and the breakfast room to make them more neutral, though.

[Anonymous]

I thought gray was the new neutral that is recommended, not cream.

[Anonymous]

We sold our place last year, and used this advice--we picked a couple of neutrals (taupe and grey) that we knew looked good, and used one of them in every room. Also took down all our personal photos and a lot of our books and music, movies, etc went into storage. I do think it helped.

At the same time, we looked at lots of places, and in some houses, the presence of personal photos, colorful walls, etc worked well. In others, it looked like the sellers just didn't care--they knew their place would sell no matter what and didn't bother to put effort into staging. (That actually describes the place we bought, which we love!) So, I think it depends a lot on the market but if your house doesn't have neon green walls I probably wouldn't bother repainting.

[Anonymous]

Light is more important than color (and obviously light will affect the paint color). These colors you mention are fine, OP.

Pay attention to your photographs, especially in pics put up on the internet or flyers. Do not allow you realtor to show photos that are not taken in the best light. Usually sunlight streaming into a clean room will show it to most advantage. The best light may vary by room orientation, it must not be blinding (otherwise everything looks washed-out), so the photographer has to position him or herself correctly in the room or wait for afternoon or evening sun. Also beware of softer lighting to try and mask imperfections because it's too obvious.

Experiment now while you have the time, and for the outside photo, think about curb appeal: trim your bushes very neatly and if you don't have a riot of spring flowers, plant some in pots at strategic places for the photo (if you can maintain the flowery look during open houses this summer, so much the better - you also might have to water south-facing lawn). Spring photos are usually very popular even if you're not actually selling at that time - people like to see how pretty your place can look.

During visits, the important thing is no smell! This is difficult to acheive if you're living in the house, but try. Open all the windows. No clutter of any kind. Super clean - no stains, marks, dust, etc.

Light and airy does it.

[Anonymous]

We just finished painting our 2904 restored Craftorian house and we have to go to the east coast in a few weeks. I found the new house and we bought it, but do We Have to repaint the house interiors all over again? I used very pale tints of colors that matched the reproduction wallpaper that is only in the entry hal and is mostly beige. The upstairs hall is a pale pine tint that looks pinky cream when the sun sets and shines in the windows otherwise it's creamy. The living rm/dining room are palest green/cream as is center hall downstairs, and two bedrooms are crea.y tones of orig. Colors. We restored everything inside and out, new everything. Do I have to repaint to sell?

[Anonymous]

I think one of the reasons we got a good deal on our house is because the owner didn't paint the kids' bedrooms which were truly hideous colors. Paint them a warm white (not cream). Give them a neutral palette.

[Anonymous]

I meant to type 1904 Craftorian not 2904. Also, I can't use my furniture to stage the house, do I have to have it staged? And I made a book of the first owner of the house and what she was like, diary entries and townspeople who remembered her and her husband and the family, then I wrote about the 2nd family and their stories followed by the third family, he was the mayor of our town and we bought our 1904 Craftorian from him. I then wrote about us and told our stories and included all info on the improvements included the dates this ds were installed and Included warranty paperwork in an envelope at the end of the book for them. I sure hope we don't have to repaint to sell, it would mean that I would have to hire someone to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We haven't gotten a realtor yet but are thinking about selling our house this summer.

I know that popular wisdom is to have all walls white and no photos on the walls. Does this really hold true? Are some colors okay, think pale yellows or taupes, as long as you avoid really deep and bright colors? DD's bedroom is a pale pink that could easily be painted over by a new owner. Our kitchen is a soft yellow that compliments the off-white cabinetry and I think white walls would make the room look really washed out. Our bedroom is a café au lait color. It's all stuff that's easily painted over, but I worry that the house will look so barren that it won't show as well.

What is the DCUM prevailing wisdom? Would you not buy a house if some of the rooms have color on the walls?

This is just my opinion, but if you really want to stage it for maximum appeal, I would paint the pale yellow kitchen to something else. Probably cream. Yellow has the potential to stand out in photos as looking not very neutral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have also heard that no pictures on the wall is a good idea so people can imagine themselves there, but it always seemed odd to me when there were no family pics in the house. It really felt better for me when I could see pics of the people who were living there, so I wasn't busy imagining what they were like. It didn't make it feel like "their" house.

Agree here. We had a realtor over last week as we plan to sell. She emphasized a shit-ton of de-cluttering (as in whole pieces of furniture), and only noted a botched repair job of mine that needed tending....which was my failed attempt to paint part of our ceiling to clean candle soot. She never said we need to repaint the house, just the ceiling that needs it. She also complimented our family pics and refuted that theory that they need to go.

OP, also take note of a previous conversation about the fact that fresh paint smell can be a turn off and some buyers think its masking other flaws.

And you can always bake a batch of cookies right before the open house to mask any smells.

Ugh totally sus.

[Anonymous]

We got our house under list price partially bc the paint was outdated and there was a ton of heavy art work amd drapery and an insane amount of family photos. We could see past those things, but the house sat on the market for a while before we put in an offer.

For the biggest impact I would paint living spaces and kitchen. Bedrooms don't matter as much.

[Anonymous]

Revere Pewter Grey.

All the cool kids are doing it.