Why Painting “White” is Bad for Resale!
Are you thinking about selling your home? The first step to prepare your home is to declutter and then refresh your walls. Paint your walls with a lighter, more neutral paint colour.
I see homeowners freeze at the thought of what colour to choose, then decide to paint the walls white. This is not the best colour to paint your walls and I am going to tell you why. In addition, I’ll tell you the colours I HIGHLY recommend when painting your walls for resale!
My design career started as a colour consultant for Benjamin Moore, I couldn’t be more grateful for the colour knowledge I received. This, combined with working as a tradesperson. Along with my 13 years of staging and design experience, I can honestly say painting white is the biggest mistake I see homeowners make!
Grabbing a can of “off the shelf white paint” (we call Ultra-White) is an even bigger mistake. This Ultra-White colour has blue/cold undertones that rarely look good in anyone’s home. Let alone, one you want to attract potential buyers with! Potential buyers want to feel warm and welcome as soon as they walk through the front door. The colour on your walls will be the first thing that sets that tone. Here are my favourite picks and why:
Painting Over a Dark Colour:
The goal here is to have less coats of paint to achieve a bright and fresh room. Using “Ultra White” has bad coverage over dark colours, because it contains very little pigment and pigment is what helps with coverage. We love Benjamin Moore OC-14 Natural Cream, it’s bright enough to create an expansive feeling, with enough pigment to cover over dark colours in less coats! This colour is also a perfect wall hue if you have a creamy trim colour or are looking to paint a large traditional home that could really use some warming up.
You Don’t Want to Paint The Ceilings:
I wouldn’t say painting ceilings is the most favourable activity, therefore leading homeowners to avoiding ceilings for (sometimes) decades! This is another reason why painting your walls “Ultra White” is a mistake. The moment you apply Bright White paint next to old dingy ceilings, cupboards, countertops, floors or window coverings (to name a few), the Ultra White paint makes everything else around look, well… old and dingy. My solution is Benjamin Moore CC-80 Gray Mist for walls and CC-70 Dune White for trim and baseboard, because this combination camouflages the old to feel like new!
What Colour to Paint a Modern Home:
Your modern home made to look FRESH can be achieved without the starkness of white on white. I have been using Benjamin Moore OC-23 Classic Gray for years on walls, and the same colour on the trim, but with a little higher sheen for the trim. This soft gray on gray, gives the illusion of an all white modern home without making your “not so new” pieces look awkward.
Million Dollar Fireplace Tip:
I’ve been pushing the concept to paint fireplace surrounds black on my clients for years. As a result, the fireplace becomes the feature it is intended to be. Paint the surrounding walls a neutral colour, in this case: CC-80 Gray Mist and the fireplace surround 2134-30 Iron Mountain, will enhance the fireplace and create a beautiful focal point for your room.
In conclusion, I’ve given the basics of great colours to use. As you can see from the before and after photos there is more to do than just paint. So if you want a professional to help with the sale of your home, we are here to serve in the form of a staging consultation. After talking to your realtor, we are the second most important call to make for the successful sale of your home!
