One of the quickest and cheapest ways to give your home a facelift before it goes on the market is to break out the brushes.
Paint will hide no end of scratches and dents in your interior walls, and it will revitalize any exterior timbers and rendering that’s been damaged by weather.
Preparation before putting your home up for sale can add thousands of dollars to your asking price.
Painting offers one of the best returns on investment, regardless of whether you hire a professional or you take on the task yourself.
Conventional thinking suggests you should paint your home in whites and neutral colors because these help make each room feel larger and brighter. Dark colors tend to close-in rooms.
Many agents rail against using bold colors for a room or feature wall, too. They’ll say you can lose potential buyers simply because they don’t like your taste in colors. It’s a conservative approach but no less warranted for the right properties.
However, there’s always an opportunity for a little courage. An all-neutrals approach can make your home feel vanilla and deny it the essential character many buyers are seeking.
You can always take inspiration from some of the paint and color trends that we’re seeing this summer.
You got the blues
Soft tones of aqua and “baby blue” are all the rage right now, especially when combined with white trims. Blue is perfect for a summertime sale.
Green-washing
Interior designers are in love with green this year, believing it embraces environmental themes in our society as well as visually linking living areas to the outdoors. Shades of olive, either for an entire room or as a feature wall, are popular.
Orange and earthy
For similar environmental reasons, soft oranges, watermelon and ochre hues have become popular in properties where the design is tightly integrated with outdoor living and entertaining.
Floor it
Timber floors, especially if they’re aging, are being revitalised with paint. It’s much cheaper than having them sanded back and re-polished or varnished. Painted black floors in bedrooms and kitchens are popular in older homes.
When in doubt
If you’re not confident with colors, don’t take a risk and regret it later. Either seek professional advice from an interior designer, discuss your choices with an agent such as myself, or stick to the safe path of inoffensive neutrals.