Almost any designer will tell you a paint job is the quickest way to give your space an upgrade. But what are the paint colors, inside and out, and the accent pops of color that really do the job and make your home both more beautiful, and -- if it’s up for sale -- more marketable? Atlanta interior designers, painting professionals and real estate agents have definite opinions about what sells.
Troy Wells, Keller Williams Realty Peachtree Road real estate agent, strongly recommends sellers paint inside and outside their home and consult with a home stager or designer for color consultation before putting their homes on the market.
Many designers offer color consultation among their range of services, which can run anywhere from $100-$250 per hour. Wells said it’s money well spent. “In terms of getting a return on investment for your painting, it can be as low as 70 percent and as high as 200-plus percent,” Wells said. Professional painting can run anywhere from $400 for shutters to up to $200,000 for both the interior and exterior of a home.
Wells’ advice for sellers is, first and foremost, to keep the exterior of your home consistent with the neighborhood. You can play up unique architectural features of your Craftsman or Victorian with interesting trim color but, in general, color experts agreed that neutrals are the way to go. “I would probably stick with tans, beiges, taupes and grays,” said Archie Deese, owner of Grant Park painting company Paint Doctor.
If the interior is more a reflection of your personality, your home’s exterior is the image you would need to project for a job interview or an important business meeting. “Especially if it’s a house on the market. ... You’re not seeing people making huge statements on the exterior but letting the architecture speak for itself. It would be the same as wearing a really good suit,” designer and artist Raymond Goins said.
When you are interested in resale, Cari Lynn Dick of Dunwoody’s CL Designs also advises a safer, more neutral palette for the interior so that potential buyers “can see their furniture in that space without having to paint.” Color experts have seen a strong tendency lately toward whites and off whites. Also trendy now are earth tones, sea greens, ice blues and a blending of indoors and outdoors, which reflects a greater environmental consciousness.
In keeping with that green awareness, an especially smart choice for buyer-friendly colors are the road tested, subtle Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware lines from Benjamin Moore and the HGTV palettes offered by Sherman Williams, which tend to be more universal and subdued. “I think a lot of people really are scared of color and if they see a really bold color, they can’t look past it,” said Dick.
There are always exceptions to the neutrals rule, however.
Dick advised that with younger homeowners who often have less furniture, there is the potential to get away from the neutral color palette and incorporate corals, pinks and vivid greens. When extensive furniture and art work collections and other focal points are not present, deeper or brighter colors can make more of a statement. Bright colors can also make an impact in children’s and teenager’s bedrooms. “Parents tend to be more conservative, they go the safe route ,where kids just want to try something different,” Dick said.
Phoebe Howard, interior decorator and owner of the Mrs. Howard and Max and Company retail stores, said rich colors with a high gloss finish also have their advantages in hiding a room’s architectural flaws.
As you might expect, designers and professional painters agree that paint quality is key. Benjamin Moore is the favored brand followed closely by Sherman Williams and then high-end Farrow & Ball. All brands, as well as the San Marco brand mineral paints recommended by Raymond Goins, the ProMar line from Sherman Williams and Aura from Benjamin Moore, also offer low or no-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, which Archie Deese says the majority of his clients are now choosing.
Ultimately, let your conscience be your guide when it comes to choosing color. “Don’t worry about trends or what’s ‘in style,"' advised interior designer Maria McLaurin Nutt of Marietta’s McLaurin Interiors. “Instead think about the following: What colors do you like? What colors do you wear? What colors are you drawn to immediately?”
“There are no hard and fast rules. If anything, be true to yourself when it comes to color,” Goins said.
PAINT TIPS
Paint makes for a wonderful home improvement because it can always be changed if you don’t like the results. Atlanta interior designers, professional painters and real estate agents offered these additional tips when decorating with color:
- When prepping your home for sale, paint the garage floor gray to mask stains and the garage walls off-white to make this typically dark room brighter. Drywall cracks are another key item to fix, because they can scare buyers, real estate agent Troy Wells said. "They tend to think of foundation issues."
- If you are going to do it yourself, make sure you are a good painter. Sloppy painting can look, to a buyer, like the homeowner is trying to hide something.
- Pay attention to light, interior designer Maria McLaurin Nutt said. Northern exposure makes colors look greener; southern light tends to make colors appear more yellow. "It's most beneficial to try a color sample on a piece of cardboard and try it out around the room during various hours of the day to see if you like it."
- To set off neutral interior paint, add hot pink, bright orange or jewel tone accessories such as throw pillows or lamps for a modern look that can easily be switched out.
- To emphasize beautiful art work or furniture, think about painting the trim, walls and ceiling all the same color, but with different finishes, such as semi-gloss for the trim and flat for the walls.
- Don't try to match a color from one brand to another brand, painting contractor Archie Deese said. "Your hue is going to be off."
- One mistake interior decorator Phoebe Howard sees is painting one room without considering how it will work in your home's larger context. "All the colors in your house need to flow. ... There's nothing worse than the chaos of different paints. You feel like you're in a crayon box."
