Have you ever walked into a room painted purple or cheese-doodle orange and felt your stomach lurch? Bad paint colors (or a bad paint job) can turn off buyers as fast as you can say “ugh” and slows down the sale of your home. What do unusual colors convey to you? Probably that it’s someone else’s strange taste and a highly personal choice — never good when you’re trying to get buyers to see themselves living in your home. Poor color choices can even reduce the price you get for your home. It’s amazing how many buyers will see ugly walls as a real problem, instead of realizing how relatively inexpensive (especially if you do it yourself) and easy a fix it is.

A fresh coat of paint makes such a big difference in appealing to buyers and updating the look of your house if your current colors are:

* vivid

*unusual

* include stenciling, sponge-painting, or other out-of-date styles

* feature unusual designs (pop-art circles painted on walls, for example)

* OR if you have wallpaper!  Most wallpaper and all borders are out of style and really date a home’s decor, except in the case of a feature/accent wall that has paper or grasscloth or linen-look textured covering.

According to Benjamin Moore,  current “in” colors are gray and purple, (personally, I’d stay away from purple), but beige, sage green, and off-white are always popular and safe colors that appeal to buyers. Yellow and orange are popular accent colors in accessories such as vases, art, and pillows. Happy decorating to SELL!