I posted this on the color board also. We are selling FIL house. 720 sq ft, one story, 2 bedroom, with only 6 windows in the whole house. What color do you all suggest? We will paint all the walls and the ceiling the same color.

As a recent buyer, white. If not white, then paint the ceilings white and the walls a different color, off-white or otherwise. Colored ceilings are not the norm (unless wood or something else unique) and off-white/ivory ceilings just look dingy IMHO. As a buyer, I prefer all white to off-white. Off-white looks dingy/dirty to me and I have too many years of apartment living in my background! At least normal white looks bright and perky. Our former house had off-white ceilings which we repainted white due to nicotine stains from previous owners. People who saw the house said the difference was like night and day.

Food for thought - how bad are the walls/ceilings currently? Chances are the new owners may wish to repaint anyhow. If the walls aren't in bad condition, you might consider what some do around here and offer a thousand or two redecorating allowance. And if you do paint, do a nice job. One house we looked at was not only a sloppy one-coat job of everything including trim the same white paint, but they even painted over the horizontal blinds! Ewww! Not painting at all, from my perspective, was better than a sloppy job I'd have to redo anyhow.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kitty's Mom,

Thanks for the vote for white. I had not thought of white. Maybe I will do that on the ceilings. I was just looking for quick. We live over 2 hours away. We will be doing this by phone with the contractors and on the weekends in our free time. (FUN!)

We are tearing out the walls. Recent rains hurt the drywall. (Well, the hole in the roof actually caused it) With such a small house and easy layout, we are redoing the whole house. Down to the studs. FIL can't take care of a house and yard anymore, he will go to an apartment.

Anyone else have any suggestions for paint colors? White on the ceiling and beige on the walls?

Dacia~ I'm not a big fan of white walls. When we sold our other house, we painted with Behr Parisian Taupe. It was very neutral, but still warm. Our ceilings, crown moldings and chair rails were bright white and it looked great. Of course, that's not the color paint I would have painted if I was living there, but it worked to sell the house.

While we are at it, we are thinking of putting in white cupboards in the kitchen. I think a taupe color will look nice with white cupboards. I like the idea of white trim also.

Anyone else have a good or bad story about what color we should paint the interior of this house to sell it?

For the ceilings, I definitely say "white". In fact, most of your home improvement stores have special "white" ceiling paint. Locally here, it's called "high ceiling white". I would paint all the walls in a light taupe, as another poster suggested. Good luck and happy selling!

For resale purposes only, white ceilings are fine. I would do a soft taupe on the walls. White is a turn off to so many buyers now. When I walk into a house and see white walls, I immediately start calculating how much time it will take me to repaint the entire house. White trim is fine however.

I would not, EVER, put white cabinets in the kitchen. You can put in simple oak or maple for just about the same price, or go unfinished and have them painted an interesting but "safe" color.

Nancy, Why not white cabinets? I have them now and I had them in my last house. In my last home, everyone always said they dreamed of having white cabinets.

If I could have anything I wanted I would have the glass cabinets. I have beautiful Portmorion floral china and it is so colorful and beautiful for display. I wouldn't want glass on the cupbords with food, tubberware, etc. just on the cabinets with plates and glasses, I think mine are so pretty.

Dacia, What about offering a paint allowance to the buyer. I would go with white or taupe, if they have to be painted. Your contractor might have a great suggestion based on what is on sale at the paint supplier he uses.

Good luck and come visit us again soon!

Delta

Since your house and kitchen are small, go with white or light wood cabinets to give a brighter and larger appearance. White is back in lot of the recent design mags. It is a classic and never went out of style. Seems light wood is dated, except in modern decors. Like the darker woods, but you have space and light issues. The trick to making white, or any other color, cabinets look current is having current hardware. Remember you want the kitchen to look bright, cheerful, clean, etc. Kitchens and baths sell houses.

Good luck on this big project.

I vote for white on the ceilings and beige, tan, or taupe on the walls.

Thanks everyone for your opinions. It really helps. I know what I would do, but that does not matter - we need to do what the buyers will want! I will do white on the ceilings.

As we go along in this process, I will stop back in for more feedback. This is a small, efficiency home. So no granite or fancy chandeliers in here.

Personally, I would go with white. I hate browns and yellows, including off-white. White seems easier to paint over (whether it actually is or not) and I'd be afraid of anything that seemed dark enough to bleed through.

I also think your paint colors need to go with the architecture, if that makes sense. I've seen some 1980s ranch houses that tried the 'designer paint' approach and it just looked silly.

Back in high school, we repainted our house with the palest of blues (took the lightest blue recipe and cut it in half) with white ceilings. It looked very fresh and didn't overpower the room, like some modern colors would have.

Laura

Interesting reading all the replies - how different tastes can be!

While I suggested white if you were wanting everything the same color, I agree that a taupe with white ceilings and trims would look very nice.

If you are redoing all of the drywall, then yes you need to paint and the idea of a painting allowance won't work. Oh well!

I'm going to have to disagree with Nancy and vote for the white cabinets. EVERYONE has oak and maple and I hate that look! I prefer a color or darker wood. Whatever you choose, though, it won't please everyone, so go with whatever seems to be selling in your area.

Good luck!

A word about ceiling paint; if it were me, I would use paint that is specifically for ceilings. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, as white is white. But it does.

We looked at a beautiful house recently that had been repainted inside, and the ceilings looked awful, they had terrible chalky look to them. The walls were beautiful, but the ceilings were bad. I have no idea what they used, but it must have been cheap.

All I can say is I'm glad it's you trying to make this decision and not me LOL I think the variety of answers you have gotten proves the point that you simply cannot please everyone. I'm beginning to believe you can't even ever be sure you're going to please the majority. This one hates white walls/ this one hates neutral/ this one hates color. This one hates white cabinets/ this one hates light wood / this one hates dark wood. It's starts to become amusing after awhile doesn't it?

I wouldn't stress to much over trying to find the 'right' combination because it simply doesn't exist. Seems that the most important thing is to make sure the house flows well and shows well. Make sure the colors throughout the house work well togther and fluff it all up with some simple and tasteful decor (window treatments, decorative pieces etc.). Seems that most people I know personally say that even if the house is not done to their personal taste, if it is done well it leaves a postive impression. Most people will ultimately paint and decorate when they move in anyway.

Good luck

Olivia~ I agree with you about not pleasing everyone. Now when we sold our house, I went with the taupe walls/white trip--very neutral. This is what I was told. But the house I bought had the same warm yellow/gold walls that we painted over in our old house. I loved that color so much. I don't think I would have kept taupe walls if that was what was on the walls. I would have painted them the same warm yellow/gold that I loved. So, you never know. As long as the colors aren't this outrageous color and the house is clean and uncluttered, you'll be fine.

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Originally posted by olivia459:

I wouldn't stress to much over trying to find the 'right' combination because it simply doesn't exist. Seems that the most important thing is to make sure the house flows well and shows well.

That's the best advice yet.

BTW, when we sold our house about 8 mos. ago, it sold in 2 months (3 by closing). Just under 1100 sq. ft., 2 br, 1 bath. We had repainted all but 2 rooms inside, and the exterior.

Interior had all white ceilings. Livingroom was a light peach/pink (depended on light), kitchen had yellow tile and counters we couldn't afford to replace, so walls were a light green. Office was wood paneling (there when we bought the place). BR1 was top 2/3 a medium blue, wood chair rail, then off-white 1/3 below chair rail. BR2 was a taupe color (there when we moved in also). Bath (which had an ivory/peach tile already 2/3 up the wall) and all halls were painted all white. In such small areas, they really opened up with satin white paint. All trim was already wood stained in a medium shade.

Like I said, we had offer #1 after only 2 weeks on the market, sold by the 3 month mark, and barely a neutral wall in the whole place. So as others said, don't stress too much!

I think we will go with white ceilings, white woodwork, white cupboards and a neutral color on the walls. Maybe a soft beige color.

Thanks everyone for your opinions. It really helped!

If I wanted a soft beige/neutral color to accent the white trim, I'd definitely go w/ SW Kilim Beige.

Good luck selling the house!

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I'm going to have to disagree with Nancy and vote for the white cabinets. EVERYONE has oak and maple

I agree with wanting my house to look different from what everyone else has...If i had a small house, i think white cabinets would look nice. It is all about balance.