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08-30-2008 at 3:38 AM
LandK
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Joined on 10-16-2006
Texas
11,372 Points
LandK is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:12 PMBronze

Buying A Home And Paint Colors

DH and I actually just moved into our new house!  I would really like to add some personal touches by painting, but since we're likely to be moving again in 4 years, I'm a little worried about what buyers will think of the color scheme.  (I'd prefer not to have to paint again in neutrals right before we move, but that's definitely doable.)  I don't plan to do anything too drastic.  I want to stick with neutrals for the hallways, kitchen, guest room, and living room.  However, I would like to add some splashes of color in the home office (I'm thinking a darker shade of blue), master bedroom (possibly a dark, romantic shade like a red but with white accents), and future nursery (lighter shades of blue, pink, or green).  I might also add some color to the bathrooms, but I'd keep that bright and airy, most likely yellows or cornflower blues, with plenty of white accents.

So, if you're looking to buy a home, how much do the current paint colors matter to you?  If you don't like a particular color, do you see it as an easy fix, or does it turn you off on the house?  Also, are there any colors that you particularly like to see in a house?  How about colors that you really hate?  TIA!  :O)


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08-30-2008 at 4:51 AM
TarHeels&Rebels
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Joined on 11-05-2005
Tennessee
25,576 Points
TarHeels&Rebels is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 1:43 PMBronze

Honey, paint!  You're talking about four years

Isn't one of the glories of a house that you can paint it whatever colors you want?  If you're worried about resale in four years, you won't be able to enjoy your house at all.  Relax and paint your house whatever colors you want.  Check our my bio - no offensive colors in either house, but lots of people wouldn't have chosen what I chose, either.  I know that the buyer of our first house hated the yellow because they told me so.  Do what you like with your own house :)

08-30-2008 at 7:09 AM
trigal
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Joined on 01-02-2005
New York
4,880 Points
trigal is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 8:21 PMNewbie

Whenever I watch a show like House Hunters, I roll my eyes at people who complain about the paint colors.  It's paint.  If you don't like it, change it.  So, no... if I were to buy a new house, the paint colors wouldn't keep me from buying it.

This is your house.  Paint it! 


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08-30-2008 at 7:15 AM
CeltiCutie
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Joined on 06-02-2008
Pennsylvania
87,815 Points
CeltiCutie is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 11:05 PMSilver
ditto pp's.  Paint is easy to change. I laugh at ppl who complain about it... it's part of the fun! Do whatever you want!!! It's your first home, enjoy it! Plus, what if in 4 yrs the market sucks for selling and you have to stay there longer...?? Just paint it and be happy! =) GL!

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08-30-2008 at 8:24 AM
laurainMI
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Joined on 02-02-2008
42,017 Points
laurainMI is not online. Last active: 12-05-2008, 12:41 AMSilver
Paint it.  I've walked into a house, and liked a room, and repainted a different room.  Color is unique to everyone.  Very few people won't buy a house due to color, and those are the stupid people IMO.
 
08-30-2008 at 10:26 AM
jtx
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Joined on 07-18-2008
east coast
28,530 Points
jtx is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 10:19 PMBronze

You don't even know for sure if you'll move in 4 years. Paint!

It doesn't matter to me as a buyer what colors you put up. Just make sure to do a good job. I was excited at first b/c the seller we're buying from just repainted everything, but she did a really half-assed job, so we need to repaint anyway. Angry

 
08-30-2008 at 4:15 PM
georgia_peachy
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Joined on 10-22-2005
Louisville, KY
11,385 Points
georgia_peachy is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 8:34 PMBronze
I don't complain out loud about paint colors but I do notice them.  This is  especially  true houses that seem to be very "trading spaces" inspired (read: deep pumpkin orange, navy blue, blood red, deep saffron....none of which jive with my pastel shabby cottage decor) with colors that will require 2 coats of primer in addition to the normal amount of my preferred shade to cover.  It's just another expense that I tick up in my head when deciding how much I'm willing to pay for a house.  it won't deter me from a house, but it might drop my offer.  However, in this situation we're talking about you living here for FOUR years.  Its your house. Do what you want, but maybe plan to paint them to neutral if you want to attract the most offers and the highest offers in the future.
 
08-30-2008 at 6:57 PM
Ashleigh10
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Joined on 10-30-2007
113 Points
Ashleigh10 is not online. Last active: 11-24-2008, 4:46 PMNewbie
For me I like to paint regardless of if I like the colors or not, It just feels more like mine and I know it is clean and a fresh coat of paint. You should paint it's part of owning your own home
 
08-31-2008 at 10:07 AM
Aliki
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Joined on 03-15-2003
New Jersey
35,543 Points
Aliki is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 5:37 PMSilver

OMG, it's FOUR YEARS!!!

 

I'd start painting! LOL


 
08-31-2008 at 10:51 AM
NicksChick!
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Joined on 02-26-2007
Ames, IA
3,789 Points
NicksChick! is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 7:58 PMNewbie

Paint!!!!!! Nearly our entire house was FRESHLY painted a bland beige, so I repainted all but two rooms (the office because I don't know what I want and a spare bedroom that is rarely used.)  I even painted a different beige over the sellers bland beige.  

The seller obviously went through the work to repaint neutral colors after watching too much Designed to Sell... all that just so I could repaint.  

 And as previous posters have mentioned, 4 years is a long time!!! 


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08-31-2008 at 6:30 PM
Kelly*Chris
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Joined on 02-19-2007
3,668 Points
Kelly*Chris is not online. Last active: 11-30-2008, 7:09 PMNewbie

I had always heard you needed to paint houses neutral colors in order to sell them.  But I am not a believer in this anymore.  Basically, because my experience opened me up to colors I never would have dared to use myself, but loved them when I saw them.

When I first visited my current house (it didn't have interior pics online), nearly every room was painted a bright color - the kitchen was bright and pale yellow on opposite walls, the great room was a grassy green color, one bedroom was bright blue, another bedroom (the teenage daughter's) was fuscia on the bottom and bright orange on the top, and the master bedroom was beige.  I instantly knew I'd have to paint the fuschia/orange room (it was hideous!) but I actually loved all the other colors.  The yellow kitchen was so bright and sunny, I'd never seen a green room before but thought it was beautiful, and I had a lot of blue-toned art so the blue room made a great office.  Two years later, the only rooms I've painted are the ugly room (its now a grayish bluish lavendarish color called "solitude") and the bedroom, which I painted a dark red (the name I can't recall, but was wine-related), mainly because I'd always wanted a dark room and this room was huge enough I could finally do it without making the room look too small.

So I say paint away.  If you decide to sell the house later, I don't see why potential buyers would pass up a house just because it has colors they may not like, because that way they can always paint the exact colors they want.


~ Kelly*Chris, mom to Tanis & Toby


 
08-31-2008 at 6:59 PM
Tracita
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Joined on 09-07-2004
Virginia
11,977 Points
Tracita is not online. Last active: 12-04-2008, 9:25 AMBronze
If you'll be there for 4 years you will need to repaint before selling anyway.  Paint it the way YOU want it.  For me, paint is the easiest and cheapest fix in any house and colors do not influence me one way or another.  I'm selling though, and just painted my orange bathroom beige, and my green dining room ivory.  I know many people have no imaginations and can be turned off by bright colors.

Mom to Audrey 10/2/05 and Samantha 7/23/07 

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