Every color has its place. So, it’s important to choose carefully when you’re painting your home – inside and out. The wrong color can make a room feel claustrophobic, overly energetic or even gloomy. Even worse, it can reduce the resale value of your home! These are five colors to avoid, according to a recent Paint Color Analysis from Zillow.
1. Barn Red
Worst Placement: Kitchen
Red stimulates the appetite, which is often a desired effect in the kitchen. But saturated reds can overwhelm people and even drain the enjoyment out of cooking and eating. According to Zillow, brick and barn red kitchens lowered home values by an average of $2,310. Softer reds, yellows and oranges are better options here. Or, you can incorporate bolder hues in accents like appliances and backsplashes. If you’re still seeing a bold red for your kitchen, consider hiring an interior designer to help you find the perfect color and shade.
2. Blue
Worst Placement: Kitchens and Living Rooms
Kitchens and living rooms typically get more traffic than bedrooms and bathrooms. Here, blues – especially light blues – can be somber. In bathrooms, where we relax and rejuvenate, blues are more fitting and can have a positive impact on home value. According to Zillow, blue bathrooms raised home values by an average of $2,876. Deep blues can also help improve sleep in the bedroom.
3. Brown
Worst Placement: Dining Room and Kitchen
Zillow’s research shows that a brown dining room lowers expected home prices by an average of $1,684. And brown kitchens don’t fare well either — these lower values by as much as 3 percent! The reason? Brown is a warming, comforting color that can be constricting and overbearing in the places where we cook, eat and socialize. This color works much better in the living room, where comfort and warmth serve us best. And darker browns work well as anchors closer to the ground, in flooring and large furniture.
4. Yellow
Worst Placement: Exterior
Yellow is a difficult color to pull off in any application, but it has proven to be a bad choice for home exteriors. Warm yellow homes lose an average of $3,408 at resale, according to Zillow’s research! That’s because yellow can be too energizing and difficult on the eyes when applied on a vast surface like a home exterior — and can repel potential buyers. Taupe and gray perform better, lifting home value by as much as 6 percent. And the best way to get the most value is by hiring a professional exterior painter. If you love yellow, consider carefully choosing a shade for your kitchen, bathroom or home office.
5. Taupe
Worst Placement: Dining Room and Kitchen
Taupe can be the perfect fit for a living room or a home exterior. In fact, Zillow reports an average lift in home value of $2,793 when this color is used in the living room in particular. But when you apply it to a dining room or kitchen, it has the opposite effect, lowering home value by as much as 10 percent! Taupe doesn’t stimulate the appetite or encourage interaction, and it can feel cold, isolating and constricting in dining rooms and kitchens.
If you need extra help making the best decisions for your home and neighborhood, hire a local painting professional! They’ll have experts insights into the best colors for each room, and they’ll be able to take regional trends into account.
Source: HomeAdvisor – MyersLakeland.com – Myers Lakeland Blog is part of Century 21 Myers Realty that offers real estate services in Lakeland, Florida and Central Florida. We encourage you to share our content!