How to Add Value to Your Home Through Painting

Painting is an excellent way to add value to any home that is about to be put on the market. Of course, there are many different opinions about how paint can improve the look of a home and how much painting is necessary to really make a difference. Painting every single room is not always the best way to move forward as it can get expensive, especially if some rooms were acceptable to being with. Targeting certain areas of the home can be a more strategic way to move forward. Also, hiring a professional can make sure that the results are as spectacular as you are envisioning. Nothing looks worse than a poorly executed paint job, so better to spend a little more and paint key areas well than to do the job yourself and paint everything without doing it quite right.

Exterior

The exterior of your home is crucial when it comes to curb appeal. Thankfully, there are many parts of the outside of your home that can benefit from a quick paint touch-up. If the siding has faded or is looking worn, painting might be an excellent way to make the exterior of your home look fresh and clean without the expense of replacing all the siding. Depending on the siding material, different products will be required to make sure that the paint adheres properly and looks its best. Asking for a consultation with a professional is an excellent way to determine what the outside of your home needs. After siding, the front door is the next most important feature of the exterior of any home. It can be the focal point of the front view of your home and should look its best. Adding a fresh coat of paint and perhaps a new door handle and lock is a great way to make your home look more expensive. Window trim and shutters are also important, especially if they are older or do not match the door or siding.

Interior

Inside the home, painting every single room is often quite tempting. However, some rooms can be left alone if they are already painted in neutral tones and aren’t damaged. The kitchen and bathroom are often the most important rooms to focus on when repainting for value. Over time, these rooms experience a great deal of heat, moisture and wear and tear. For a kitchen, repainting the cabinets along with the walls is the best choice, since the entire kitchen can look modernized and crisp when they are painted together. It is a great time to remove scuffs and stains from walls as well. In the bathroom, repeated cycles of moisture have surely worn the paint over time, so a fresh coat of paint makes this room look like new again. An important area to paint in all rooms are the moldings to doors and windows, as well as floor and ceiling trim. Painting these areas with gloss white makes a room look like it has been repainted, even if the walls are left alone since the moldings take most of the wear and abuse from day to day life.

Color Choices

If you are repainting to increase your home’s value, make sure that you are choosing neutral tones, whites and beiges. Any drastic color choices are likely to put off some buyers and make your house less universally appealing. This is especially true for the outside of your home since it is the first color that buyers will see. If you are hoping for a pop of color, focus the color on the door or trim but not the entire home. However, feel free to choose greyish-toned colors if whites and beiges are too bland. If you already have some very bold-colored rooms in your home, it is wise to repaint them as a more neutral color. This includes cabinetry that is bright or outdated. Should you decide against repainting a bright room, make sure that the trim is white in order to tone down the boldness of your color choices and to give the room a freshly painted feel.

When painting a home in the hopes of increasing its value, the number one most important area to paint is the exterior, since a nicely painted exterior will encourage potential buyers to view your home. Modern styling such as a bold color for the door with muted tones for the siding is sure to attract the highest number of potential buyers. For the interior of the home, neutral tones are important, and the goal is to make the home look as new as possible inside. If there are damaged walls, have them repaired and repainted. As a minimum, scuffed trim pieces should be repainted white so that the house feels clean and new.