Settle a debate: all white house

[carmenere]

We’re getting our house ready to sell. We haven’t been here long so most of the walls are still godawful 80’s beige and need to be painted.

We painted the living room and the den white (Behr Polar Bear) when we first moved in. I’m not a big fan of white walls but it’s fine. The kitchen will eventually be painted white since it’s open to the living room.

H is insistent that we should paint everything else the same color white. I think that’s way too much white and we should paint it light grey or greige (color tbd). As a buyer, I think I would raise an eyebrow if I went into a house that was all one color. Also, the dining room and stairway have white beadboard that looks much nicer with a contrasting wall color. H keeps saying “but white SELLS” and I have a hard time believing that it’s significantly more appealing than another neutral color.

So, what does H&G say??

[lolalolalola]

Every house I've lived in has been all one colour (except the bedrooms). I cannot imagine that would 'raise an eyebrow" with buyers.

Our last house was painted all white (plus all white kitchen- cabinets, counters and backsplash, plus white trim and built-ins). We had a number of second showings and sold it very quickly. (this was in 2018).

Saying that, I don't think white sells over a grey or greige. Depends on your overall colour scheme.

[Susie]

I would definitely do another (non-white) neutral that offers some contrast with the beadboard because it will showcase your house's features and upgrades (beadboard, wainscoting, etc.) better.  

However, I wouldn't think anything of a house that was all one color, or that was white vs. gray vs. beige vs. greige.  I'd probably think "oh they just did a fresh coat of paint throughout before selling."  

[lessel]

Our old house was all white when we bought it 10 years ago and we pretty much kept it that way. Put a fresh coat on before selling. That house was mid-century modern, so it made sense with the style. I think in your case I'd probably go mostly white with maybe a couple rooms in a light gray to make some of those accents stand out.

The house we bought last year is all of the beiges and blues. Even the interior trim is like a warm/yellowy white. I can't wait to paint all of the things. That said... we bought the house and the colors didn't really factor into our decision on the house.

[lightbulbsun]

Personally I don't really consider paint color when buying a house. I just assume that I'll paint it when I move in. In our first house, every room was painted yellow. Also, the exterior was painted the same color yellow.

Have you talked to a realtor? They might have a good idea of what buyers want in your area.

[circa1978]

In a house I'm buying I would prefer white. You can choose a white that is a little different than your moldings and woodwork to provide contrast.

[carmenere]

May 19, 2020 10:56:32 GMT -5 lightbulbsun said:

Personally I don't really consider paint color when buying a house. I just assume that I'll paint it when I move in. In our first house, every room was painted yellow. Also, the exterior was painted the same color yellow.

Have you talked to a realtor? They might have a good idea of what buyers want in your area.

We have a realtor, and last year when we were preparing to sell our old place in the same area she said gray was good. We definitely need her opinions on some things, but she’s dealing with some personal stuff and we don’t want to bug her right now.

[dr.girlfriend]

I would vote for a light neutral to contrast with the trim, but I also wouldn't choose it as my hill to die on. If it helps, here's my living room (Benjamin Moore Sand Dollar, a creamy white) that is open to the hallway that is Benjamin Moore Pale Oak. The rest of the downstairs is mostly Pale Oak. We have a shade darker in the laundry room (Cumulus Cloud) and in the other living room (Pashmina). The drywall arch is Pale Oak, but it's so pale that it's not jarring or anything. Yet, you can still see the contrast with white molding in other areas.


Here it is in comparison to Chantilly White trim in bathroom and (also Chantilly White) built-ins in the bedroom:

[nicolewi]

A light neutral; like a slightly off-white or a slightly gray or whatever goes with the existing woodwork. I wouldn't want all stark, stark plain white as I don't think that would show as well. More of a soft neutral that they wouldn't need to immediately repaint unless they wanted to do that.

[flygirl]

I’d much rather walk into a house which is all white or a neutral color that I could live with for awhile vs one that had lots of different colors that I felt the need to paint right away. We had a house for sale in our neighborhood in 2018 and it sat on the market for a long time while others were moving within hours. I looked at the MLS pictures and the main rooms when you walked in were this horrid orangey brown -and you would have needed a professional for the high walls or have a ladder. Then there were at least 6 other colors which were similarly bold through out the rest of the house. I don’t mind bold colors...but the choices there were ugly and I wouldn’t have been able to live with it for even a short time. So I say stay neutral.

[aspentosh]

We looked at (and considered) a few houses that had some HORRENDOUS color choices. So it's not something that turns all buyers off.

White/neutral colors are fine. If you don't want all white I think it's fine. I don't think anyone would be turned off by a neutral beige or gray. Most of our house is Anew Grey and I don't think I'd bother painting it before we sell. Our dark blue bedroom though? Yeah.

[wanderingback]

Why would you raise an eyebrow if you went in to a house that was all white?

Seems pretty safe and neutral to me. I don’t see any problems with it. If anything I’d prefer to start with a clean slate. We have tons of eclectic art on our walls so they’re all white and I doubt we’ll ever change that.

[ewall]

It would not bother me as a buyer. As long as it is light, neutral, easy to paint over, it's fine. But if we ever buy a house again that has orange, red, and black walls, I'm writing a paint allowance into our offer. Our house was practically a rainbow inside.

[namasteak]

When we sold our house in Houston we painted everything cloud white.

[penguingrrl]

I see all white as a very safe way to sell a house. I always paint what I want painted before or shortly after I move in, so I ignore wall color, but some buyers are definitely swayed by colors that are easily changed (my mother got a steal on her house because of that). I don’t think anyone can actively object to white, which looks clean and neat, works well with art if you choose to keep it, and is easily painted over if you have other preferences.

[treedimensional]

Just chiming in to say how much I loathe white.

[k3am]

May 23, 2020 20:05:03 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I see all white as a very safe way to sell a house. I always paint what I want painted before or shortly after I move in, so I ignore wall color, but some buyers are definitely swayed by colors that are easily changed (my mother got a steal on her house because of that). I don’t think anyone can actively object to white, which looks clean and neat, works well with art if you choose to keep it, and is easily painted over if you have other preferences.

I’m just here to say I actively object to all white. It would be a priority to repaint ASAP. Any other neutral would likely continue to exist for a few years, even if I didn’t love it.

ETA: I actually didn’t care enough to post previously, but needed to point out that there’s a subset of people object to white. 😬

[penguingrrl]

May 24, 2020 20:36:20 GMT -5 k3am said:

May 23, 2020 20:05:03 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I see all white as a very safe way to sell a house. I always paint what I want painted before or shortly after I move in, so I ignore wall color, but some buyers are definitely swayed by colors that are easily changed (my mother got a steal on her house because of that). I don’t think anyone can actively object to white, which looks clean and neat, works well with art if you choose to keep it, and is easily painted over if you have other preferences.

I’m just here to say I actively object to all white. It would be a priority to repaint ASAP. Any other neutral would likely continue to exist for a few years, even if I didn’t love it.

ETA: I actually didn’t care enough to post previously, but needed to point out that there’s a subset of people object to white. 😬

I’m not personally a fan of white, but would see it as easy to paint over, but there is no neutral that everyone is going to like. The sellers on my house had the house painted all in trendy grey. It looked awful, especially since the lower half of the kitchen walls are yellow tile and it actively clashed with it. There’s never going to be a color that appeals to everyone, but at least white is easily painted over.

[k3am]

May 25, 2020 9:21:29 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

May 24, 2020 20:36:20 GMT -5 k3am said:

I’m just here to say I actively object to all white. It would be a priority to repaint ASAP. Any other neutral would likely continue to exist for a few years, even if I didn’t love it.

ETA: I actually didn’t care enough to post previously, but needed to point out that there’s a subset of people object to white. 😬

I’m not personally a fan of white, but would see it as easy to paint over, but there is no neutral that everyone is going to like. The sellers on my house had the house painted all in trendy grey. It looked awful, especially since the lower half of the kitchen walls are yellow tile and it actively clashed with it. There’s never going to be a color that appeals to everyone, but at least white is easily painted over.

See, that’s where I differ with you. Our house is also painted trendy gray, and in the kitchen and family room, gray didn’t match the wood tones or tile. I don’t love gray. We still have the gray.. we actually replaced the tile instead. THAT is how much I hate painting. And we can’t paint just the kitchen, since once one major room downstairs is painted, it all needs to be painted.

We are two years in, and maybe in another year or two I’ll consider repainting. White would have been gone immediately.

All this to say that all white is also not a universal option for all buyers.

[penguingrrl]

May 25, 2020 9:48:29 GMT -5 k3am said:

May 25, 2020 9:21:29 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I’m not personally a fan of white, but would see it as easy to paint over, but there is no neutral that everyone is going to like. The sellers on my house had the house painted all in trendy grey. It looked awful, especially since the lower half of the kitchen walls are yellow tile and it actively clashed with it. There’s never going to be a color that appeals to everyone, but at least white is easily painted over.

See, that’s where I differ with you. Our house is also painted trendy gray, and in the kitchen and family room, gray didn’t match the wood tones or tile. I don’t love gray. We still have the gray.. we actually replaced the tile instead. THAT is how much I hate painting. And we can’t paint just the kitchen, since once one major room downstairs is painted, it all needs to be painted.

We are two years in, and maybe in another year or two I’ll consider repainting. White would have been gone immediately.

All this to say that all white is also not a universal option for all buyers.

Ah, and for me the grey had to go immediately. It was godawful.

[wanderingback]

May 24, 2020 20:36:20 GMT -5 k3am said:

May 23, 2020 20:05:03 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

I see all white as a very safe way to sell a house. I always paint what I want painted before or shortly after I move in, so I ignore wall color, but some buyers are definitely swayed by colors that are easily changed (my mother got a steal on her house because of that). I don’t think anyone can actively object to white, which looks clean and neat, works well with art if you choose to keep it, and is easily painted over if you have other preferences.

I’m just here to say I actively object to all white. It would be a priority to repaint ASAP. Any other neutral would likely continue to exist for a few years, even if I didn’t love it.

ETA: I actually didn’t care enough to post previously, but needed to point out that there’s a subset of people object to white. 😬

But you’d really pass on a house that you really like otherwise because the walls were all white? That honestly seems really odd to me.

[k3am]

May 26, 2020 22:40:12 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

May 24, 2020 20:36:20 GMT -5 k3am said:

I’m just here to say I actively object to all white. It would be a priority to repaint ASAP. Any other neutral would likely continue to exist for a few years, even if I didn’t love it.

ETA: I actually didn’t care enough to post previously, but needed to point out that there’s a subset of people object to white. 😬

But you’d really pass on a house that you really like otherwise because the walls were all white? That honestly seems really odd to me.

I never said I’d pass on it. I’d be annoyed and have to paint the whole damned thing immediately vs live with it for a few years. Which is even more annoying if it’s something the prior owners had put time and money into just for the sake of listing, since that’s money down the drain.

[wanderingback]

May 26, 2020 23:35:35 GMT -5 k3am said:

May 26, 2020 22:40:12 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

But you’d really pass on a house that you really like otherwise because the walls were all white? That honestly seems really odd to me.

I never said I’d pass on it. I’d be annoyed and have to paint the whole damned thing immediately vs live with it for a few years. Which is even more annoying if it’s something the prior owners had put time and money into just for the sake of listing, since that’s money down the drain.

Ahh ok got it. I thought you were responding to OP’s question asking if white sells, by saying you don’t like it so wouldn’t buy a house with all white.

I really don’t think there’s a correct answer for OP. Maybe white will cause people not to buy a house but I imagine that’s a very small subset of people and the same could be said for any other color.

[treedimensional]

I *MIGHT* buy a white house, esp. if I thought it would be simple to paint (like, DIY). But I despise white so very much, I'd really need something seriously awesome to get me past it. Having said that, the ultra-popular white kitchen cabinets are pretty much a deal breaker because replacing them is very costly in time and money. I really, really, really hate white.

[bunnies]

Most of our home is painted cool mid-tone gray, which I liked in 2013, but no longer. I'm repainting EVERYTHING (ceiling, trim, and doors, in addition to walls). I like white, but most rooms I'm painting very, very, ultra light warm greige with the except of the master bedroom, which is SW Agreeable Gray, and will be the "darkest" room in the house.

[mrsukyankee]

The owners of our house painted the rooms a variety of colours: greige, greys, blues, pink. I will eventually paint a few of the rooms (I do like the greys and blues, except what was the kids room which is pastel blue) and will repaint a few in the same colour. I don't think I saw a house for sale that I wouldn't have purchased due to paint colour. Wallpaper, on the other hand...

[carmenere]

Thank you all for the feedback. We decided to do the living room and foyer/stairway in grey, and we'll decide about the rest later. I spent the weekend in kitchen painting hell (walls, trim and ceiling) and now I never want to look at white paint again