Paint the house or no?

christytommy426

I'm thinking about painting my house but I dont know if it's worth it. I went to a meeting at a photographer's house today and she had it so brilliantly painted that I got inspired. My hubby thinks it's a terrible idea as we're looking to sell our house within the next 2 years and he doesn't think it's worth. it. What do you guys think? Fun project or waste of time? For the record also, the rooms don't need to be painted, I just hate the colors right now!

Laina384

I think it might be a good idea to at least think about painting it, especially around the time you would want to sell it. I watch way too many Design to Sell's and Get it Staged on HGTV. It's all about re-sale! Haha. I also love a house project so I would be all for it!

MrsT2008

so YH doesn't want you to paint because you might sell in 2 years?  Are the colors now neutral?  If so and if the paint is in good condition, then you don't *need* to paint.  I'd only repaint if you'd stay with neutral colors.  Going crazy with color isn't the best idea if you do plan on selling.

Then again, I'm a sucker for painting - 2 rooms in our house have been painted and then repainted and we've been here less than 2 years.

Rynna

I agree... if you are looking at selling relatively soon, and the paint is pretty low-key and in decent shape, then it's best to keep it that way.  But if you are really looking for a fun project, and will stay to pretty tame colors, then go for it.  But take on ONE room at a time.  When we bought our current house (that we are now selling) we tried to paint all the main living areas in one weekend, and it was awful.  Since then, we've gone back, and redone one room in its entirety before moving on, and we learned a lot.  There are convenient "edging" tools that look like a square of sandpaper with a handle, that really do make a difference on the edges and corners.  Take your time picking the colors, and find a general color scheme for your whole house before you paint any room.  Then take a long weekend to do one whole room and see how it turns out.  You may get tired and frustrated with it after that, but will have your fix of "new", but you may love it and be inspired to do the whole house.

jCamsquared

I agree with the others to leave them neutral for resale. Unless you are willing to paint them back to neutral colors before you sell.

wamozart12

If you really hate the colors, potential buyers might also, so I'd consider painting. Painting is something I assumed we'd do after moving in.

Currently our house has perfectly good paint colors everywhere (not necessarily my choice, but I like it) except for the guest room and office. So we're painting the guest room this summer, and maybe the office.

Speaking of which- someone on this board posted their office that they painted in light blue and pearly white diamonds, which I *adored* and am copying for our guest room. DH and I have little experience with painting (and only I have ever removed wallpaper, but I remember it being kind of fun), so hopefully we can do it!?

jCamsquared

wamozart12:

Speaking of which- someone on this board posted their office that they painted in light blue and pearly white diamonds, which I *adored* and am copying for our guest room. DH and I have little experience with painting (and only I have ever removed wallpaper, but I remember it being kind of fun), so hopefully we can do it! 

That was me! Thanks :-) I hope it turns out good for you guys. It took a lot of patience, but I think it was worth it. Except now I have to go back and touch up a ton because when my dad installed the counter on my cabinets he banged up the wall pretty bad. He missed all the walls without the special pattern of course.

christytommy426

Thanks for all the advice. I actually like the current colors, I think I was just bored and looking for a house project!

daisy055202

Your planning on living there for the next two years go for it...sometimes the bold colors appeal to some buyers too, but remember it may be necessary to tone it back a bit if they are really out there.  My mother painted a wall bright red when she put it on the market, and just dressed the rest of the wall very traditionally and it was real show piece that people seemed to like when she was selling it.  If you do have to repaint when you put it in on the market and the color is wicked saturated, well that's going to be a pain, but don't tone it back just for this reason.  In a rental I painted a wall a light purple when I really wanted eggplant same card and stuff, and i ended up regretting it the whole time cause it wasn't what i really wanted.