The Best Interior Wall Color for Selling a Home

Common Living Spaces

• A warm, pale tan or khaki tone is ideal for living rooms, family rooms and dens. Tans and khakis are actually tints of brown, meaning that white has been added to brown to reach the desired lightness or tint. Brown is mixed from equal parts of the three primaries, making it a hue that is extremely versatile in its ability to combine with virtually the entire spectrum of colors. Gray is another neutral that is rich but unobtrusive in common living spaces. Gray is formed by combining equal parts of a color and its complement (the color directly opposite on the color wheel) and then adding white to create the desired tint.

Dining Spaces

• Dining spaces will look inviting with a slightly deeper tone of the neutral living space color. Using different tints or tones of the same color throughout the interior spaces is an effective strategy for creating a natural flow from room to room. A unified color scheme enlarges the perceived space in a home.

Kitchen

• A warm tone of the chosen neutral color is effective in the kitchen. Here it will complement the colors of fruits and vegetables being prepared or ripening in baskets on display. Because the kitchen is an active space, a color with more energy is appropriate, but it must have a low intensity to remain neutral.

Bedrooms

• Bedrooms should be restful spaces with soft, light, neutral colors. Here it is possible to vary from the main color scheme slightly, if the colors remain pale, low-intensity hues. Soft blues and greens are soothing in these spaces. When in doubt, use a variation of the main neutral color, especially in children’s rooms where age-specific or gender-specific colors may not be suitable for the buyer.

Baths

• Because bathrooms are smaller spaces, light colors are preferable, to avoid the feeling of being closed in. Pale peach or salmon tones are effective choices because these colors complement all skin tones. A tint of the main neutral tone chosen for the living spaces is also fitting.

Other Spaces

• Colors in other living spaces, such as offices, laundries, exercise or media rooms ideally should relate to the neutral color scheme selected for the common living spaces. In addition to tan and gray, soft gold and olive green are excellent choices for a basic neutral color to work with throughout a home. Realtors report that white walls are not as appealing as subtle neutral tints. White tends to make spaces seem too bright and unfinished. However, warm tones of white on ceilings brighten a space.