Just a paint color tip for other color challenged diyers.

Rehabbing & House Flipping

Just a paint color tip for other color challenged diyers.

Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes

I took the current Behr white neutral brochure to some spec homes in a popular neighborhood. My husband and I both stood back and tried to pick the colors used. The walls were very close to Casual Khaki, Sentimental Beige and in the house with white kitchen cabinets, Spun Wool. The entire house was one color, the ceilings were white, as was the trim. The Behr khaki might have been a hair darker than the spec home walls, but the other two looked dead on. My thoughts: builders hire designers to pick their colors...so these are pro choices for my area, central Texas. And Behr probably copies model home colors around the nation...or at least follows the same trends, maybe graying up the almonds and whites.

Zillow recently reported the top selling kitchen color to be wheat...how they arrived at that I can't imagine. But the above beige would fit the category. Any other tips?

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Christina McManaway

Designer/Contractor from Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 26 votes

9y

Marian Smith why don't you call up an interior designer and ask for a color consultation? They know all the current trends and can help you create a color scheme that's appropriate for your homes architecture and also help you with what local buyers are looking for. I know a great one in Katy, Tx.

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Brian Pulaski
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
I agree with your process, see what new builds in the area are using for colors. With that said, I am not sure the new construction guys are using designers to choose colors. I'm thinking they are most likely seeing what's in at the paint stores and going with neutral colors. Never hurts to ask at the local paint store what's popular now-a-days.
1 Reply
Will G.
Rental Property Investor · Maryville, TN · Member since 2009 · 529 posts · 414 votes
9y
Khaki is the new white around here, so it seems everyone just wants to do what everyone else is doing. Just sayin if you want your product to stand out, mayyyyybe push the envelope a little!
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Marian Smith
OP
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
9y
Last time I pushed the envelope I selected a greige that looked a tad purple once dried. The homes I visited were built by regional and national builders in master planned communities, this one with a golf course. I am pretty sure they have in their employ someone with a degree in new home marketing or packaging or some such field and they have the selection of interior finishes for spec homes down to a science. If not, anyone is better at it than I am.
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Christina McManaway
Designer/Contractor from Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 26 votes
9y
Marian Smith why don't you call up an interior designer and ask for a color consultation? They know all the current trends and can help you create a color scheme that's appropriate for your homes architecture and also help you with what local buyers are looking for. I know a great one in Katy, Tx.
2 Reply
Jorge Vazquez
Kennesaw, GA · Member since 2016 · 12 posts · 8 votes
9y
In my experience, the most popular colors that I've painted for the past few years are around the Tony Taupe and Mindful Grey color scheme from Sherwin Williams. Usually customers use those colors when they're about to sell their house.
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Will G.
Rental Property Investor · Maryville, TN · Member since 2009 · 529 posts · 414 votes
9y
Sahara desert by behr, painted to death around here!
Christina's suggestion is awesome! So important to have good colors and too many folks don't realize how important it is to sample square new colors and evaluate them at different times of the day, to make sure you don't end up with something gross!
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Marian Smith
OP
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
9y
Thanks for the suggestion, but I posted in DIY because I thought it might help someone choose a paint color on their own by copycatting the pros. Builders spend the money to do the research and hire people with marketing experience to create the most sellable product. I copy their product to create my own product ..or use it as a guide. Free research and design for the DIY.
I am sure the spec home paint is part of a tile/cabinet/countertop/carpet package and one needs to make sure it will not clash if used in the same space as any stained wood or tile in your house.
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Christina McManaway
Designer/Contractor from Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 26 votes
9y
@Marian Smith sorry I thought you were asking for advice not giving it. That being said I don't recommend your method mainly because it could be seen as taking propriety property. All my designs have a limited license use and are copyrighted.
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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
9y
No builders where I am are using interior designers to pick paint colors. It doesn't take a designer to pick out white, off-white, beige or light gray, which covers all walls on new builds.
What color you paint depends on your market and what you plan on doing with the house. If you are keeping it and renting it out you want as close to a standard neutral palette as possible. If you are selling something high-end, you're probably not going to get away with all low-end beige and gray.
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Marian Smith
OP
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
9y
My experience. I am bad with colors. Anyone else? If yes, you are welcome to choose one of the colors I matched up to colors used in brand new houses in my area....or use the colors as a spring board so as not to go too dark/light gold/gray. If I saved you a little time or in any way helped, you're welcome. If I threatened your professional worth, I apologize. If you fear I infringed on the intellectual property rights of others, I assure you, the model home attendant welcomed me to get any design ideas I wanted and to take pictures; and was quite aware that I was not there to buy---they convert lookers to buyers on a regular basis. Sheesh!
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Dorene Mangels-Bacalhau
Interior Designer · Kearny, NJ · Member since 2016 · 37 posts · 14 votes
9y
Paint companies put together their popular colors or what they forecast for that year as trending in fashion and based on "Region" but there is a reason the chip wall and fan decks are so all encompassing. Each dwelling has variables to consider such as light exposure, reflection/absorption, finishes & materials in addition to the style that best compliments the architecture. Some people have a natural eye for color-for those who don't (90-minute In-Home Color consults range from $95-$350) it can cost you big on the back end by having to repaint if the combo you chose comes off "murky" because your white trim had the wrong base or a popular golden-mustard turns "dirty-diaper" in your lighting. You are taking a chance @Marian Smith great if this has worked for you in the past but paint companies already have "non-clash" fan decks. For instance, Benjamin Moore Affinity Collection has 140 colors specifically designed for their Aura Paints to help the DIYer pull off a more sophisticated and cohesive palette.
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Christina McManaway
Designer/Contractor from Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 56 posts · 26 votes
9y
I was merely informing you as to how my industry works. Another investor may not be so fortunate as you going to a model home paint deck in hand ready to color match. I do believe there are much easier ways to get a color palette that would work for your property. I've had clients take colors from a previous home and put them in there new home and wonder why it doesn't work and that's because of the colors of the materials and the lighting in the new house aren't the same. Color is relative to its environment.
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Steve Vaughan
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
9y
If you want to be like everybody else, do what everybody else is doing I guess. That way the prospective buyers can go home and consider which house to get... the beige/gray one, or the beige/gray one? Whoopee!
Builders like lower paint bids. One color is much easier to do than having to change colors in their rig, obviously. Neutral is safe. It's also very boring.
As a DIYer I like color. My dozens of mis-tints on my shelf provide splash. An investor buddy saw one of my recently reno'd houses. Yep - it's a Steve house, he said. It had color and character. Not everybody loves it, I'm sure, but it's mine. Make your mark and separate spaces!
1 Reply
Jim Adrian
Architect · Papillion, NE · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 840 votes
9y
Paint companies put on flyers of trending colors they are pushing. Interior designers and architects then pick out colors from there. What happens in the commercial market trickles down to the residential market after people see them and go "hey I like that, lets do this at home". I have seen paint colors picked based on carpet, tile and even countertops.
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Easton G.
Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2014 · 46 posts · 18 votes
9y
Great discussion on here. A while back, I stumbled onto a thread where someone suggested using Dunn Edwards floating feather and a swiss coffee ceiling/trim combination. I've been really satisfied with the outcome and have used the same combination in two flips. I realize there are particulars to each home but for a generally clean yet warm look, I (and the buyers) have found this combo to be really pleasing. It certainly doesn't "pop" but has served me well and I was super appreciative that others before me had generated discussion about what colors are used in their projects.
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Colleen F.Pro Member
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
Light is really an issue. if you match what is the going trend that is part of it but you need to see it in your space. I have painted some vivid colors in my own space but a flip or rental I use neutral and even so grey vs cream color can look really different depending on the lighting and windows. If you have wood trim and floors not all neutrals look equally good. A lot of wood trim is not so good against grey. Less light in a room it can take a brighter color.
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Russ Daniels
Investor · The Woodlands, TX · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 3 votes
9y
The go-to color in my area of Texas is Sherwin Williams Kilim Beige. Realtors and investors and paint stores all seem to know it! We paint all walls this color, and ceilings and trim are white.
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Brian Pulaski
Flipper/Rehabber · Montgomery, NY · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Beige and brown/grey for me with a white ceiling and trim. My latest house I matched the trim to the white cabinets. It came out more creme than white. I was hit or miss on it at first, but once the floors were done, I ended up liking it more than I thought. Back to the "go to" white on the next house!
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Paige RockawayPro Member
Investor · Schenectady, NY · Member since 2016 · 19 posts · 4 votes
9y
I used to work for Sherwin-Williams. What's most popular now is gray and greige. Specifically, repose gray, colonnade grey, mindful gray and agreeable gray are the most popular. People are going for the modern look. A fried used Collonade gray through out her whole house which is has a beige tone to it and it looked amazing.
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Marian Smith
OP
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
9y
A few years ago a realtor posted elsewhere that in S Cal she wished sellers wouldn't run out and paint their rooms a trendy gray as her buyers' furniture was usually warmer, earthier tones that didn't go well. A compromise is the greige blend like the SW colors mentioned...but it is worth noting that the spec home colors at the neighborhood I visited seemed to be beige, not greige. The off white may be a very light member of the greige camp, but the other two I would call bone and...well, beige and not greige and not tan and not almond (note, I am color challenged but beige can be yellow or pink and while neutral, completely outdated due to undertone...my first and last quart of greige, used as asubtle accent wall, had a disappointing purple undertone.) My solution to finding a rental property up-to-date neutral is to copy the people whose business is to know what sells. This is a post for copycats, not trendsetters...although gray/greige has been growing in popularity for almost a decade so not exactly trendy. Intersted in the collonade gray.
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Dan Lee
Contractor · Ottawa, Ontario · Member since 2016 · 15 posts · 3 votes
9y
Ive found the greys to be gaining popularity, as had already been said. My favourite that I have been using is Benjamin Moore Moonshine.
I like to go to google images, houzz, or pinterest and search "neutral paint colours" find a room I like and the colour may be posted with the picture or you can comment on the picture asking for it.
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