Does Painting Your Home's Interior Increase Its Value?

Whether you want to list your home on the market right away or looking to increase its value for the future, painting your home's interior is a relatively low-cost, high reward improvement.

Fresh interior paint can significantly increase your home's value. A 2015 Realty Times study found that painting the inside of your home costs on average $1,012 and leads to a home value increase of $2,112; that's a 109% ROI. Choose a neutral paint color such as beige or white to maximize value.

There are many decisions and nuances when painting a home, so it's essential to take your time to plan everything out before beginning the project. Let's take an in-depth look at the relationship between new interior paint and home value, whether painting your home is worth it or not when selling, and what qualities to look for in good paint.

Does Painting the Inside of Your Home Increase its Value?

Generally, painting your home's interior will positively affect its value and appeal in the housing market. More importantly, a fresh coat of interior paint can sometimes have a return on investment (ROI) of around 100%. That means your home's value increases by double the cost of painting the interior.

As with most things, many factors can change how painting your home influences its value. There is by no means a guarantee that it will even raise the value of your home at all. Bright, vibrant colors nearly anywhere in the house but especially in the kitchen can actually decrease buyer interest and home value.

It's nearly impossible to accurately calculate the effect painting the inside of your home will have on your home's value due to so many variables present. Generally, fresh interior paint can increase your home's value by up to 5% and have an ROI of 100% or more.

Is it Worth Painting Your Home's Interior Before Selling?

Painting is a crucial step in preparing a property for going on the market, and its many benefits can make it well worth the cost in most situations. Not only is the ROI often great, but applying a fresh coat of paint to the inside of your home can also help make the house look more appealing to potential buyers.

It's well worth the effort and cost to repaint a home if the existing paint is a bright color, the paint is damaged, or it looks anything less than ideal. Freshly painted walls, cabinets, and trim in a neutral tone can bring new life into a house. If your home's interior paint looks stellar and is in a light and neutral color, you can likely save the expense of painting.

Best Rooms to Paint Before Selling
Ideally, you should paint every wall, cabinet, door, and trim piece when selling a home as it makes everything cohesive and fresh. However, budget and time constraints often mean painting every interior surface is highly impractical, so you must focus on the areas that make the most significant impact.

The paint in the kitchen is critical when selling a home, and it should be the first place to paint if it is in anything less than excellent condition. Next on the list should be other rooms and areas where people spend a lot of time, such as bedrooms, the living room, and bathrooms.

Hallways, closets, storage areas, and utility rooms come last in terms of importance when deciding where to paint. People spend little to no time in these areas regularly, and they don't contribute much to initial impressions of the home.

Qualities to Look for in a Good Interior Paint

Now that we've covered the relationship between new interior paint and home value in more depth, many homeowners get overwhelmed with the sheer number of paint options on the market when they decide to move forward with the project.

Paint typically falls into one of two categories: oil-based or water-based. Generally, it is best to choose water-based paint for interior work because it emits lower amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are chemicals off-gassing from paint that can cause serious health risks if inhaled.

There are a few essential qualities and characteristics to look out for when deciding on interior paint for your home.

• Cleaning - Over time, dirt and dust smudge and gather on painted surfaces, so choosing a paint that you can easily clean is essential. Typically a higher gloss paint is easier to wipe down without leaving streaks.
• Durability - When choosing paint, durability is crucial, especially in high-traffic areas that must withstand lots of use and human contact. Oil-based and high gloss paints are generally the most durable, but there are downsides (such as increased VOC emissions) that you must consider.
• Touch-Ups - Inevitably, interior painted surfaces will suffer minor damage, so it's best to plan ahead and choose a paint that handles touch-ups well. Generally, low gloss or flat paints are easier to touch up inconspicuously, but they are harder to keep clean. It's best to meet in the middle with a semi-gloss paint or something similar to get the best of both worlds.

Choosing the Best Interior Paint Color for Maximum Home Value

When painting the interior of your home to maximize its resale value, you generally want to use very neutral paint colors. It's crucial to find the balance between bright colors that can decrease your home's value and super boring colors that make the space feel plain and dull.

Make sure to choose colors in the same color family that compliment each other well and set the desired mood of your home. Lighter colors are also an excellent option as they make the space feel larger and more inviting.

It's difficult to go wrong with light beiges, off-whites, taupes, and grays. To make the space appear more lively, you can also add accents of light neutral blues and greens in specific rooms.

Final Thoughts

Painting your home's interior seems trivial, but it can have a massive impact on the value and perception of your home. If you prioritize the areas that matter and choose neutral paint colors that go well together, you can see an excellent ROI simply by giving the inside of your home a fresh coat of paint.