These Paint Colors Could Help (or Hurt) Your Home's Resale Value, According to Zillow

Prepping one’s personal sanctuary for sale can feel like fortune-telling. Will bold, stop-the-scroll details help your home stand out in a crowded market? Is playing it safe the most surefire way to land a solid buyer? Happily, Zillow has more than a crystal ball at hand to determine how touch-ups like repainting interior spaces can boost or bust ROI. Zillow's annual Paint Color Analysis examines data from thousands of home buyers across the country to reveal the colors they find most desirable in living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms and baths — and how those preferences impact the likelihood of touring a home and eventual offer prices.

Looking to boost your bottom line with a fresh coat of paint? We’ll walk you through the clunkers to cover, the fresh hues attracting the most attention and how to get the most bang for your buck.

Sage Green Reigns Supreme

While painting walls white might feel like the most intuitive choice to charm prospective buyers, the Zillow team found that buyers prefer colors with depth to a blank slate — and they’re willing to pay for them. The only color to rank in the top tier for every room examined? Sage green. Their research found that this color can increase offer prices by $1,000 and $500, respectively, when used in a bedroom or living room that was previously painted white.

A Feature Wall Beats Color Drenching

Good news for your budget and weekend plans: Adding a hint of color on one surface is preferable to splashing out on a new color that goes everywhere. “While color drenching continues to resonate as a design trend, buyers generally respond best to interiors that feel welcoming, cohesive and easy to personalize,” explains Sherwin-Williams color marketing manager Emily Kantz. “Incorporating color in a measured way can help a home feel current while still allowing prospective buyers to envision themselves living in the space.” Thoughtful restraint, she says, often delivers the strongest results. A shade like Sherwin-Williams’ Rosemary (SW 6187) “can introduce personality and visual interest without overwhelming the space, particularly when paired with complementary neutrals around the room.”

As in other real-estate-related considerations, a feature wall's potential value is all about location, location, location. "A feature wall that looks like an afterthought with no architectural logic behind the choice can work against you," says Zillow home trends expert Amanda Pendleton. "If you're going to do one, pick a wall that has a natural anchor: behind the bed in a bedroom, behind a fireplace in a living room or a kitchen wall that frames a range or open shelving. It should look intentional."

Chocolate Brown Boosts Bedrooms

Rich, cocooning colors also outperform white when it comes to bedroom paint shades, where the top-performing hue in Zillow’s rankings was Sherwin-Williams’ Turkish Coffee (SW 6076), a warm, chocolate brown. Buyers in their study indicated that they would offer an estimated $2,277 more for a home with a bedroom in that hue than they would for a comparable home with a white bedroom.

Should you choose to repaint a bedroom’s walls, Emily advises opting for an eggshell finish. “Flat finishes are often best reserved for ceilings, while semi-gloss remains an excellent choice for trim, doors and cabinetry because it stands up well to frequent cleaning and highlights architectural details,” she says.

Pale Blue Living Rooms Deliver Results

If you’re looking to refresh your living room, consider an updated alternative to neutrals like tan and gray. The Zillow analysts found that pale blue was their respondents’ top color pick, generating offers $1,723 higher than white living rooms.

Emily suggests auditioning shades like Tradewind (SW 6218), Upward (SW 6239) and Open Air (SW 6491) by bringing samples home, painting them on poster boards, then considering how those colors look in your living room at different points throughout the day. "Paint colors can look dramatically different depending on natural light, artificial lighting and the surrounding finishes within a room,” she says. “Taking the time to test a few options helps ensure the final choice feels balanced, intentional and broadly appealing to prospective buyers.”

Amanda concurs. "Morning light, afternoon light and evening light with your fixtures on can all read completely differently. If you're painting cabinets, paint your sample on foam core poster board or test on the inside of a cabinet door first. The extra step takes a bit more time and effort but it can save you from an expensive mistake."

Buyers Favor Moody Kitchen Colors

If you can only repaint one room, the data favors taking a big swing in the kitchen, where color choices like charcoal gray and dark plum can elevate offers by $1,373 and $867, respectively. That move is even more lucrative if your space is currently one of the least-favored shades: An ochre yellow kitchen, for example, will receive offers that are $6,630 lower than a comparable white kitchen. Like ochre, pale pink and bold red spaces consistently scored lowest across the four rooms featured in the study.

How are you to know which bold move is the right one? “When selecting a deeper kitchen color, it is important to consider the room's existing finishes and lighting conditions,” Emily says. “Kitchens with abundant natural light can comfortably support richer hues, while spaces with less daylight often benefit from softer, warmer shades that still create depth without feeling too heavy. Existing countertops, flooring and cabinetry should also help inform the color selection so the overall palette feels cohesive.”

Painting Cabinetry Can Be Worth the Effort

“For homeowners looking to refresh their space before listing, painting the walls is often the simplest and most cost-effective update,” Emily says. “Painting cabinetry can create an even greater visual impact, but it requires more preparation and should complement the home's overall style.”

"If your cabinets are in good shape and you have the budget, that's where I'd focus," Amanda agrees. "If you're looking for a lower-lift option, a moody wall color behind open shelving or a painted island can give you a lot of the same effect for a fraction of the cost."

Consult a Local Expert Before You Paint

The final and most crucial variable when it comes to prepping your home for sale, of course, is pairing national data with neighborhood expertise. Consult a local real estate agent to find out how trends translate to your particular market, then get to work.