How Many Different Paint Colors?

Question

I was just in the process of streamlining the painting process (when it comes anyway), so I started doing what J  Scott does and gathering a list of paints I like. One question, to help me out, for you all is how many different paint colors do I need?

I was thinking:
- Interior Trim/Exterior Trim (Same color... white...)
- Bedrooms
- Kitchen (I want it to stand out)
- General Interior (hall ways, living room, dining room, etc...)
- Bathrooms
- Master Bathroom (I also want to make it stand out)
- Exterior

Just want to make sure I have it all covered, and I want to make sure I'm not making the house look like a rainbow with too many different paint colors. So if you think I'm diversifying the colors too much, please tell... Just a note, I am going to use natural, light, earth tone colors.

Thanks BP!

Jesse Tsai · Answer

As others have said, this really depends on the market you're in, and how discriminating the buyers for your properties will be.

For the sake of simplicity, we generally use just one paint scheme on every home we do:

Mushroom Bisque #UL140-10 on the walls
Semi-gloss in the wet areas, eggshell everywhere else

We have that color matched with Speedwall paint.  BEHR is ridiculously expensive.

Semi Gloss pure white on all trims, baseboards, and doors.

Justin's idea of looking at model homes is brilliant,  copying others ideas is much cheaper than creating your own ideas.

Mike G. · Answer

I don't think you need to use that many colors inside the house. We typically do trim, doors and ceiling in one color; sometimes kitchen in its own color; sometimes all bathrooms in another color; and then all the remaining interior walls the same color. Exterior is usually two colors - trim and doors one color, then the walls the main color.

Maybe it depends on the local market, though? I know other investors who just paint all interior walls the same color.

Maybe it depends on the local market, though?  I know other investors who just paint all interior walls the same color.

Manuel A. · Answer

Thanks a ton everyone!

I'm definitely wanting to take a little extra time and money to one-up comparable houses so I can have pride in my work, give someone a house they believe is more than what they should be able to afford, make people happy, and sell the house faster!

For instance, I was also going around town to granite shops, speaking with the owners, and I got a great deal with one of them.

I can get 2cm, nice looking granite, which I plan using for the bathrooms, for $8.95/sqft (that's not a mistake!) which includes cuts and edging. No installation.

I can get 3cm, nice looking granite, which I plan using for the kitchen, for $36/sqft with cuts and edging. No installation.

I plan installing with the use of my laborers.

By the way, I'm going to copy and paste what I just said here so I can ask a question in a different post...

-Manuel

Randy F. · Answer

For me, the market doesnt matter so much and there IS no standard practice... Unless of course you are using the same cabinets, countertops and flooring in all your properties. A homes features and potential dictate what the treatments and finishes will be.

Start with the kitchen. The cabinets, countertops and flooring should all compliment each other. The best paint color is one that pulls a common tone from all three. It can be that light beige for a more conservative look, to the Harvest gold thats streakimg thru the granite.

Next the bath. Same thing, however best to stick to pulling out the lighter tones because baths are generally smaller spaces and the darker colors will close it in. Larger master baths Ill do in satin, semi-gloss on the rest for greater moisture resistance.

If there is color on the walls I like flat white ceiling as the flat reduces shadowing which highlights imperfections, and flat white "lifts" the ceiling while darker colors "lower" it. If going with off-white walls, I use the same off-white in a flat.

For livingrooms and family rooms, Ill pull color from fireplaces or woodwork and flooring. Choosing color for homes being sold is different than ones already occupied or being aet up by homeowner, in that you have no clue how it will be furnished and accessorized. A potential buyer who owns a blue livingroom set may say it wont work in your green livingroom, but if the wall color pulls earthtones from flooring the "feel" will work and their brain has nothing to process.

Exterior... Generally two color... Body/trim, unless there are architectural features You can cause to pop with a third color. Three considerations on exterior... the architectural style of the home, roofing color if keeping existing, and color of surrounding homes. As general rules, the more basic the design features, the more basic the colors. Trim and/or body color have connection to roofing color, and it neither looks like the rest of the homes on the block or stands out like a sore thumb.

Thats my 22 cents!

Edited: Ok... 23 cents... Semi gloss on interior trim unless its not in good shape or plain jane and I dont want it to stand out, and on the walls the lowest washable sheen. Satin or eggshell depending on brand of paint. Generally, the lower the sheen the softer the feel and the more sin is hidden. Especially if home isnt staged, to much gloss and hard surfaces makes for a "cold" feel. If using flat wall paint on say a higher end master bedroom, I then use a satin on trim.

Just remember when choosing sheen that gloss magnifies imperfections of walls and trim, so unless its in great shape, lower sheen is better. Rentals are a different story and washability is a greater concern.

John Mireles · Answer

I think you're on the right track. Picking out color is not easy! But nailing the right colors will absolutely help sell your house. In my most recent remodel I used:

- off-white for bathroom
- different off-white for ceiling
- white trim
- soft yellow/tan for master bedroom
- gray for bedroom
- lighter gray for darker middle bedroom
- gray/green for living room, kitchen and hallway

The net effect is that the house "pops." The colors are subdued and neutral so they go with pretty much everything. Yes it is more work but when the time comes for me to sell, the payoff will be there. Besides, paint all costs the same regardless of what color you use. Don't go crazy. Paint lots of swatches to make sure the colors will work in the space that you intend to use them.

Justin S. · Answer

Manual

It depends on the market you are in.  If you have a seller's market then you get by with painting all the interior walls with one color.  If its a buyers market, then its nice to give it more a designer look with multiple colors and accent walls.  My basic colors are:

Ceiling - Swiss Coffee Flat
Interior Trim/Doors - Swiss Coffee Semi-Gloss
Walls - Some kind of tan color (Desert Beach)- EggShell

If there are new homes being built near you, check out the model homes.  Open up the cabinets or the garage, they typically leave the old paint cans in there.  You can see what colors the designers are using.  No need to reinvent the wheel.

Dawn Anastasi · Answer

I use flat white for the ceilings, some type of color for the walls (whole house same color) and trim in white.  It's basic and easy to work with.

Victor Belman · Answer

Consider the color of sofa, bed and other utility items while thinking of coloring the walls of your house. Colors of walls and other items must complement each other. With use of so many colors, your house may look inconsistent.

Aaron McGinnis · Answer

Something to bear in mind - the more colors you use, the higher your labor costs are going to be. Every time the painter has to switch colors it involves cleaning his tools completely, swapping paint, and starting over.

Cleaning and swapping are no joke. These are serious time eaters and a good painter is going to charge accordingly.

We generally use a 3 color scheme - walls, trim, ceiling. Outside, we'll do walls, trim, and an offset color for a door or maybe for trim details. This works well and it's standard stuff, so it helps keep our costs low.

Also bear in mind that picking a single color and then mindlessly applying it doesn't always work. If you're dealing with perfectly uniform houses, it's fine. If you're dealing with a lot of custom residential projects (old houses, different architectural styles, etc.)... then it misses a good design opportunity to make your house really stand out and look as good as it possibly can.

Manuel A. · Answer

I was definitely thinking I might have too much different colors, thanks for the response. I'm going to probably take from your info, thank you!

Maybe I'll do something like:

- Interior Trim/Exterior Trim (Same color... white...) 
- Kitchen (but only depending if it's a "separate" kitchen as opposed to an open kitchen. If it's open I'll just keep it the same as the General Interior.)
- General Interior (hall ways, living room, dining room, etc... along with the bedrooms) 
- Bathrooms 
- Master Bathroom
- Exterior

I just keep thinking in my head, I want the kitchen and master bath to really pop out as a selling point. I've been painting my moms house with different colors this week to figure out my color scheme. By the way, Lowe's is really nice about returning paint, just a side note...

Thanks a lot,

-Manuel

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