It’s truly amazing how subtle changes to your home can inspire potential buyers—or turn them off entirely.
Of course, if you’re planning to do a little updating this spring or summer, you want to make smart choices about how you spend your money. Some new research from real estate marketplace website Zillow can help.
Zillow experts analyzed photos from nearly 50,000 homes sold around the country and came up with some interesting results about which paint colors get you the most bang for your buck. Here are the paint colors that can increase the value of your home.
1. Purple
This one may throw you for a loop, but buyers apparently dig certain shades of purple in the dining room. Zillow found that mauve, eggplant or lavendar increased the sale price of homes by $1,122. Equally as strange was the color Zillow said turned buyer’s off in the dining room: Slate or dark gray. those colors decreased home prices by $1,112.
2. Tan
Paint your bathroom an oatmeal or beige color and you’ll see the sale price of your house go up $283, according to Zillow. For perhaps obvious reasons, you’ll want to steer clear of dark brown in the restroom or you could lose out on $469 come sale time.
3. Yellow
A creamy or wheat-colored yellow in your kitchen can increase the sale price of your home by $1,360, the Zillow analysis found. Though it’s tempting to want a crisp, clean white kitchen, you’ll want to steer clear of off-white or eggshell, as those two colors can decrease your sale price by $82.
4. Green
In the bedroom, focus on light green or khaki colors to see an increase of $1,332 on your sale price. And once again, steer clear of dark brown—it may cost you $236.
5. Light Grey
Grey is apparently another question in the living room. If you paint your living room a dove or light gray color, you could increase your sale price by $1,104. Steer clear of terracotta, an orange-ish color that will decrease your sale price by $793.