Austin Babies

To paint or not to paint?

So we are currently trying to turn our guest-room into L's big boy room.  My brother kindly gave us his son's boat bed so I think we're going to make L's room a shark/beach theme room.  Anyway, I really want to paint his room blue or something to fit with the decor (unless you ladies have some recommendations of what to do with a more neutral color).  The problem is, we have no idea if we'll be staying in Austin after next year which means we'll possibly be putting our house up for sale about 1 year from now. 

So would you paint the room blue if you thought you might have to repaint it next year?  Or would you just leave the room beige?  Or would you do something else (ss, explain below).

Thanks for your advice.

[Poll]
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Re: To paint or not to paint?

  • To me, it depends on how much you like to paint. I do not like painting...so I voted for keeping it as is because I think you can do a good beach theme with beige walls. If you were like my MIL who finds painting relaxing, then go for it.
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  • imageMrsRosie:
    If you paint it blue, why would you need to repaint it to sell?

    I'm assuming so.

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  • imageMrsRosie:
    imagebalihaigirl:

    imageMrsRosie:
    If you paint it blue, why would you need to repaint it to sell?

    I'm assuming so.

    No, why would you need to repaint it. Why couldn't the room stay blue?

    From what I've seen with friends and family's houses- when they go to sell their house, their realtor asks them to repaint any rooms to a more neutral color.  Maybe I'm wrong on this though, I've never sold a house (and I'm freaked out to do it, too).  ;)

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  • imageMrsRosie:
    imagebalihaigirl:

    imageMrsRosie:
    If you paint it blue, why would you need to repaint it to sell?

    I'm assuming so.

    No, why would you need to repaint it. Why couldn't the room stay blue?

    It might depend on the shade of blue.  We made a mistake and let Jakob pick the shade for his room.  Its a really dark blue and I don't think it fits well for the room.  We'd probably repaint that to a more neutral shade if we were selling.

    But I think some blues could be very pretty and good for resale.  Where's McGee?  She'd know this one :)

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  • If you stay with a well coordinated or paler shade, you can easily paint it and leave it. I've house hunted 3 times in the last 10 years. I think buyers are usually only turned off by poor color choices or colors that are too bold. That is to say, colors they'd have to paint over before even considering placing furniture in the room. Also, paint that is poorly done with sloppy edges and lots of it gracing the ceiling.

    It's not absolutely necessary for all walls in a house to be beige to sell. In fact, a well designed room will draw more attention and contribute to a warm "home" feel than a bland house. For me, all beige walls was a way of saying "we didn't care enough about when we were living in this house to commit to painting anything".

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  • I would paint it blue and leave it blue even if you want to sell (as long as it's not a crazy, obnoxious shade of blue).
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  • I voted SS. I say paint it if you'll be happy with a lighter shade of blue. The stager/realtor we worked with let us keep L's room the color it is now--buttery yellow. Apparently the stagers are more lenient on nurseries/kids rooms. But if it's crazy bright like my purple room was they want you to paint it.
  • I've sold one house and bought one house (for myself, I'm not a realtor), and the house I sold didn't have a single beige wall other than the off-white bathroom walls.  XH's "study" had a terrible, three-color paint "treatment" he did himself.  Seriously, it looked awful.  But, the first offer came in five weeks after listing the house.

    I put in an offer on my current home the day it was listed (and was one of three offers), and the exterior was entirely pink, including the painted garage door.  Most of the house also had awful peach carpeting that I had to replace before I moved in. 

    All of this to say:  I'm no professional, but I think if you want a blue room, it won't be a big deal (or a deal-breaker) to potential buyers when you sell.

  • I voted for paint. After painting my entire house last year, I feel like you can knock it out in one day if you use the primer/paint combo by behr's. A year is still a good amount of time.
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  • I'm gonna respectfully disagree with the folks who say paint doesn't matter. Balihai, our neighborhood can be a tough sell and you've got to make your house as appealing as you can to as many different people as you can. There's a LOT of competition in our hood and the bottom line is, if you've got 15 colors going on in your house and the same house down the street has 2 more people will be drawn to the "blank slate." the stager told us (and I agree) that a LOT of people have a hard time seeing past the personalization in your home and imagining their stuff there. That's why you're supposed to pack away personal photos and knick knacks. Same goes with really bright paint. In 2006 when people were getting into bidding wars for homes in places like Milwood, no doubt you could paint the whole thing pepto bismol pink and still sell the house. But ours is a TOTALLY different market and a totally different hood. But I still stick by my original reply--as long as it's not too bold or bright I think you'll be fine.
  • I guess we're crazy folks b/c we don't have a single white wall in our house and we bought the house with some pretty crazy (read: icky, one room was a navy blue that took EIGHT coats of paint to cover, holy hell) paint colors, knowing we were going to repaint anyway.

    I'd say paint it.  And then if you get a realtor who tells you to repaint, then do it, but I'd paint and leave it until you're told otherwise.  :)

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