One of my favorite sayings is “They call it real estate beige because it sells houses.” Don’t know where it came from. Brilliant as I am, I’m 100% certain that I’m not the first one to say it. But it is true. The most inexpensive high-return thing you can do when selling your home is slap on a fresh coat of paint. Do the baseboards, trim and doors while you’re at it.
So what’s Real Estate Beige? These are some good beige tones from Dunn Edwards.
Swiss Coffee, Pearl White, Pale Wheat and Cottage White are all going to look like a nice off-white once the job is done. Same with the old standby Navajo White. Swiss Coffee & Navajo White are in the taupe-y color family. Pearl White has a bit more yellowish undertone and Cottage White has a beige-tan undertone. If the room you’re painting gets lots of sun, you might be happier with Swiss Coffee, Pearl White or Najavo White.
Whisper and White Beach are nice yellow whites. Whisper is paler, White Beach is a creamy color about like a manilla folder. Little sun and/or a north facing room? The yellow undertones in Whisper and Pale Wheat will help warm up the room.
Ready for a bolder beige that’s a notch above off-white? Try Quicksand (yellowish undertones), Sandcastle or Inside Passage (mustard-y undertones), English Scone (brick red and pink undertones), Sandy Beach (peachy undertones), or Golden Gate (grayish beige undertones).
Want bolder still?! Try Gourmet Honey or Warm Buttersotch which are the darker hues of Inside Passage (yellowish brown tones). Or for beige with a little ruddy, reddish undertone try Travertine, Stonish Beige or Colorado Trail (listed in order from paler to deeper). Finally, Brichwood, Trail Dust and Mesa Tan are good taupe-y grayish beiges with a deeper tone than Sandcastle.
Heather Barr is a Realtor and a happy workaholic. She eats more than someone her size ought to be able, and is a runner as a consequence. Her TiVo's full of spy thrillers, police procedurals and Whedonesque sci-fi.
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Just did my living room over in “Mere Mortal” which is a gorgeous ivory. And I tested “Snow Valley” which is a beautiful neutral champagne color. They’re both from Frazee’s off-white palette and are really pretty in the bold Arizona sunlight. By the way, whichever client or friend I loaned my Dunn Edwards paint fan-deck…. you’re a dead man. I can’t remember who you are and I had to buy a new fan-deck, from Frazee. Nice folks, those Frazees and 1/2 the cost of the other big boys. Cave Creek road, just south of the 101 Loop.
Saw a home 2 days ago that had been done entirely in Dunn Edwards’ “Inside Passage”. Great beige! Highly recommended.
Quick update: I just toured a house that had been freshly painted in Dunn Edwards’ “Bone” beige. Steve Belt does a good deal of property management, so I believe he knows what’s what when he says it’s difficult to touch up. But boy, did it look nice!
Want a color to avoid: Bone. For whatever reason, bone is extremely difficult to touch up later in time. It almost always requires a repaint of the entire wall, rather than just a quick touch up of an area. Swiss Coffee, on the other hand, is superior for quick touch ups. As a result, in my property management biz, it makes an excellent choice.
As agents we see it time and time again, where a buyer can not look beyond that purple or chartreuse wall in the house. Or they say, WOW that’s going to take a lot of paint, and want nothing to do with the house because of paint. Rather than drop your price, try painting first.
My favorite is Dunn Edwards’ Cream Washed
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