These Kitchen Paint Colors Could Increase Your Home's Resale Value

When you hear the phrase "kitchen renovations," your thoughts may justifiably jump to eye-wateringly high costs. According to a survey conducted by This Old House, kitchen upgrades across the U.S. can cost anywhere from $9,000 to $25,000 on the lower end, though that can easily extend to over $75,000 for midrange upgrades and considerably more than that for luxurious overhauls. With these overhead costs, it's no surprise that some home improvement jobs can lower your home's value. Luckily, The Journal of Light Construction reports that minor upgrades usually bring the best return on investment when it comes to kitchen renovation. By the journal's calculation, upgrades to countertops, cabinetry, lighting, or even a new paint job could return you upwards of 96% of what you spend on a given project, and Zillow estimates that figure could go as high as 113%.

Of all the cosmetic changes, painting may be the cheapest of the kitchen upgrades that will boost your home's resale value. But it's not as simple as just throwing on any color you want and hoping for the best. Instead, focus on painting the walls and cabinets in warm, muted, or neutral colors like white or beige to give them that expensive and timeless feel.

Depending on the size of the kitchen, the Spray 'n Coat painting company estimates professional cabinet painting alone costs between $3,500 and $8,000 depending on the size of the surfaces. However, opting for a DIY paint job could bring that cost down to between just $200 and $1,200 in materials.

Every home is different, so it can be tricky to pinpoint exactly how much it will cost to turn your specific kitchen into a neutral-toned sanctuary. Angi reports the average cost to paint cabinets is $939, but that could increase greatly if you incorporate walls or other surfaces into the project. Professionals tend to charge based on surface area, and according to Improovy, costs ranging from about $3.75 per square foot to $6.75 are fairly standard.

Doing the work yourself can remove a large chunk of a paint job's overhead. However, it could take several days of difficult preparation before your space is even ready for you to lay down a coat, and DIY work can also be pretty risky: If you botch any part of the project, you may wind up needing to spend extra cash to fix your error or risk seeing your home's value lowered even further. But if your kitchen's not looking too hot already, these efforts may be worth the risks.

The surefire way to lose out is by not doing anything. If you have an old kitchen in need of freshening up — or your space is simply covered in unfriendly or polarizing colors — be prepared to lose some money at the sale. Zillow, for example, reports homes with daisy yellow kitchens received offers about $3,915 lower than expected. Neglecting to address issues like this could also mean your property could spend more time on the market, which could force you to lower the price of your home to sell faster.