You’re ready to sell your home. You have done all of the staging, cleaned out the clutter and paid attention to your curb appeal. But have you thought about your walls? Painting does wonders for your home’s appeal, especially in a competitive market. It makes your home look fresh, it covers up the scruff marks and can help add color. Paint is one of the most inexpensive ways to prepare a home for the market. But before you start painting everywhere, use these five key ways to really spruce up the inside.

1. Paint the Doors

Doors, especially the entry doors, should have a bright, cheerful color. These invite guests into your home and add personality. But, according to real estate professionals, bright colors are a turnoff for buyers. So if you have a bright entry door, it’s time to paint it back to something neutral — like white, brown or black.

2. Don’t Forget the Trim

If you paint the walls, don’t ignore the trim. Dirty, scratched and scuffed trim is a real turn off. Also, if you repaint the trim outside, you can boost your curb appeal too.

3. Never Be Sloppy

There is nothing worse than spending all of the time and money to paint and doing a poor job of it. Always tape off everything and use drop cloths. It will not only make clean up easier, but will make your paint job look professional. When you use sloppy painting techniques, it just tells the buyer that you were sloppy with your home maintenance — and they might assume you were sloppy during other repairs too. Want to hire a painter instead? Find one on Porch.

4. Stick to the Neutral

Yes, there are dozens of colorful palettes to choose from, but if you use too many bright colors, you could be alienating your shoppers. Stick to neutral colors that make it easy for buyers to picture their belongings inside your home. Your home should be like a blank canvas, ready for the buyer to really take it somewhere on their own. Stick to ivory, white, beige or even something from the gray family if you can. Confused about which white to use? Consider hiring a professional color expert. In just one appointment they can help you pick the right colors for your location and style.

5. Use Eco-Friendly Paints

Paints are highly toxic, but there are types of paints like VOC indoor paints you can use. These don’t have as harmful of an odor and won’t give buyers headaches as they walk through your newly painted interior. If you use eco-friendly paints, you can even list it on your description to show buyers that you are interested in protecting the environment. You would be surprised how many buyers look for homes that are eco-friendly.

Top image credit: Witt Construction