What colour shall I paint the bedrooms? (selling the house)

[Bluebear]

I am out of ideas and cannot get inspired at all - since we will not be living here. The decorator is being booked to come and paint 2 bedrooms in a few weeks time and I have to decide on the colour(s). It needs to be something light and non-offensive...so any ideas or shall I stick to magnolia.

yeah cream is safe theyll prob redecorate anyway.stick to neutral shades and you cant go wrong.

almond white is nice

nicer than magnolia

dulux do a light rooms paint that reflects light and I think would do well to sell a house
WE've done dd's room in one and it males the room look light and airy.

Thanks - will def. look at the light reflective ones...so cream/almondy white it is then (will check out both in the paint ranges).
Most of house (hall, landing, receptions and kitchen) is painted with a washable(!) white, but I thought it would be too stark to use in the bedrooms as well. I'm trying to convince dh to let me leave dd's room as it is (yellow and lime green - nicer than it sounds honest!)

Watch out with light reflective ones if walls aren't perfect. Not sure if those paints are similar to silk but silk paint is bad for showwing up all the lumps and bumps more.

OK - will check how bumpy walls are! - probably very bumpy, it's a victorian house....Hmmmmmm..

We have used Natural Calico in last three houses and have not bettered it yet (Dulux)

You don't want a sheen then, so stick to matt emulsion in light neutral colours.

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No NO NO not bland neutral, aren't you watching House Doctor!

And I guess creamy/natural colour carpetting would be best too? Current carpet is very old and has seen 4 years of constant building work so we really have to replace it.

You realise that I'll be back here in a few weeks asking for cheap furnishing suggestions to add some 'accent colour' (or whatever the arty people call it)

It's going to look sooo nice just as we move out

Wouldn't do cream carpet really, if you're going to be having people tramping in and out in winter viewing the place

It's solid wood floor downstairs - very moppable...will have to insist on 'shoes off' for any viewers interested enough to go upstairs - hee hee.

We viewed a house with a shoes off policy once - estate agent was very embarrassed but insisted that the clients had said 'shoes on = no viewing'. He said it was very usual for japanese clients (?)

How about a sort of 'stone' colour carpet - (is that beige in House doctor speak ) Neutral but slightly dirt hiding.

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lol at "almond white is nice
nicer than magnolia"

I always think these almost-whites are magnolia (except maybe apple white)

Magnolia is a nice colour in fact - just gets a bad press - and you can get industrial quantities for a tenner

We are IKEA addicts Essbee - my mum has said that the only drawback with the place we are moving to is that 'it's too far away from your IKEA'

Like the idea of chocolate/blue...think dh would love aubergine, but hey I have 2 rooms to 'dress' (gonna have to borrow another bed from someone too)

I'm actually getting a little enthusiasm for this now - thanks folks.

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Essbee - have you seen PretendFriend's question about curtains? You can be our mumsnet decorating guru!

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Oh yes please, I was just about to post a link for our House Doctor - here!!!

We're also thinking of selling our house. I'm thinking of pale blue for kitchen/bathroom and bedrooms - should I really bite the bullet and go for calico/magnolia throughout? It's a new-build house (albeit almost 8 yrs old), so it's a bit bland feature-wise anyway... The kitchen's a "pearwood" veneer, which is pale anyway, and I know I wouldn't want it creamy coloured on the walls, but am I re-personalising it? Or maybe a "hint-of" blue?

Also, there's shedloads of glossing needing doing - all doors, doorframes etc. Is there a more modern alternative to sparkling white gloss? I've seen these "soft" whites - has anyone used them?

Ah the dilemmas!

Thanks all

Blue might be ok for kicthen and bathroom if they are warm and get lots of sun but would stick to cream in bedrooms I'm afraid. If it were me I'd do cream all over and try and regain the 'showhome' look as it's the blank-canvas that makes a newbuild so attractive.

White eggshell or satin looks less harsh than gloss but still clean - offwhites can look a bit manky in a modern house.

Hmmm. The problem is I'll have to persuade DH that his tasteful colours have to go - the lounge is Dulux loft (3 walls) and Madison Mauve one wall - basically light and darker purple/lilac) - doesn't look overly colourful to us, but obviously buyers see things differently.. We're usually heard shouting at the TV when these programmes are on with homebuyers rejecting a house because of the paint colour, but I guess it must happen...

Thanks for the tip on the white paint though - I was wondering about eggshell/satin rather than gloss. There is an AWFUL lot to do though, both wood and walls... Just how much input can I expect/dread from a nearly-four-year-old anyway? Best to pack him off for a few weeks...??

I'd just give the woodwork a good scrub with washing-up liquid and a sponge before you decide they all need painting - they may come up better than you anticipate - and concentrate the real painting efforts in the rooms that are currently more... vivid.