Craftwork 2023 Home Painting Report

For homeowners looking to make the most money by investing in home improvements before selling, painting is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase the listing value. The areas you paint and the colors you select can increase the value of your home by 3.5% to 9%.

Craftwork sends interior, exterior, and cabinetry paint estimates virtually, using images sent by customers or real estate listings, to help prospective sellers learn how much it will cost to invest in a fresh coat of paint before listing.

If you're selling a house in Charlotte, learn the value of doing home improvements with Craftwork to paint your interior and exterior, as well as refinish your kitchen cabinets through the Craftwork 2023 Home Painting Report.

Invest in Interior Paint

Fresh paint can increase a home's value by an average of 5%, according to Homelight, netting a return on investment (ROI) of 107%. That means a home valued at $600,000 would increase in value by $30,000 by investing in interior painting.

Craftwork Cost vs. DIY

The three biggest factors to consider between hiring Craftwork and painting yourself are the value of your time, the cost of materials, and physical safety.

Let's say your home is 1,600 square feet, with 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, like this Charlotte home. It would take a DIYer about a week to paint all of the walls on their own, which can be physically demanding and unsafe when dealing with staircases or high ceilings. It would cost about $1,000 in supplies and paint, using around 15 gallons to put a fresh coat on the interior walls of your whole home.

Charlotte homeowners can use Craftwork to paint all of the walls in this home in 2 to 3 days for $3,500. Based on Homelight's study, the increase in home value from interior painting would take you from $484,725 to $509,000. This means hiring Craftwork to put new paint in your home before listing could earn you an additional $20,000.

See how much it would cost for a coat of fresh paint before selling a house with Craftwork's Estimate Tool.

Signs you need to repaint before selling

• Peeling or chipping paint, especially if the home was built pre-1978 and there may be lead paint

• Discolored or cracked walls

• Noticeable nail holes or bad paint touch-ups

• Smoke stains or lingering smoke smells

• Bold or trendy paint or wallpaper selections

• Out-of-date accent walls

• Dull or damaged doors and windows

Exterior Paint

According to Homelight, repainting the exterior of your home yields a 51% to 55% return on your investment. Consumer Reports claims that enhancing your home's exterior, especially with exterior painting, can boost the value of the home by 3.5% on average. That means if your home started at $800,000, you could add $24,000 in value with a quality paint job.

Craftwork Cost vs. DIY

Painting the exterior of your home, even if it is just one story, can be a massive undertaking. The cost of supplies you may never use again for exterior paint jobs, including a pressure washer, paint sprayer, and a 20 foot ladder can add up to over $600 alone. Add $1,600 for the 20 gallons of quality paint needed for the trim, windows, and paneling of a 2,000-square-foot home.

If you consider the danger of being on a tall ladder and the expertise needed to properly prepare, repair, and paint the home, hiring professional painters for your exterior paint job is the recommended path.

There are multiple factors that go into pricing exterior paint jobs:

• existing damage or peeling paint

• different types of materials, like paneling, brick, or stucco, require different paint and techniques

• painting challenging exterior features, like dormers, gutters, or window sashes

If Craftwork was commissioned for the exterior paint job to increase curb appeal, repainting the paneling of a two-story, 3,750 square foot home (like this one in Charlotte) would cost roughly $11,000 total (including paint and labor). If this home is valued at $745,000 pre-painting, the fresh coat of paint would increase to $767,500; a $22,500 increase and an ROI of $11,500.

Looking for a smaller home improvement? Consider your doors and shutters for your next exterior painting project. A 2022 Zillow analysis revealed if you paint your front door black it could earn you $6,449 more than the typical U.S. home value. Craftwork can paint or stain all of your exterior doors in one day, which could prove to be a great return on investment and add value to your home.

Live in the Charlotte region and need professional painters to help with your exterior paint jobs? Send Craftwork a message via chat or text 704-251-7413 to receive an estimate today on new paint.

Signs you need to repaint before listing

• The exterior paint is showing peeling or cracking

• You see gaps or cracks

• The exterior paint colors have faded

• The color is bold or doesn't go with the neighborhood

• The front door is dull and doesn't stand out

Refinishing Cabinets

According to Zillow, the ROI of a minor kitchen remodel like refinishing cabinets will return 81.1% of your investment, with the average cost being $21,198 and an average return of $17,193. Unless your cabinet paint is chipping or an ugly shade that may turn away buyers or renters, it may be best to refinish your cabinets in your new home where you can enjoy it long-term.

Craftwork Cost vs. DIY

Real estate agents warn that you shouldn’t take a DIY approach to painting kitchen cabinets before you put your home on the market, according to Apartment Therapy, and the Craftwork team agrees. There is too much that can go wrong when you DIY cabinets, including streaks, drips and chipping. It is also very easy to see if cabinets are painted incorrectly.

Consider how Craftwork refinishes cabinets. Our team removes the doors and drawers, preparing the space and sanding the cabinet boxes. If you don't prepare the space correctly, you can ruin the floors or wall paint. We use lacquer to spray the boxes in your home and the doors and drawers in our warehouse.

Our process takes roughly 8 to 10 days, providing high quality result that ensure the cabinets looks like it came straight from the manufacturer.

Craftwork refinished the island above, in a flat sheen, in Farrow and Ball Green Smoke No. 47. If you're considering painting an island like the one above with Craftwork, it would cost between $1,500 and $2,500 including paint and labor.

Live in the Charlotte region and want to refinish your cabinets? Send Craftwork a message via chat or text 704-251-7413 to receive an estimate today.

Signs you need to refinish your cabinets

• Existing paint is chipping or peeling

• The cabinets are stained or were poorly painted before

• The current color is not white, gray, blue or green.

Interior Paint Color Suggestion

If you are looking to sell or rent your home, painting your walls in muted tones is a great home improvement investment. Homes with gray walls in the living room or bedrooms averaged $1,755 more than other colors.

As shown in our Paint Color Guide, here are the colors realtors recommend to help sell your home:

• Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray (SW 7029)

• Sherwin-Williams Alabaster (SW 7008)

• Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige (SW 7036)

• Sherwin-Williams Snowbound (SW 7004)

According to Zillow's 2021, 2022 and 2023 Paint Color Analysis, there are lighter shades and darker colors that can increase home values if used properly. For example:

• A bedroom painted a dark, moody blue could sell for a nearly $1,500 premium.

• Light blue bathrooms could sell a home for 1.6% more than expected, or nearly $5,000.

• Bathrooms painted a trendy terracotta brown could help a home sell for $1,624 more than similar homes.

• Homes with a deep graphite gray kitchen have the right paint color and can sell for an estimated $2,512 more than similar homes. A mid-tone pewter gray kitchen can command $2,553 more than expected.

Beware of trendy or bold colors when trying to sell your home. Zillow’s paint color analysis found homes with:

• classic white kitchens decrease offers by $612. 

• Mint green kitchens received $1,830 less. 

• Red and yellow walls could knock up to $1,500 off offers.

• a cement gray front door receives an estimated $3,365 less from prospective buyers' offers

Exterior Paint Color Suggestion

Although home buyers may not know the latest color trends, there are a few rules to help guide your decision-making process. When it comes to exterior paint colors, your home should have no more than 3 colors. We recommend the panels, stucco, or brick be one shade, the garage doors and trim be another, and the final shade should adorn your front door and shutters with just a pop of color.

If homes in your neighborhood all fall in a similar color palette or you have an HOA, it is best to use your existing colors or look to a neighbor a street over for inspiration. Confirm with your HOA if they have required shades for exterior paint colors.

Neighborhood lacking cohesion? Add value with neutral paint colors, like those recommended by Sherwin Williams color trends, for your exterior and a pop of color for your front door to increase curb appeal.

According to Zillows Paint Color Analysis, a black front door is the right paint color to increase the price of your home by 2.9%. The average home in Charlotte is valued at $400,000 according to Redfin, which means this investment alone would add $11,300 to the sale price.

Studio McGee, who features black doors on multiple projects, shows why a dark-toned door may be a home improvement project worth investing in.

Craftwork Difference

If you're selling a house in Charlotte and considering home improvement projects to increase your home value, you'll begin to see a wide range of estimates and wonder about the factors used to pull the price together.

Here are a few factors that go into Craftwork's pricing:

• Our experienced painters are full-time employees. This not only means they are trained and trustworthy, but we also pay them above industry average because they return high-quality work.

• We don't change our pricing based on where you live. Pricing shouldn't increase based on what the company believes you can afford. Craftwork offers transparent, flat rate pricing to cover materials, labor and operational costs. No matter the neighborhood, the pricing model is exactly the same.

• We use high-quality materials that last. With Craftwork, you'll get the job done right the first time. We only work with the best materials to ensure longevity.

• Tech-enabled and customer-centric. Our company spends every hour improving our service to take the pain out of painting. We invest in technology to simplify the estimate process and to be the best paint company at customer service.

We hope you consider Craftwork for your next home renovation project and look forward to providing you an estimate!