While attention-getting hues like lime green and bold pink were voted as the worst colors to use in real estate for 2025, home stagers and designers advise a softer color palette to make a home more sellable.

Fixr.com recently surveyed more than 60 top home staging and design professionals to uncover the best paint colors to attract potential home buyers. And while bright, dominating colors are a current focus in home design, stagers still overwhelmingly rank timeless neutrals for the real estate win.

Here’s a breakdown of their favorite colors for adding value when selling a home in 2025.

Top choice for living rooms: Soft, warm whites

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Best Colors to Paint a Living Area in 2025

Soft or warm whites: 85%

• Greige: 28%
• Beige: 24%
• Taupe: 18%
• Blush, earthy tones: 12%
• Soft greens: 10%
• Browns: 6%

Top choice for bedrooms: Warm neutrals

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Best Colors to Paint a Bedroom in 2025

• Warm neutrals: 76%
• Soft or warm whites: 42%
• Earthy greens: 25%
• Cool blues: 18%
• Blush tones: 10%
• Taupe: 10%
• Beige: 8%

Top home exterior siding choice: Off-white

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Best Siding Colors in 2025 

• Off-white: 45%
• Natural wood: 36%
• Dark gray: 24%
• Natural stone: 18%
• Taupe: 18%
• Light gray: 15%
• Black: 13%
• Navy blue: 13%

Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Melissa Dittmann Tracey is a contributing editor for REALTOR® Magazine. As editor of Styled, Staged & Sold, Tracey blogs about the latest home design and staging trends. She also produces a segment called “Hot or Not?” in home design that airs on NAR’s Real Estate Today radio show. Follow Melissa on Instagram and Twitter at @housingmuse. She can be reached at mtracey@nar.realtor.