exterior decorating ideas

Are You Thinking of Selling your House?


The No. 1 Decorating Job that can add 25% to the value of your property


When you start thinking of how you can add value to your home, the usual ideas spring to mind. Projects such as -

An Extension

Garage Conversion

New Kitchen or Bathroom.

Now these are all “big” projects to undertake and take a lot of time, energy, planning and the most importantly MONEY!!

However I think you might be surprised to find out you can get a lot more “BANG FOR YOUR BUCKS”

Dulux have some good news if your budget won’t stretch to costly transformations. A straightforward paint job could be all you need to impress potential buyers.

According to new research from Dulux, a fresh coat of paint could increase a home’s perceived value by nearly a quarter, since almost a third of Brits expect to pay 25 per cent more for a freshly painted home.


Kerb Appeal is more important than ever (Image credit: Dulux)

Kerb Appeal is more important than ever (Image credit: Dulux)


Painting your exterior walls or front door isn’t just about keeping up with the Joneses any more.

Social media plays a big part, with 2.6 million Brits admitting they post photos of house exteriors to their Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts at least once a month.

That perhaps explains why an Instagrammable exterior is so crucial to potential buyers, and the fact that 93 per cent of Brits are more likely to attend a viewing if the exterior of the house is well maintained.

A jungle of a garden and windows are among our top bugbears, but what irritates us the most is a drab front door.


Image credit: Dulux

Image credit: Dulux


Not only that, research reveals we will take an average of 10 seconds to make a judgement on a person having seen the colour of their front door. 10 Seconds?

So while you may spend months debating what colour to paint the living room, or whether to redecorate your bedroom,

it might be time to give your outside walls and doors more thought.

When is the last time you painted the house?

Despite the big difference painting the exterior can make, most Brits haven’t refreshed the exterior of their house in more than eight years, while one in five admit it’s been more than 15 years.

Most proffesional Decorators recommend re-decorating exteriors between 3 and 5 years as it is the most cost effective way to look after the outside of a property.

Hiring a Painter and Decorator to do the job for you will set you back anywhere between £1000 and £5,500, depending on the size of your home, the condition of the property and the number of storeys that it has.


Image credit: Dulux

Image credit: Dulux


What Colour add the most £££ ?

Embracing Blue apparently adds an average of £4,000. 

Shortly behind blue is white, which adds roughly £3,400 to the value of a house.

Red comes in third, adding £1,800.


Image credit: Dulux

Image credit: Dulux


So if you’ve always dreamed of a pink front door or a freshly white-painted exterior, now’s the time to give your home a facelift.


How to Smarten up Your Home's Exterior

5 quick and easy ways to give your home’s façade a facelift

Q: Hi we're in the process of selling our home, but the outside of our property isn't looking its best. What can we do to make it look more appealing to buyers?

A: Exteriors nearly always get neglected, and yet a tidy façade is crucial if you want to make a good first impression.

It's even more important if you’re trying to sell your property, as a new study by Dulux Weathershield found that adding a lick of paint to your home’s exterior can help increase its perceived value by up to 25%.

A tired-looking façade is one of my personal bugbears, but I'm not the only one.

Weathershield's study found that flaky front doors are Brits’ top pet hate when it comes to the outside of people’s homes followed closely by crumbling masonry and cracked walls.

So if you only do one thing to smarten up your home’s exterior, I recommend you give your front door and windowsills a fresh coat of paint.

Dulux Weathershield Masonry paint is a good option, and will instantly improve your home’s appearance. It also comes with the new Weathershield Promise on qualifying products, so you can be confident that it will resist peeling, flaking and staining caused by mould.

As for the colour – normally, I'd say go wild and pick whatever shade takes your fancy, but if you're looking to sell, go for a crowd-pleaser (you don't want to scare off potential buyers, after all). Weathershield found that 46% of Brits prefer the exterior of properties when they’re painted classic white or cream, followed by pale blue (19% - see [Frosted Lake] (/en/colour-palettes/frosted-lake)), yellow, mint green, then lilac, red, navy blue and grey.

If you're keeping it neutral, check out Cream Tea, which is especially good for cottages or countryside homes. Alternatively, try on-trend Galliant Grey, our colour of choice for urban homes and Victorian terraces.

You'll be so pleased with the results you may reconsider moving home after all…