If you can pick a neutral...egads white... or a grey, greige,... then paint it before! But if you are really stuck, than after you move in paint but before is easier. No fumes, no mess, no moving furniture, no covering floor with tarp and best of all when you move in it's just unpacking and that's it. Otherwise it's unpacking and then painting.

I know it's harder on the painter and occupant, as Mia mentioned, but I prefer to paint after moving in because you can test a few colors and live with them a while before deciding. It's important to see the samples in different lights (early morning, noon, evening) and weather conditions. All these factors have an impact on color. Enjoy your new pad!

On the day my own escrow closed, I hired painters. I'd been spending weeks imagining what paint colors would best serve as a background for my junk and had painted several sample boards, which I showed to all and sundry to get their opinions. Of course, I hadn't been able to spend any time in the house to see how those paints might look over the course of the day as the light changed, etc., but I knew for sure that I wanted the place painted BEFORE moving in, so I took my best guess. It all turned out great, I'm happy to say.


Now, four years later. I occasionally think about repainting and have a few ideas about color. What's stopping me is that it is such a huge, messy hassle to paint when you have to deal with moving all your stuff around.


My advice, fwiw: paint first.