So you have style, now you want to show it off. You’ve heard of one and two tone paint. But what about this third tone?

Is it worth it?

Should you have it?

You’re 55+ and you know what you want, at least you know when you see it.

Do you want three tone paint?

Upgrading to three tone paint.

First off, what is three tone paint. Where two tone paint simply means two colors, three tone means…two colors—still.

Ok, have I totally confused you yet?

While two tone paint puts another color, usually white, on your baseboards, doors, and door casings, three tone paint adds that same color (again, I’ll stick with white since it’s the most common) onto your ceiling.

Why three tone?

By taking your two tone paint job up a notch and putting it onto your ceiling, you’re doing one thing mainly: You are making your room look bigger.

Granted, three tone paint is going to cost more than two tone paint. Masking off a ceiling takes a lot of work. If you’re not a skilled masker, and yes it does take skill, then you can really make this look bad. Nobody likes a wavy ceiling joint where it meets your wall.

But the real question you should be asking is:

Should I have three tone paint?

This depends on the layout of your ceiling. Naturally everybody has their own tastes. Here is my opinion:

If your ceiling is vaulted or taller than the standard eight feet height, then no, I don’t think three tone paint is necessary. Your home will already have a more spacious feel to it and you will not be getting as big a bang for your buck.

If however you have a standard eight foot tall ceiling, then painting it white can really make it feel less claustrophobic. It gives the illusion that you have more room than you really do. In my house, I have eight foot ceilings, and with that third tone, I don’t even notice a ceiling anymore.

Does Leisure Villas do three tone paint?

At leisure Villas, we specialize in very open floorplans for seniors. One of the things that our clients love, is to downsize their homes without feeling the constraints of a smaller floorplan. That’s why we do our best to make them feel roomy.

One way we do this, is to provide vaulted ceilings throughout our homes. There are very few areas with only eight foot high ceilings. Because of this, adding a three tone paint job is usually overkill. Since we don’t believe there is a big enough value in it, we don’t offer it as a standard or as an upgrade option.

If however you do feel that it is important for you, and you have the money to spare, we have had some residents hire our painters after closing to add that to the ceilings. In the end it is a personal decision.

Most likely, you’ll agree with us. If you’re 55 or older, just come by and visit any of our models. You’ll see how roomy they feel without the added expense of that third tone.