Whether you’re 55 or older, or still young, you’re buying a new or used home and it’s time to think about paint. If you haven’t been asked this already, then your builder or painter is sure to ask.

Do you want one tone or two tone paint?

If you haven’t run across this term before, you might be thinking, how can my paint have two tones?

Should you say yes to two tone paint?

Two tone paint is easier than you think.

The easiest answer is, maybe.

Two tone paint simply means that you have two colors of paint in your house. The main paint, or one/single tone paint, is the paint that goes all over your walls and ceilings. For many homes, this is all you need.

For others, it’s nice to jazz it up a little more by adding that second color. I’m not talking about accent walls. That is an entirely different conversation. When you step it up to two-tone paint, you are basically just coloring the baseboards, casings around your doors, and your doors a different color, usually white.

Simply painting these extra parts white can take your house from nice, to wow.

Is two tone paint affordable?

True, two tone paint does cost more and adds a lot more time to your paint job. This is because the painter now has to mask off several portions of your house to switch paints.

If you’re doing it all yourself and you have the time, then it shouldn’t be too bad for you. But most of us are better off hiring someone to do this for us.

So what if you can’t afford the second color to highlight your home? Well, there is one cheat that you can do that will almost give you that same feel. What I’m suggesting is not a perfect fix, but it can take a moment for someone to realize that it isn’t two tone paint. That is to play the sheen game.

Your walls are usually going to be done in sheetrock. Sheetrock is porous, especially if you go with a textured feel. By the way, most drywallers charge less for textured walls. They require less skill. So you have your drywall that is going to suck some of the sheen out of your paint. If you go with a semi-gloss paint, it’s going to feel more flat.

Then when you get to your baseboards, especially if your baseboard is made from primed MDF, it will have a smooth texture. This will cause the sheen of that semi-gloss to appear more glossy.

What you end up with is a paint that looks slightly brighter on the baseboard and slightly flatter on your walls. It’s still the same color, but it can almost look like two tone paint.

But don’t take my word for it. Walk through a few new homes and see if you can tell the difference. Remember to always try painting a sample area first to see if you get the desired effect.

Does Leisure Villas do two tone paint?

On most of our projects we do a two tone paint standard. Most of our competitors charge extra for this. Granted, sometimes we’ll put a new subdivision in more price sensitive market, and we’ll have to keep it at one tone paint, but that is usually the exception.

Stop on in, and see how much that second color of paint makes our homes really pop. If you’re in the market for a 55+ neighborhood, you’re likely retired or near retiring. You’ve worked hard your whole life and you owe it to yourself to visit the builder with the best standard upgrades in the industry.