10 Ideas for Two-Toned Colors in Your Home

New homes and apartments tend to sport two paint colors – eggshell and ecru. However, staring at the same four walls gets old after a while, especially when they’re painted with the same boring hue.

You can update your home’s look for less than $100 with the right paint job. But why stick to just one? Here are 10 ideas for two-toned colors in your home.

1. Contrast Your Whites

Maybe you inhabit a tiny pad. Pale shades make your space look bigger and take maximum advantage of reflecting natural light.

Going white-on-white is one of the hottest interior design trends. Celebrities like Daniel Radcliffe and Jennifer Lawrence embrace it in their decorating. You paint your walls an off-shade, then emphasize bright white accents in your trim. If you want a more funky or retro look, reverse the color order.

2. Go Tommy Two-Tone

Maybe you aren’t a budding Picasso – but can you paint a straight line? If so, you can create an interesting horizontal design by going two-tone, with one shade on the bottom and another on top.

This painting scheme looks wonderful in children’s bedrooms. You can paint green on the bottom to represent grass and blue for the sky. Then, get cut-out decals to create a scene with happy kids and animals at play.

3. Add Wainscotting

What if you’re not too steady with your hands? Wainscotting also adds a horizontal visual element but provides a cheat: a piece of molding to divide your room.

You can also use this method to make your colors pop. Paint the wainscotting one color and the wall above a different one. You can also run a single piece of molding as a stripe on an otherwise solid-colored wall.

4. Create an Accent Wall

What rule states that you have to paint all four walls of a room the same color? An accent wall adds striking visual appeal, helping you highlight your family photograph collection.

Accent walls are typically darker in shade than the other three. It’s one way to add color to a room while keeping a light-to-white hue elsewhere to create the illusion of more space.

5. Go Geometric

If you can paint between the lines, why not create a striking geometric accent wall? You can incorporate several shades of the same color, making your furniture blend in better.

Begin by marking your patterns with a ruler, then use painter’s tape to outline your design. Complete one section at a time by coating twice and letting the first dry so you can reapply tape before doing the next hue to create a straight separation between shades.

6. Outline a Single Striking Shape

If you don’t want a multicolored geometric design, why not go with a single accent point? For example, a sunny triangle in the corner of a child’s bedroom can symbolize the sun’s rays.

You can also use this method to create accents. Do you have a shelf holding a prized vase? Why not paint an arch around it to highlight your pottery?

7. Get Creative With Cabinetry

You can paint your cabinets fairly easily – and doing so can transform your kitchen. Going lighter on a dark set will make your space look bigger.

You can also get a little funky. Since you have to remove the doors anyway, why not paint them a contrasting hue to incorporate more two-toned colors in your home? You can go retro-70s with bold colors like blue and green or keep it simple with two different shades of tan.

8. Add a Border

You can buy wallpaper borders. You can also create one with paint.

To do so, you’ll use the same method you did when creating a geometric pattern. You don’t have to make a straight line. A curved bright blue border along the bottom of a kid’s bedroom wall could become the ocean. A triangular pattern at the top edge resembles racing flags.

9. Design a Simple Mural

Are you the artistic sort? If so, why not turn your wall into your easel? Painting a mural need not be complex.

For example, why not recreate the wispy clouds of a summer’s day on a blue accent wall? You can add the texture by applying a different-colored paint with a sponge after finishing the base color.

10. Highlight Your Trim

Finally, you can incorporate two-toned colors in your home by painting your trim. The best part? You can complete this chore in a few hours, which is perfect for a busy weekend when you also have a soccer tournament.

If you have beams in your ceiling, painting your trim a similar hue creates an English Tudor look. A pretty yellow pastel with white trim and cabinetry makes your kitchen nook say, “Here, sit down and enjoy a spot of tea.”