Smart painting plans for a retirement home

If you keep up with industry trends the way we do at Matthews Painting, you may have seen this month’s Wall Street Journal story about the shift away from DIY painting projects so get ready Columbia City and Goshen, Indiana . More people are choosing professionals to complete the job for them, and there are a few reasons for that, according to journalist Andrew Tangel. A strengthening economy accounts for some of it, as many people feel comfortable about the means to pay a pro, while the improved housing market makes “home” a priority.

There’s one driver Tangel mentions that doesn’t often get as much attention, and that’s the impact of baby boomers as they approach retirement. More mature homeowners aren’t always as excited about climbing ladders, scraping surfaces and all of the physical energy it takes to do a quality painting job. They’re frequently part of the population demographic with the discretionary income available to hire a quality professional, and they prefer to spend the time as well as energy enjoying other life pursuits.

Those life cycle factors account for some baby boomer choices – retired or not – but there are a few other reasons for why choosing a professional painter is growing in popularity among the older set. Are you choosing to stay in a home you’ve loved for decades? Almost two-thirds of baby boomers in one recent study said they’re staying put. That means they’re paying off their mortgages ahead of time, but it also means they’re investing in quality painting and other home improvements ahead of the big day.

For those staying in their houses, a makeover is often in order. As life changes, so do the spaces in the family home, and it’s not unusual for what was once a child’s bedroom to become a home office for someone who plans to keep busy with part-time consulting or volunteer work. What was a noisy den may become a study for writers, a craft room for hobbyists or even a gallery for the art enthusiast too.

Professional painters will prepare surfaces to conceal the imperfections of a life already well-lived, and then create the fresh start that new retirees need as they take the first steps into a rewarding journey.

Yet not everyone plans to stay in the same house, and sometimes people move at least once even after they’re retired. The main reason older folks choose to relocate is to be closer to children – and those grandkids – in other cities. In most cases that means moving within the same state; a Merrill Lynch study in 2015 found that was the case for more than 80 percent of people 65 and up who moved the previous year.

What they also found was that not everyone downsizes, with about 30 percent of retirees actually moving to larger homes, and about two-thirds said they don’t want to be in an age-restricted condo or house in a retirement community. That means that there’s a great diversity in the choices that baby boomers are making about the new homes they’re moving to – and a lot of homes going on the market.

For those families, a professional company like Matthews Painting makes it easier to sell a cherished old home in a snap, and ensure that you and your property put a best foot forward. On the other end of that move, the pros also help your new house to become a home with the colors, textures and trim to make it personal. That’s especially true if you’ve made modifications toward aging in place and need a fresh, clean look once any remodeling work is completed.

Whatever their choices, all retirees have in common the fact that they’ve worked hard for a lifetime to enjoy the home they have. Trusting that home to professional painters is another smart investment.

Matthews Painting is  now expanding our interior and exterior wall, ceiling, trim, door, window and cabinet painting and staining, wallpaper removal, drywall repair, deck staining and sealing and log Home staining and sealing into the Goshen, Indiana and Columbia City Indiana areas.