| Home Depot Color Solutions Center |
| Jul 14 2003 |
New Tools to Help Consumers Choose ColorShopping for paint, a task that can be more that a bit frustrating, just got easier. More paint color collections, friendlier paint displays, larger color cards, and help with color coordinating are just a few of the terrific innovations paint manufacturers have dreamed up to assist color-hungry homeowners. The Home Depot for example, has introduced the Color Solutions Center -- a 30-foot wall of paint sample heaven -- offering paint color collections from Behr® Premium Plus, Ralph Lauren®, and Glidden®, and Behr's new Disney® paint collection especially for the young-at-heart. (Read more about these on Page 2 and 3.) With over 3,000 paint choices, finding the right color for your project may be more fun than ever before. Manufacturers are also providing more paint tips, materials lists, and color palettes as well. Home Depot has even addressed lighting issues, using lighting for their paint displays that is very close to the look of natural light, giving a more accurate color rendition. That means that the "perfect" blue you select at the paint store won't turn to teal when you view it in your own home. The centerpiece is the touchscreen computer in the ColorSmart® kiosk from Behr. User-friendly software allows consumers to browse color collections, print a supply list, and play with color combinations in virtual kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and baths, to get a feel for how particular colors might look in an entire room. Not sure if you'll love nautical blue on the walls? Take a look at the color on the computer in a room of your choice -- you may just fall in love with the look. If not, try out other paint colors with the touch of your finger on the screen. Many of the ColorSmart® features can also be accessed online at Behr's website, where you'll be able to get some ideas before setting foot outside your door. Home Depot's computer kiosk also includes a color scanner where you can scan a color card or bring in a color sample (on a pillow, fabric, wallpaper, etc.). The ColorSmart® program will scan your sample and instantly create a color palette for your project. Preview these colors on-screen, view them in virtual rooms, or print out your personalized palette of paint colors. Next: > Page 2: Ralph Lauren and Glidden and Page 3: Behr Paint and Disney Collections |
New colors, larger samples, color helpYou'll be wowed by color at the Color Solutions Center. Four large paint displays are well-lit and intelligently arranged to help you find not only the exact color you need, but a collection of professionally coordinated related colors and neutrals as well. You'll find these paint collections featured in the Color Solutions Center. Ralph Lauren Paint The corner of the Color Solutions display is devoted to Ralph Lauren Paint, with nearly 500 colors. You'll find brochures and paint chips grouped by collection, including Greenhouse, Naturals, Sea and Sky, Thoroughbred, and Whitewash, which you can also preview online. The Ralph Lauren website also offers instructions to print as well as online video how tos for their signature paint techniques that include Antique Leather, River Rock, Suede, Duchesse Satin, Denim, Linen, and Chambray. And you'll also be able to browse for wallpaper, fabrics, and home furnishings as well. Glidden Paint Glidden's Color View 2003 collection features 40 fashion-forward colors in eight color families: red, orange, yellow, green blue, violet, beige and grey. The colors are showcased in a brochure with "peel-and-stick" color chips so you can try out the chips and various color combinations to your walls, trim, ceilings, or furniture. Glidden has expanded and reorganized their display of over 800 Glidden colors, divided into four collections, each evoking a particular mood and lifestyle. This approach can help consumers zero in on the color palettes that may best express their personality.
Want to browse color ideas at home? Glidden also offers a Color@Home II CD-ROM (available for under $10 at Glidden retailers). Play with interactive software that lets you choose Glidden color combinations and see them in virtual rooms on your own computer screen. For budding designers and home decorating enthusiasts, try out the nifty feature that lets you import and colorize pictures of your own home interiors or exteriors. |
Over 1,600 colors for any home projectBehr Paint By far the largest section of the Color Solutions Center features Behr paints in more than 1,600 colors, including 63 whites and 140 accent color cards. Numerous brochures and the ColorSmart interactive kiosk are also part of Behr's display (See Page 1 for more.) The Disney Paint Collection Perhaps the most popular section of Home Depot's new display is Behr's Disney Color, featuring 160 colors in six themed collections especially for babies and kids of all ages. These paints range from soft pastels to eye-popping brights suitable for walls, furnishings, and accents in a child's room. The collections include:
Next: > "A Room with a Pooh" and Disney Clouds Project Instructions |
| ~ Glenna Morton |