This year in color

If one would believe the headlines, it would seem that homeowners have their sights set on putting the cones and rods in their eyes to better use this year. That’s because a notable number of home improvement players are expanding not through new product lines or distribution regions, but through better color selection and even trend forecasting.



This goes beyond brands that decree their own Color of the Year, though companies like Pantone, Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore have all thrown down for the 2015 superlative.

Color forecasting is becoming somewhat of its own science — or a thought-leadership imperative, depending on your perspective. Smart Carpet and Flooring president Brenda Phillips sees darker hardwood colors in the near future. Kohler and Benjamin Moore teamed up to take this to its natural conclusion: a 32-page catalog of design inspiration called “Collaboration in Full Color.”



Meanwhile, some companies take the more modest approach of adding more color options to their swatches. Just in time to kick off this rather multi-hued year, Dunn-Edwards Paints recently added a whopping 300 new colors to its Perfect Palette color system to honor nostalgic colors, as well as those trending today.