New choices in paint colors

Last update: February 3, 2004 - 10:00 PM

The latest buzz in new and intriguing choices in paint colors and finishes:

• Hot colors. Paint company executives usually cite white as their top-selling color. Officials for Dunn-Edwards Paints say that 70 percent of all the colors they sell are neutrals. So what about the other 30 percent? The company cites deep earth tones such as rusts, golds and greens. Paprika red is so trendy in dining rooms that British paint company Farrow & Ball named one of its shades "Eating Room Red." Other popular colors include sage green, pumpkin orange and mocha brown.

• Designer's choice. The pros have long preferred Benjamin Moore paints for color choice and quality. California interior designer Kathryn Ireland takes it to the next level. She mixes it with Farrow & Ball paints -- say, a vibrant apple green with a slightly darker shade to find the perfect middle ground. The only drawback? She can't duplicate it later.

• Special effects. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren's faux finish kits -- suede, linen, denim, chambray, sandstone -- remain popular.

• Best paint names. Farrow & Ball's Brit wit wins. Among them: Ointment Pink, Arsenic, Dead Salmon and Drab

• Top five brands. Coatings World says Sherwin-Williams leads the pack of top-selling U.S. paint companies. Also on the list are Minneapolis-based Valspar (which makes Laura Ashley paint), Benjamin Moore, Masco Corporation's Behr and Professional Paint Inc. (maker of Frazee, Kwal-Howells, General and Parker paints.)

• Environmentally friendly. Casein, or milk paint, was used on woodwork and furniture in America in the 16th through 19th centuries. It was created by tinting buttermilk or skimmed milk with earth or vegetable pigments and citrus juice. Among those re-creating the old formula: Old Fashioned Milk Paint Co. of Groton, Mass., and Nutshell Natural Paints in England.

Los Angeles Times

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