With a Focus on Diversity and Quality, This is the Year of Full Spectrum Paint

In a time when it seems like mass production and big business are becoming the sole resource for consumers, retail trends indicate that they are looking for more. And by more, we mean unique, less automated products that make people feel like one IN a million, not one OF a million. Online sites like Etsy, that offer “micro sellers” the opportunity to showcase small-batch, artisan goods are showing strong year over year growth even as the mega-commerce site Amazon continues to soar.

In an effort to subdue the stress of life outside of their walls, people are filling their homes with inspired objects that help establish their space as a personal, sacred reprieve from the bustling world outside.

“People are wanting to not only create beautiful homes, but to design them in a way that will enrich the lives that reside within. So, interiors are welcoming natural, calming elements and focusing on wellness-based design to help rejuvenate and replenish them.”  - Philippa Radon

Realizing that consumers are looking for more specialized products, small home goods companies are offering products that can't be found at big box stores like Home Depot or Lowes. Enter: full-spectrum paint.

With an eye toward handcrafted, artisan goods, and a focus on integrating nature into daily life, standard wall paint isn’t satisfying the needs of ever-discerning customers who are seeking the highest quality products available. "Since wall space is such a large, visible area, there is a shift toward acknowledging what goes on the walls, how it’s made, and how it can transform a space," adds Radon.

Made with artisan quality ingredients, full-spectrum paint offers a superior solution to what has become a mass-produced commodity. Today's paint is often made with lower quality ingredients to produce on a mass scale. Smaller batch products offer such benefits as a pre-edited, harmonious palette (no more paining over thousands of colors!) that makes choosing color more intuitive.

“Curated palettes that are edited by color experts to reflect the beauty found in nature provides such beautiful choices that customers actually enjoy the color choosing process, which is often one frought with overwhelming confusion and trepidation. It truly gives you the confidence to choose colors that envelop you in rooms you will love to live with. It’s a step above the mechanical paint color systems you see in the big retail stores." - Philippa Radon

So, what is full-spectrum color, and why is it better? Here are 4 reasons:

1. Multi-dimensional, Natural Color

Because of the complex formulas used in the formulations, the paint reflects a fuller range of light than its peers. It was created to align with the natural world and the subtle way that light and shade combine to create an elusive multi-colored effect. Unlike flat-looking colors that seem lifeless on the wall, full-spectrum colors radiate throughout the day, revealing undertones and nuances that other colors lack.

Not only are full-spectrum colors more luminous, but they actually play better with others. Because there are little bits of most colors in any given formula, they pick up on other colors and three-dimensional elements in a room like fabrics, rugs, and accessories. The next time a designer or homeowner brings in a fabric or carpet sample, put it next to a full spectrum color to see how it picks up the nuances.

2. An Artisan Approach

By combining rare artist grade pigments with NO black colorant (BLK), the result is a paint that does not absorb the light, but instead, reflects it. This full-spectrum approach is not unlike the one used by master painters throughout history to achieve the incredible lighting effects in their paintings. Rembrandt was known to teach all of his students to use a full spectrum gray ground on their canvases before they began to paint. The use of multiple complementary colors to dechromatize the other colorants in a formula, instead of black, yields truly luminous colors that come "alive" by comparison.

3. Unique, Complex Formula

The complexity of full-spectrum color formulas also makes them virtually impossible to replicate or color match (think of it as an encrypted code). The matching software of other brands is not able to register the addition of these extra colorants, so the rendered matches inevitably look dull and lifeless by comparison (like a regular TV sitting next to an HDTV...you can see the difference in quality).

4. Quality, Coverage, and Durability

By using only the finest ingredients, multiple colorants and a handcrafted process, the product covers in two coats, rolls on smoothly and boasts incredible durability, so you won’t have to (or want to) repaint in the next few years. Quality ingredients equates to beautiful color that lasts.

When we started out, we never considered price, only quality. That ideal stands true today. It’s quality first, always.” - Tom Hill, founder

 In summary, this is how full-spectrum paint is changing the paint color game: 

• They contain no black colorants resulting in colors that are luminous and not muddy or drab on the wall.
• They are made with a multiple colorant approach that effectively captures the effects of natural light, and more easily blends in with the other design elements in the room.
• They are made from the highest quality pigments using the MCL colorant system to deliver unique colors that are virtually impossible to match in other paint lines.
• With a full spectrum palette, choosing colors is a lot more exciting and a lot less stressful. They practically select themselves!

See how Designer Philippa Radon discovered full-spectrum paint and why she won’t use anything else! 

Contact a C2 Paint retailerto see how you can sample this for yourself!