How Do Paint Colors Get Their Names

Paint is a big business.  As one paint company's tag line says,..." We cover the world."  And paint does just that with the most creative names for the thousands of colors just waiting to escape 1 gallon paint cans and be applied to walls, ceilings and floors.  

Several days ago I was talking with a colleague about a certain brand of paint and wondered who establishes the fancy names and how do they come up with such.  (After years as an interior designer, I must confess that my favorite color of all time is Benjamin Moore: Oklahoma Wheat.  It's what I call a warm sunny neutral.  Goes with anything,... followed by Kansas Grain. )  

So we contemplated for at least 20 minutes that there must be some very creative word~smithy in the design departments of paint companies who do nothing all day but figure out what to call certain colors,.... like one that looks like a dark chocolate latte with extra cream and a hint of cinnamon.  We wondered what would one call the warm red dirt around Sedona, AZ.  just after a monsoon rain shower?  Or even perhaps the color of a Brazilian tree frog?  Well, coincidently....our questions have been answered in an article in the NYTimes.  It's an interesting short read and quite insightful.  CLICK HERE to read it.