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Archive for the ‘C2 Paint’ Category
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
Just a few weeks ago, C2 Paint introduced LoVo – luxurious Low VOC paint.
It has all the features and benefits of the premium C2 paint; it’s available in all 496 colors, it’s infinitely customizable (custom colors are even available in 16 oz. Sampler pots), it has the unique color system that nobody else uses in North America, 18×24″ Ultimate Paint Chips made from real paint, etc, etc, etc. – and now these colors are available in Low-VOC. How cool is that?
I am so excited to report that LoVo now constitutes 24% of our interior paint sales. And in only 10 days of sales. Who doesn’t want to feel good about doing good? And look good at the same time?
Posted in C2 Paint, LoVo, LoVo Paint | Comments Off
Monday, February 18th, 2008
One of the fun things the staff has been doing lately is come up with creative headlines for the reader-board on the Seattle Daly’s sign. Being a creative staff, the sayings aren’t always… shall we say, ‘tasteful’. The challenge is to use a C2 Paint or Daly’s Products reference in the headline.
So in that spirit, here is my favorite saying that you WON’T be seeing on the Daly’s sign:
We Don’t Take “Shiitake” From Nobody
See what I mean?
Posted in C2 Paint, Daly's Paint, Daly's Wood Finishes | Comments Off
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
This past weekend I had the opportunity to tour the paint factory where C2 Paint’s LoVo will be made. LoVo is C2′s Low-VOC offering – set to launch around Earth Day in April.
From my perspective, one indicator that I’m probably in the right business is that I was actually looking forward to watching paint being made! Yes, that’s right up there with watching paint dry in some people’s book, but this was cool.
This factory, located in Massachusets, was even designed with input from MIT. As I understand it, it is considered a no-waste facility – meaning they utilize, recycle and incorporate every ingredient that enters the plant into the products they produce. Truely state of the art facilities, and really- if we are going to the effort to make quality, environmentally sound product, it just stands to reason that the facility should operate under the same guiding principles.
They even have a dust collecting system, so that any particulates that aren’t blended into an architectural coating are recollected and used in industrial products. They use the dust in air!
Made me feel good to know that LoVo is in good hands. And, no, you can’t make any snarky comments on the ‘stylish’ safety glasses!
Posted in C2 Paint, LoVo, low VOC paint | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007
We had a customer come in to pick up a color chip from a color consultation she had earlier. She was looking for the color “Chutney” by C2 Paint. When she pulled it out of the rack, we could see that she was a bit surprised at how intense the color appeared.
Luckily we have a small wall painted that color right in the showroom – what a difference! The color on the chip looked a lot stronger than when applied on the wall. However, when you compare the little chip to the wall, they match.
This is a good reminder about why we often stress the importance of trying a new color out in sample form before making a final decision. If she hadn’t seen the color in a larger example she probably wouldn’t have felt the “Chutney” was the right color after all. Seeing a life-sized sample allows the eye to read the color itself, and not the contrast of the color against it’s surroundings. Color is all about relationships, one color to the other…
Posted in C2 Chutney, C2 Paint, choosing colors | Comments Off
Monday, October 8th, 2007
Friday night I attended the opening party for a designer showcase event called The Northwest Designer Showcase, presented by Glenn Richards.
Glenn Richards is this great store in Seattle featuring a huge space filled with antique Chinese and Japanese furniture, architectural elements and accessories from all over Southeast Asia. Downstairs you’ll find a very cool furniture designer, Rom Lee, who uses many reclaimed items and beautiful wood elements in his custom designs.
 The itinerant proprietors of Glenn Richards (pictured above) John and Laurie Fairman have decided to create a gallery space within their store, and from now through November 17th, you’ll find different rooms decorated by local designers:
Lisa Staton, Kathleen Williams, Rachel Marez of Fix Design, Rom Lee, and of course Christina Ursino!
Each installation in their gallery space will be quite different, with plans to feature specific artists and let them have a run at the space.Kudos to that!
Here are some more images from the showcase (and yes, we happily provided the designers with all the C2 Paint they desired! We LOVE designers!)
Here’s Lisa Staton in her luxurious living room (a little alliteration on a Monday never hurt anyone…). Note too, that Lisa just had a baby 8 weeks ago AND pulled off a showcase room…
Christian outdid himself AGAIN designing a dining room – I think my favorite touch is the leopard pattern on the dining chairs.
Speaking of babies, Rachel Marez of Fix Design Studio was worried that her baby bump wouldn’t look good on camera… as if that is a worry! And look at the cool bathroom she created too!
 Kathleen Williams created a romantic bedroom that just GLOWED – I only wish my camera could do justice to these spaces! Sigh…
Posted in C2 Paint, Christian Ursino, Glenn Richards, Kathleen Williams, Lisa Staton, Northwest Designer Showcase, Rachel Marez, Rom Lee | Comments Off
Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007
 I just got back from a great weekend spent in Chicago at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was a mid-year meeting of all the C2 Paint partners from all over North America. Hanging out in a hotel that is constantly playing great music, has hip furnishings and good company makes for a fun event.
As you have probably guessed by now, I’m pretty immersed in C2 culture – I feel so fortunate to connect with other independent paint retailers from all over.
Here I am with Jeff and Harry. Jeff is from Milton, Ontario and Harry from Providence, Rhode Island. We make up the marketing committee for C2 – so we communicate on an almost daily basis. Fun, fun, fun. We have a lot of work in the pipeline that is getting so close to being launched, can’t wait for the fun to begin!
Of course it’s not all play and no work! What is Chicago without a little action in the blue’s clubs? Blue Chicago isn’t too far from the hotel… and it reminds me of the night the color committee went out to Kingston Mines – inspiration for a number of C2 color names.
 Pictured here is our spot-on marketing team:
Jeff, Kim (marketing & branding), Tia (ditto), me, Harry, and Jill (PR maven). Tia is located in Atlanta, Kim and Jill are Chicago-based. I think there is something to the fact that we aren’t all based in the same geographical region – gives us a broader spectrum to operate within.
When I left Chicago on Sunday afternoon, the weather was in the upper 70′s. Came home to mid-50′s and rain!
Posted in C2 Paint, Chicago Blue, Hard Rock Hotel, J. Marie Agency, K101 Agency, Kingston Mines | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
Today is my first official day back from vacation (although I snuck off to Chicago for a 1 nite C2 meeting last week). The in-box isn’t toooooo bad, considering.
Found a neat design blog today that speaks about color trends using C2 Paint: http://elementstyle.blogspot.com/2007/09/grey-is-new-black.html – I love it! Plus, grey is one of my fav’s right now. Hard to believe I’d feel that way again after the grey and mauve 80′s… I think I spent most of the 90′s “beiging” out the 80′s, come to think of it!
Speaking of grey, while in Chicago I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel. The spacious rooms are painted an interesting shade of rosy/plum gray – I liked it a lot. It’s actually a pretty strong color, not pastel or washed-out. So it made a great statement and was a calming foil to all the rock and roll iconography scattered around the hotel. Plus it looked great with all the chrome (it’s the 70′s again, baby!!!).
My one complaint – most of the sofas in that joint were UNCOMFORTABLE! How’s a girl to strike a pose if she’s not sitting pretty?
Posted in C2 Paint, Hard Rock Hotel | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 12th, 2007
They are remodeling their shop, and as part of the redo they are using lots great colors.
I wanted to share this shot with you because it perfectly illustrates the whole concept of tinted primers.
In today’s design market, deep-toned colors are in high demand. We are seeing a lot of clear Reds being specified, for example.
The red pigment is very transparent, and that usually translates to multiple coats (read:5 or more) on the wall to get full coverage. In this image, you can see the painter is actually painting “Mojo” (the clear red) over what looks like a maroon wall. It might seem a bit counter intuitive, but the maroon is actually specifically formulated for “Mojo“.
Our Lead-Geeks (whom I love and are a father/son duo named Bob and Rob. Really!) analyze how light waves travel through the topcoat color, hit the primer color and bounce back up. They mathematically calculate the ideal primer color for each topcoat by looking at the light waves. There is a bright yellow in the C2 palette that had an army green primer – who knew? Yet these specially formulated primers allow the painter to almost always be able to count on only using 2 top coats – even for super clear colors like the “Mojo” pictured here.
Posted in C2 Paint, color Mojo, paint coverage, tinted primers | Comments Off
Monday, June 4th, 2007
When I repainted my house (I finally ended up using C2′s Sea Salt) – I decided to try a color for the front door that wasn’t black or deep burgundy… I love the sophistication of black doors, but this house is more “cottage” than “manor” and the black would look a bit too tres elegant.
Burgundy has just been so done. Over and over. I love it, it’s attractive, but I was looking for something a little different.
Ah ha. C2′s Space.
In some lights it’s almost a black, other lights it’s deeeeeeep turquoise. You look at it and think, “Is it green, is it blue, or is it black?” Perfect! Painted it in high gloss for that yummy finish that looks like it came from an old door off a 400-yr old house in Europe.
Speaking of gloss finishes… When you are choosing a paint color, you need to factor in the sheen and the way it will reflect the light. The Space color I chose is a perfect example of how sheen can take a color that looked somewhat dull on the chip – but once mixed in a high gloss it came alive. The light reflection created a depth for the dark color. The more matte the finish, the flatter this color would appear. And while this would be great for a media room, for example, in the more matte finish – for the front door it would have looked dead.
My trick for simulating the gloss on my paint chip: I painted a small corner of the chip with clear nail polish. What a difference. So there is your helpful hint of the day, my friends. If you don’t have polish handy, you can also try shiny cellophane tape to replicate the sheen (even spit works – in a pinch! But only amongst your friends, please!)
Posted in C2 Paint, choosing paint colors, front door color, high gloss paint | Comments Off
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