Why are specialized paint colors necessary in home restoration?
The Great American Color Card and the style guides that sometimes supported them were inventions of a new post-Civil War industry to promote its ready-mixed paint. Their goal was to stop house painters from mixing their own paint and sell them factory-made paint. During the 1880s and 1890s their primary target was exterior paint. During the decades prior to WWII, it was interior paint. Despite these efforts, the demise of paint made by painters was slow in coming. Although ready-mixed paint was triumphant beginning with the 1960s, the need to alter its colors by hand has remained constant to this day, because colors often require adjustment to satisfy the requirements of the job. So, where are we now with historic paint colors? Sherwin-Williams is the only major paint company that maintains some momentum with its Preservation Palette along with the Colonial Williamsburg palette supported by its subsidiary Pratt & Lambert and Martin-Senour brands. The strength of all paint company color
