Photographer: Joanna McClure for Bloomberg Businessweek
The Canny Business Model Behind Our Obsession With White Paint
Whether it’s for a white-box minimalism or blank-canvas home renovation, opting for pallid pigments has never been more popular. How did we get here?
Visit a hardware store in search of a can of white paint, and you’ll face a blizzard of choices. Benjamin Moore & Co. offers more than 300 shades, including Chantilly Lace, White Dove, and Simply White, all bestsellers for more than a decade. PPG Industries Inc., a favorite of commercial painters and decorators, sells 65 base whites alone, but it also has options such as Fuzzy Unicorn and Glacial Ice, if you need a tint with more niche appeal. Even tony British company Farrow & Ball Ltd. sells 24 whites out of the total of 132 colors in its palette. New for 2021 is Salt, developed with designer Kelly Wearstler.
We are, quite simply, obsessed with white paint.