See The World’s Biggest Paint Swatch

Last week Canadian Tire launched their new Premier paint line and it was a pretty big deal — about 35,000-square feet to be exact. That was size of the world’s biggest paint swatch, which the company created in a parking lot north of Toronto. The swatch includes 185 of the 1,000+ new colors in the Premier line, which is made in Canada (some of the paint names reference Canadian locales). To get the full impact required a helicopter ride so it could be appreciated from 1,000 feet, accompanied by Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan (TV stars of Cabin Pressure and Game of Homes). As we flew over the rainbow of colors, the pair dished out some paint tips…

“Paint is the most cost effective way to make a huge difference. We are big on getting Canadians to use more color and be a bit braver and more individual,” says Colin. Instead of accent walls, the duo are using more judicious pops of color in niches and edges. “We are doing a lot more zoning instead of feature walls. Painting a niche, section of a wall or inside of the door edge with a flash of color, like Lemon Tart PR16D19 (shown above), won’t overwhelm the space,” Justin says. He is inspired by the lining of jackets made by famous London tailor Ozwald Boateng. “All his suits are low key, but there is always a flash of color on the liner. Our rooms may be neutral, but we do the same thing in recesses, or around a window or maybe a band above the door trim.”