Professional decorative painting artists- listen up!
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Last week Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. announced that Lowe's will carry over 350 of Martha Stewart's paint colors to choose from.
The paint will retail for around $25.00 per gallon. K-mart will still carry the Martha Stewart brand.
About 15 years ago (when a Kmart was still in the local area) I started using Martha Stewart paint. Not for it's quality or coverage ability, but as a decorative painting artist… it was a marketing ploy on my part.
I would recommend a few colors from her current pallet and my clients to be were hooked. The timing was perfect… as I didn't have Ralph's or any other decorator brand names available at that time.
Martha was at the top of her game, and my customers wanted colors and furnishings that were Martha Stewart style. So not only did I offer my customers designer colors for the decorative painting, but they could brag about it to their friends.
I would show up to their homes with Martha Stewart paint cans in tow and I was a hit! It didn't matter to my client that I had to work harder to get the paints to work correctly for my techniques. The paint quality was more like $10 a gallon paint and the color saturation was minimal. Coverage was poor and consistency was watered down.
I used this paint because of the name and the can.
I could charge more for a decorative painting technique because of the Martha Stewart name.
Then the inevitable happened…Our local K-mart store closed and Sears hadn't picked up the line yet.
I was in shock. I had to get creative with my marketing and I had to learn to use other paint brands.
What a blessing. I could choose the brands that worked miracles with my decorative painting techniques come alive.
Then I hit pay dirt! Lowe's and Home Depot both opened a store in our local area. I now had easy access to designer colors and designer brands.
I could offer my clients a buffet of choices and they lapped it up! Martha Stewart is again a name that clients will want to brag about. She has competition in the paint field, but her style is current and easily consumed.
I have yet to try Martha Stewart paint from Lowe's… so I can't comment on it's coverage or how user friendly it will be for decorative painters.
For those of you that are professional decorative painters…I would suggest that as soon as it is available to you, give her paint a try. If you can stand to use it at all… definitley add the Martha Stewart name to your bag of tricks.
You will be amazed at you client response and you may be able to command a higher price for your decorative painting work.
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