Design on demand
In the direct-to-consumer product revolution, all it takes is a few swipes and taps to get house plants, comforters and mattress samples delivered from your Instagram feed directly to your front door. Now two startups are vying to turn one of the most powerful — and whined-about — home decor purchases on its head.
We’ve all been there, staring dumbfounded at a rainbow wall of paint chips wondering where to start. Was that trim color she recommended White Dove or Dune White? How are there so many versions of blue-green, and what in the world does “eggshell” mean again? |
Paint and supply companies Clare and Backdrop both launched in 2018 with splashy e-commerce sites, social media feeds and similar price points to their bricks-and-mortar competitors.
Rather than selling thousands of colors, they both offer a tightly curated lineup of about 50 low-to-no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) paints. And perhaps most notably, in lieu of providing flimsy paint cards, the companies sell generously sized, self-adhesive color swatches for less than the cost of a sample can. The fan decks, they are a-changin’.
“Shopping for paint hasn’t been an inspiring process,” said Nicole Gibbons, interior designer and founder of Clare. “The home industry has been slower to catch on to innovation and e-commerce. You can shop for everything online and have it appear on your doorstep. That’s what people want.”
Gibbons says an important part of her vision for Clare involved creating a virtual “interior designer BFF” to help people navigate the unnecessarily egregious painting process. Through eight questions, Clare’s Color Genius tool dispenses customized paint recommendations. The site