Just as the outdoor decorating season gets underway, Sandtex Trade has launched a nationwide initiative to encourage the use of more imaginative exterior decor schemes by helping customers choose exterior masonry and trim colours that work together perfectly.

Sandtex Trade Colour Coach is a kit of easy-to-use colour tools designed to give all customers the confidence they need to explore the colour spectrum and to make informed and objective decisions about paint colour combinations, based on sound and well established colour theories.

Colour Coach materials are available as permanent in-store displays in merchant premises and specialist decorating outlets, and also in handy portable kits that can be taken to the customer. The core components are two brand new Sandtex Trade fan decks, which bring together a total of 640 specially selected paint colours – 400 shades for masonry and 240 for trim. These are complemented by individual colour cards that show at a glance the extensive range of shades and hues in each colour family.

Using the fan decks and/or the colour cards, customers can choose a trim or masonry colour for their project. They can then quickly find recommended sets of complementary colours, whether they are seeking a strong contrast or a harmonious tone-on-tone scheme. All the suggested colour combinations are underpinned by scientific colour theory and have been further assessed by colour experts at Crown Paints.

The swatches used in all the Colour Coach materials are referenced using SCAN™, Crown Paints’ new colour codification system, which is used at the colour zone counter to tint and mix the customer’s Sandtex Trade coatings to order.

Sandtex Trade’s brand manager, Vicky Jones, said: “Where exterior decor is concerned, people so often play safe and stick with bland and unimaginative off-the shelf colour combinations. Colour Coach aims to change that trend. By raising awareness of the fantastic array of Sandtex Trade paint colours we can offer, and by providing objective and accessible colour guidance at the point of sale, we hope to persuade customers to be a lot less cautious from now on.”