By the Numbers: Paint sales defy the downturn, says Home Improvement Research Institute

$12.5 billion

Amount of paint that Americans will be buy in 2010, according to a report
commissioned by the Home Improvement Research Institute and covered in
Home Channel News. The figure represents a 12.9 percent gain from 2008, when
sales of paints and preservatives totaled $11 billion. Sales in 2009 sales are pegged to rise by 2.9 percent, says HIRI. Based on these numbers, paint is showing signs of bucking the recession trend.

Retailers are reporting a shift from neutral off-white colors and earth tones that won't put off prospective home buyers to more active, vibrant colors for homeowners who want to personalize their living spaces. Perhaps that's why Pantone, the Carlstadt, New Jersey-based company that provides color standards for design industries, named Mimosa (swatch shown) its color of the year for 2009, succeeding Blue Iris and Chili Pepper.

Essential information: See our March 2009 report on interior paints.