Color Choices Shape What Buyers Notice First

April 8, 2026·1 hr 8 min·5 clips

Ruthann reveals how economic recessions turned everything gray overnight and why warmer neutrals are now making a comeback.

1. The Shed Geek Podcast hosts Jamie Watt and Ruthann Hanlon of Pittsburgh Paints for a conversation about color strategy in the shed manufacturing industry. 2. Watt is Pittsburgh Paints' national business development manager, focused on large accounts and the shed segment since 1999; Hanlon is the company's national color and design manager, based in Columbus, Ohio, with a background in interior design and color psychology. 3. The episode's core thesis is that most shed manufacturers are leaving sales on the table by not updating color palettes that were set 15-20 years ago, and that professional color consultation is available at no charge through Pittsburgh Paints' True Shed Max program. 4. Hanlon opens by describing a cultural shift in color choice: where consumers once asked 'what will my neighbors think,' they now choose colors they personally love, a change she attributes to social media, economic pressures, and broader cultural individualism. 5. She traces color trends across a century: Art Deco blacks and gold in the 1920s, bold turquoise appliances and avocado green in the 1950s-70s, and the near-total collapse into gray following the 2008 recession. 6. Hanlon argues the 2020s closely parallel the 1920s — both followed a pandemic, economic disruption, and social rebellion — and predicts that warm beiges, which she calls 'warmer neutrals,' are now the dominant exterior trend after nearly 20 years of gray. 7. Watt notes that when Pittsburgh Paints first entered the shed industry, color expertise was entirely absent — builders had no support, and 'creating a new color' meant calling a paint rep to match the shade a competitor down the road had used. 8. Hanlon describes arriving at manufacturer sites to find color boards covered in dust, unchanged for 15-20 years, with best-selling grays that lean cold and sterile and beiges with pink undertones that surprise customers when the shed is delivered. 9. A core technical point is that color intensifies at exterior scale, which means a paint chip's appearance is a poor predictor of how a color will look on a full shed — Hanlon cites 'Tea Berry Blossom' appearing red on the swatch but magenta on a barn. 10. She contrasts this with 'Falling Water Red,' which looks brownish-orange on a chip but renders as classic barn red in application and is Pittsburgh Paints' most popular barn-red choice, appearing in nearly every shed collection they build. 11. Watt and Hanlon note the roof-and-wall coordination challenge: metal roofing arrives pre-painted with a limited palette from the metal supplier, so wall color palettes must be built around roof color options, not the other way around. 12. For wood elements — porch floors, doors, shutters built from LP or Duratemp — Pittsburgh Paints offers semi-transparent urethane stains that can coordinate with or contrast against painted shed walls. 13. Hanlon mentions a recent resurgence in requests for regional color palettes, linked to a renewed interest in localism: coastal collections, mountain collections, and urban palettes are again being requested after years of social-media-driven color homogenization. 14. The color visualizer tool at Pittsburgh Paints' website allows shed manufacturers and buyers to test colors on different shed styles — barn, contemporary, lofted — before making decisions, though Hanlon emphasizes physical swatches are still required to judge undertones. 15. Watt observes that the same shed in different colors 'drastically changed the way sheds moved off the lot,' confirming that color has a measurable impact on sales velocity even when product quality is unchanged. 16. The True Shed Max program packages paint supply, local inventory stocking, local rep support, tech troubleshooting, and color consultation — including Hanlon's expertise — into a single partnership offering, with the color component provided at no additional charge. 17. The conversation is informal and demonstration-driven, with host Shannon walking through the Pittsburgh Paints color visualizer on screen while Hanlon and Watt comment on his choices in real time. 18. The energy is conversational and collaborative, with humor around avocado toilets, orange shag carpet, and whether Shed Geek orange counts as a viable exterior color. 19. Shed manufacturers and dealers who manage inventory color decisions and want to align their palettes with current consumer preferences will find the most value here. 20. Listeners who are not involved in shed manufacturing, retail, or exterior color purchasing decisions are unlikely to find the product-specific discussion relevant.

As heard by us

The episode treats color as a business choice, not a decorative one.

The episode treats color as a business choice, not a decorative one. It walks through an older palette, shows why colors that have not sold in years can go, and keeps the focus on the shades that still earn space on the lot, in collateral, and in sales.

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Why you'd press play

Use a current-color audit to trim a shed palette that is sitting too long.

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