With the warm temps and low humidity, spring is the perfect season to start your next indoor or outdoor painting project for your home. I’ve done some digging around on what you need to consider before you break out the rollers and brushes. Here’s my top 5 key points to consider when choosing a paint product:

1. What is the quality of the paint?
2. How much traffic does the room/area get?
3. Are there smokers in the home?
4. Is there a fireplace that is used on a regular basis during the winter months, and does the damper work properly?
5. Is the product eco-friendly?

Today I’m giving you a sneak peak at the latest in paint technology and color courtesy of Jackie Jordan, Director of Color Marketing for Sherwin Williams (below, far right). Jackie’s 23+ years of experience in forecasting color and consulting with the design community has culminated in Sherwin Williams’ latest line of eco-friendly, premium paints, Emerald™. Jackie and the rest of the Sherwin Williams team introduced me to this luxury paint for both interior and exterior use that’s set to premier in stores nationwide July 1st. “The color accuracy and vibrancy in this new line of paints is amazing,” exclaimed Jackie. The key ingredient? Their new ColorCast Eco Toners™. “ColorCast enabled us to create a paint with premium performance and environmental benefits combined without sacrificing on color quality” stated Jackie. Emerald also offers supreme coverage and durability as well as superb washability. Forget the priming and no more worries about unsitely wall marks! And the product is even shipped in environmentally packaging as well.

Sherwin now uses ColorCast Eco Toner in all their paint lines, not just Emerald. That means no more compromising with a limited color range for your next decorating project! Jackie was excited to tell me that that means “more than 1,5000 Sherwin Williams colors or custom color matches are available with this environmentally-friendly technology.” Here, Christine Pittel of House Beautiful and Steve Revnew, Vice President of Product Innovation at Sherwin-Williams check out the amazing vibrancy of the colors. Jackie pulls her inspiration from everywhere she travels. Now you can too with Sherwin’s new app, Color Snap that lets you capture and save your favorite hues as you travel throughout your day. Share with your friends or create a custom color palette by matching your pic to Sherwin’s line. Check out Jackie’s latest color predictions for 2012.

Now that you’ve selected your palette and paint, make sure you put it on correctly! To learn everything you need to know about mixing, brush selection, application and more, check out TLC’s How to Paint a Room. You’ll be the hit of the next painting party!