It seems as if everyone wants to paint these days. A recent color class with PPG Paints' brand manager Dee Schlotter was standing room only. Color is in.

Shades that are making a splash these days run the gamut from bold to soft, clean, muted and multiple variations that can be created through sheen and texture. No palette will go untouched as homeowners look for new and creative ways to liven up their homes on the cheap as the recession marches on.

One of the hottest colors for 2010 is turquoise -- look for it on walls, in furniture and accessories. Pair it with chocolate brown to bring the outside with in or with a spicy adobe orange for a southwest flair. It's a daring choice for brightening up a room with low light.

Gray and silver remain popular as the perfect neutral backdrop -- darker for a cool industrial feel and lighter as the ultimate companion for warm pinks, whites and mirrored furniture pieces.

Green is not going anywhere either, just taking a detour from the muted version that has been so strong in recent years. Now it's a funky, split-pea soup bright that pairs nicely with coppers and dark woods. Muted green will be around, but look for shades with gray undertones that will pair nicely with stainless-steel appliances.

If all of that information leaves your head spinning, fear not. Paint companies are armed and ready. Glidden (available at Home Depot) is making waves on internet blogs with its new paint formulation and streamlined color selection of 282 colors. Glidden has joined the ranks of companies offering ready-to-go paint testers -- and theirs has a nifty built-in-brush in the lid -- for $2.97. This paint, retailing for $16-$24 a gallon is marketed as economical and durable, comparable to $50-a-gallon boutique paints.

Glidden offers an array of palettes that make choosing easy. The Harvest palette features 10 shades you'd expect to find on walk in the Pennsylvania woods in October. Red Delicious (GLR30) is a burnished red perfect for the kitchen while Pumpkin Patch (GLO03) is a lively shade of orange made for the gregarious. The surprise shade in the collection is Black Mahogany (GLN04) shown in a bedroom with a traditional four-poster bed -- a perfect mix of old and new, showcasing architectural detail and form.

Pittsburgh Paints Voice of Color program is rolling out 20 new colors in four trend palettes, Canvas, Grace, Pink City and Zest. The palettes blend classic neutrals with bold shots of color and echo natural shapes, materials and textures found within the shades such as linen, cotton and hemp.

Erika Woelfel, Behr's director of color, talked about the design aesthetics that drove the color development in Behr's Premium Plus Ultra Line:

"People are still very conservative. Brown, beige, mushroom taupe, light grays, medium lavender and blue are all still big."

The colors were chosen because they were easy to combine within palettes and easy to live with in the long haul, she said.

Behr also wanted to develop a paint that would provide great coverage with red in two coats, something driven by consumer demand.

Ms. Woelfel says popular shades in the line include blues such as Ballroom Blue (UL240-9), Manuscript (UL-240-3) and Caspian Tide (UL-230-9) paired with Almond Wisp (UL-170-16).

For the more daring homeowner, the easy-to-use reds of the Global Escape palette are proven winners.

Now if you really want to dive into that turquoise, here are some good choices: From Sherwin-Williams "Reflecting Pool" (SW6486) or "Surfer" (6946); Glidden's "True Turquoise"; Benjamin Moore "Tropical Powder," (2057-50) and Pittsburgh Paints "Sea Sprite" (402-3).

Doug Oster writes a blog, "Growing With Doug," exclusively at PG+, a members-only web site of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.