New Danish paint company Blēo collaborates with architects, designers, and artists

Color Me Happy

By Paige Davidson • Originally published in AN Interior Fall / Winter 2024 (October 2024)
Blēo

Blēo is an Old English word that means color, hue, complexion—and it happens to also be the name of the new innovative paint company located and produced in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founder and co-CEO Anne Grønskov has pioneered the way paint is viewed and applied through personalized collaboration with artists, designers, and architects. Grønskov shared with AN Interior, “I do think there is a potential for educating people through color—we’re all surrounded by colors but they are so difficult for most of us.”

Bleo paint
The paint comes in a sustainable box that is completely airtight and protects the paint from dust and moisture for up to two years after purchase (Courtesy Blēo)

Bleo paint colors
Daniel Rybakken created a color palette revolving around the Studio, Home, and Workshop (Courtesy Blēo)

Since its founding in 2023, Blēo has collaborated with a number of design visionaries including Barber Osgerby, David Chipperfield, Cecilie Bahnsen, and most recently, Blēo collaborated with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation this past June. Grønskov and her team studied the Albers’s Interaction of Color and crafted a new 29-color palette influenced by the book. Each was tested over 200 times to ensure accuracy.

Bleo on a book
The company approaches paint through personalized collaboration with architects (Courtesy Blēo)

Core Collection by Muller Van Severen
The Core Collection by Muller Van Severen (Courtesy Blēo)

Working with a local family-owned production company dating back to 1892 along with its own color lab, Blēo has an organic approach to every color it produces that also incorporates the client’s goals. “I ask Blēo’s visionaries to make anything between 1 to 10 colors, but it’s flexible and the color system should fit the [client] rather than the opposite,” Grønskov said. Once complete, each paint is then packaged either in traditional buckets or in a unique white recyclable, biodegradable, and FSC-certified paint-in-box.

Ronan Bouroullec for Bleo
Ronan Bouroullec developed colors that work for both daytime and nighttime (Courtesy Blēo)

Bleo on bike
The paints are certified with GREENWISE and are odorless (Courtesy Blēo)

In the fall, Blēo expanded its paint production to North America. One of the first collaborations across the Atlantic will be with Alexander Girard Studio and artist Laila Gohar. “Alexander Girard was a legend, and I’m so proud and humbled that Blēo is working with his foundation,” said Grønskov. “Having him and Josef Albers among our color masters is a dream of mine.”

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