Design Master Floral Spray Guide: COLORTOOL vs Just for Flowers vs Premium Metals

Design Master offers several professional color-spray families for floral design, but they are not interchangeable. The right choice depends on whether you want to change a surface color, tint a fresh flower while preserving its natural detail, or create a highly reflective metallic finish.

For most florists, the three lines worth understanding are COLORTOOL, Just for Flowers and Premium Metals.

The quick answer: Choose COLORTOOL when you want versatile pigmented color that can build from a light wash to fuller coverage. Choose Just for Flowers when you want sheer, transparent color that allows natural petal texture and veining to remain visible. Choose Premium Metals when the goal is a bold, reflective metallic finish.

Design Master Floral Spray Comparison at a Glance

Shop Design Master professional floral color products at L.O. Florist Supplies.

What Is Design Master COLORTOOL?

COLORTOOL is Design Master's versatile pigmented color-spray line.

Unlike a conventional heavy spray paint, COLORTOOL uses an ultra-fine spray that allows the designer to control how much color is applied. A light application can create a translucent color wash, while additional coats can build toward semi-opaque or fully opaque coverage.

That makes COLORTOOL useful when a florist needs to do more than lightly tint a bloom. It can be used to shift color dramatically, coordinate hardgoods with a floral palette, recolor decorative accessories or create a more uniform finish across a range of floral and event materials.

Common professional applications include:

• Fresh flowers and foliage
• Dried and preserved botanicals
• Silk and permanent flowers
• Floral foam and Styrofoam
• Ribbon and decorative fabrics
• Wire and floral mechanics
• Wood, wicker and decorative containers
• Ceramic, glass and metal accents
• Event props and decorative accessories

The underlying surface and the number of coats both affect the final appearance, so testing on a scrap bloom or hidden area is a good practice before applying color to finished work.

Example: Design Master COLORTOOL Blue Marlin

Design Master COLORTOOL Blue Marlin is a deep, saturated blue that works well when a designer wants a strong color shift rather than a delicate transparent tint.

It is a good example of why COLORTOOL is valuable in a professional studio: the same color system can be used across flowers, permanent botanicals and many decorative surfaces, helping an event designer coordinate multiple elements around one color palette.

Browse Design Master COLORTOOL colors.

What Is Design Master Just for Flowers?

Just for Flowers is not simply a lighter version of COLORTOOL.

It is a sheer, transparent color designed to behave more like a stain or dye. Instead of hiding the underlying surface, Just for Flowers allows natural petal texture, veining, highlights and other details to remain visible.

That makes it especially useful when the goal is to make a flower appear as though it naturally grew in a different shade rather than to cover the flower with a solid surface color.

Because the color is transparent, the original color of the flower influences the final result. A white bloom provides a very different starting point than a yellow, pink or cream bloom.

Additional light coats deepen the color while still preserving the underlying surface detail.

Typical uses include:

• Matching fresh flowers to a specific wedding or event palette
• Deepening the natural color of a bloom
• Shifting white or pale flowers into specialty colors
• Adding subtle tonal variation without masking petal detail
• Creating blended or layered color effects
• Coloring foliage while retaining natural leaf texture

Example: Just for Flowers Delphinium Blue

Design Master Just for Flowers Delphinium Blue is designed to create a cool blue tint while allowing the natural visual character of the flower to remain visible.

This is the type of product a florist would choose when a sheer, natural-looking color shift is more important than opaque coverage.

Shop Design Master Just for Flowers translucent color sprays.

COLORTOOL vs Just for Flowers: What's the Difference?

This is the most important distinction for most flower shops.

COLORTOOL uses pigment. It can create anything from a light wash to fuller surface coverage depending on how it is applied.

Just for Flowers is transparent. It shifts the color of the flower while allowing the original surface detail to remain visible.

A useful way to think about the difference is:

• Choose COLORTOOL when you want to cover or significantly change the visible surface color.
• Choose Just for Flowers when you want the flower's natural texture to show through the new color.

For example, if a wedding palette requires a very specific blue and the designer wants white flowers to retain their natural petal character, a translucent Just for Flowers blue may be appropriate.

If the designer needs a stronger, more uniform blue across flowers, ribbon, containers and event accessories, COLORTOOL offers much broader multi-surface versatility.

What Is Design Master Premium Metals?

Premium Metals is designed for a brighter, more reflective metallic effect than a conventional satin color.

The line uses metallic pigments with a high-reflectivity finish intended to create the look of a plated metallic surface. It also provides strong coverage in a thin coat, making it useful when metallic impact is the primary design goal.

Premium Metals can be used on many floral and decorative materials and may also be used on selected sturdy fresh flowers and foliage.

However, delicate or lightweight fresh flowers are not the ideal application for Premium Metals. When working with fresh material, always test compatibility and the desired appearance first.

Typical uses include:

• Holiday floral designs
• Wedding and event metallic palettes
• Branches and sturdy foliage
• Dried and permanent botanicals
• Containers and decorative accessories
• Event props and display pieces
• Metallic highlights within floral installations

COLORTOOL Metallic Colors vs Premium Metals

Design Master also offers metallic shades within the COLORTOOL family, so a florist may encounter two different ways to add metallic color.

COLORTOOL metallic shades retain the versatile application characteristics of COLORTOOL and generally provide a satin metallic appearance.

Premium Metals is intended to provide a brighter, more reflective metallic effect with greater visual shine.

If you need metallic color integrated into a broader multi-surface color system, a COLORTOOL metallic may be the more versatile option. If the design calls for maximum metallic reflectivity and a plated look, Premium Metals is the more specialized choice.

Can Design Master Spray Be Used on Fresh Flowers?

Yes, but product selection and application technique matter.

COLORTOOL and Just for Flowers are both widely used in professional fresh-flower design. Premium Metals may be used on selected sturdy fresh flowers and foliage, but it is not recommended for every delicate or lightweight variety.

For fresh floral material, work with flowers that are in good condition and at room temperature, test the product on a sample bloom whenever possible, and apply color in light controlled layers rather than saturating the flower.

For many spray techniques on fresh flowers, Design Master recommends working from roughly 15 to 18 inches away, depending on the effect being created.

Always work in a well-ventilated area and follow the instructions printed on the aerosol can.

How to Apply Design Master Color Spray to Fresh Flowers

Good spray technique usually produces a better result than trying to achieve the final color in one heavy coat.

1. Start with healthy, room-temperature flowers. Avoid spraying flowers that are already stressed or damaged.
2. Shake the can thoroughly. This is especially important for pigmented and metallic colors.
3. Test first. Use a scrap bloom, extra stem or inconspicuous area to confirm the color and compatibility.
4. Hold the can at an appropriate distance. For many fresh-flower techniques, approximately 15 to 18 inches provides better control than spraying at close range.
5. Use light, sweeping passes. Avoid concentrating too much product in one area.
6. Build color gradually. Multiple light coats provide more control than one heavy application.
7. Allow the material to dry between coats.
8. Evaluate under the lighting where the finished design will be displayed. Color can appear different under daylight, warm event lighting and photography lighting.

Professional Spray Techniques for Floral Design

Floral color spray is not limited to covering an entire bloom.

Professional designers can use several techniques to control the final effect:

• Color washing: Apply a very light layer to subtly shift the existing color.
• Full coverage: Build multiple controlled coats when a stronger or more uniform color change is desired.
• Edge highlighting: Mist the perimeter of a bloom to create dimension.
• Tipping: Apply color primarily to the outer petal tips for a contrasting edge.
• Blending: Layer compatible colors to develop a custom shade.
• Metallic highlighting: Apply metallic color selectively instead of covering the entire floral surface.

Design Master's color systems can also be layered. When combining products, sheer Just for Flowers color is particularly useful as a final layer because its transparency allows the colors beneath it to influence the finished result.

Which Design Master Spray Should You Choose?

Frequently Asked Questions About Design Master Floral Spray

Is Just for Flowers opaque?

No. Just for Flowers is a sheer, transparent color. It changes or enriches the color while allowing the underlying texture and detail of the flower to remain visible.

Is COLORTOOL opaque?

COLORTOOL is a pigmented spray whose coverage depends on application. A light coat can create a translucent wash, while additional coats can build toward semi-opaque or opaque coverage.

What is the difference between COLORTOOL and Just for Flowers?

COLORTOOL is pigmented and is suited to a wide range of fresh floral and decorative surfaces. Just for Flowers is transparent and is particularly useful when tinting fresh flowers while preserving visible petal texture and detail.

Can COLORTOOL be used on fresh flowers?

Yes. COLORTOOL is designed for floral and decorative applications, including fresh flowers. Apply light coats from an appropriate distance and test first when working with a sensitive variety.

Can Just for Flowers be layered?

Yes. Additional coats deepen the transparent color, and different colors can be blended or layered to create custom effects.

What is the difference between COLORTOOL metallic colors and Premium Metals?

COLORTOOL metallics provide metallic pigment with the versatile characteristics of the COLORTOOL line. Premium Metals is designed for a brighter, more reflective metallic finish and greater metallic visual impact.

Can Premium Metals be used on fresh flowers?

Premium Metals can be used on selected sturdy fresh flowers and foliage, but it is not recommended for every delicate or lightweight variety. Test the material first before applying it to finished work.

Shop Professional Design Master Floral Color

The best Design Master product depends on the finish you need, not simply the color name on the can.

Use COLORTOOL when you need versatile pigmented color across flowers and decorative surfaces. Choose Just for Flowers when preserving natural petal detail is the priority. Use Premium Metals when the design calls for a brighter, more reflective metallic effect.

L.O. Florist Supplies carries a wide selection of professional Design Master floral color products for flower shops, event designers, wedding florists and production studios.

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You can also browse our complete Paint & Color Spray collection or shop Just for Flowers translucent floral color directly.