Countdown Begins for $pruce Up Your Home Contest

Winter weather may have settled in across the country but it’s never too early to think about spring home improvements. Specialty materials company Rohm and Haas (NYSE: ROH) understands that shrinking budgets leave little room for home makeovers and wants to help with the $pruce Up Your Home contest, a nationwide search for homes in need of an exterior facelift. There are only a few more days left to visit www.paintquality.com/spruceup and submit an entry for the contest which is sponsored in partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation.

The deadline to enter the contest is February 1, 2009. After entries are collected, a distinguished panel of judges will select their top 20 finalists from across the country. Consumers will have the power to pick their favorite entries online at www.paintquality.com/spruceup, crowning the top nine homes most deserving of a spruce up. Voting begins on or about February 10, 2009. Winners will be announced on National Arbor Day, April 24, 2009.

"We’re really looking forward to helping Americans improve the look and feel of their homes and showing them that it can be done on a budget,” said Debbie Zimmer, director, Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute^SM. "It’s never been easier to access affordable, yet high-quality home improvement items – like acrylic paint or weather stripping – to make a big difference in beautifying the home, decreasing utility bills, and ultimately increasing home resale value.”

The contest was created in honor of Rohm and Haas’s water-based acrylic technology being designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society (ACS) in late 2008. The technology can be found in everything from house paints, caulks, adhesives to dishwashers, baby diapers and even on or behind the walls of China's Forbidden City. The environmentally advanced technology has taken 20 million tons of VOCs out of the air since 1953 -- the equivalent of six pounds of fewer pollutants in the air for every man, woman and child alive in the world as of August 1, 2008.

To enter the $pruce Up Your Home contest, consumers upload a photo of their home’s exterior and explain in 200 words or less why it needs a spruce up. While at www.paintquality.com/spruceup, homeowners are encouraged to check out tips, tricks and trends from the Paint Quality Institute, a go-to source for consumers to learn more about interior and exterior paints and coatings.

One Grand Prize winner will receive a package valued at more than $20,000, including an exterior home paint job and $8,000 home improvement gift card. Eight first place winners will receive a new paint exterior for their home. Each winning family will receive a young spruce tree on behalf of the Arbor Day Foundation. The Arbor Day Foundation will also provide 10,000 trees to the winner’s community through the foundation’s Trees for America program.

To learn more about budget-friendly spruce ups and to enter the contest today, please visit www.paintquality.com/spruceup.

About the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute

The Paint Quality Institute(SM) was formed by Rohm and Haas Company in 1989 to educate people on the advantages of using quality interior and exterior paints and coatings. The Paint Quality Institute's goal is to provide information on the virtues of quality paint as well as color trends and decorating with paint through a variety of vehicles, including television appearances, newspaper and magazine articles, and instructional literature. Please be sure to visit the Paint Quality Institute at www.paintquality.com.

About Rohm and Haas Company

Leading the way since 1909, Rohm and Haas is a global pioneer in the creation and development of innovative technologies and solutions for the specialty materials industry. The company’s technologies are found in a wide range of industries including: Building and Construction, Electronics and Electronic Devices, Household Goods and Personal Care, Packaging and Paper, Transportation, Pharmaceutical and Medical, Water, Food and Food Related, and Industrial Process. Innovative Rohm and Haas technologies and solutions help to improve life every day, around the world. Based in Philadelphia, PA, the company generated annual sales of approximately $8.9 billion in 2007. Visit www.rohmhaas.com for more information.

About Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit, conservation and education organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at www.arborday.org.