Achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050 requires the replacement of fossil-based material with bio-based material on a broad basis. Today, ca. 900 kt/y paints and coatings are produced in Europe, with more than 80% still being from fossil resources. Wood and decorative coatings represent a large market, accounting for more than half of that volume. The goal of the PERFECOAT project is to develop and validate a new generation of industrial wood and decorative coatings with significantly more than 25% bio-based components that meet and even surpass the current quality and sustainability standards. Our concept is based on a flexible platform of novel technologies to produce and functionalize new, bio-based bulk coating components and assemble them into new coating formulations. Three major coating markets will be addressed: 1) high-volume ultraviolet (UV)-curable clearcoats, 2) do-it-yourself (DIY) waterborne trim paints, and 3) DIY waterborne wall paints. End-of-life scenarios plus economic, environmental, and social assessments will support the technological development in PERFECOAT, to guarantee a high level of sustainability throughout the value chain. The coating ingredients and final coating blends produced by PERFECOAT will be tested for safety compatibility at different stages of their development. High performance of new advanced bio-based binders, fillers and additives will be systematically developed and validated in coatings, starting from a proof of concept (TRL3) to demonstrator validation (TRL5). PERFECOAT is implemented by a strong, well-balanced, multidisciplinary consortium of experts from 4 universities and research institutes and 8 commercial project partners, including 4 SMEs, in 7 member countries. All partners are committed and highly motivated to jointly increase the competitiveness and sustainability of European industry by bringing innovative materials and methods closer to the marked while fostering new cross-sector interaction.