Income Taxes (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended						6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013		Dec. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2012		Mar. 31, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013		Jun. 30, 2012
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							23.00%		18.00%
Income tax benefit	$ 118			$ 98			$ 182		$ 67
Effective Income Tax Rate, Discontinued Operations							0.10%		32.00%
Environmental remediation costs							12		159
Business restructuring	0		12	0		208	0		208
Costs related to business acquisitions	21	[1]		0	[1]		28	[1]	6	[1]
Estimate, Tax deductable seperation costs percentage							20.00%
Environmental Remediation Expense [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							37.40%		37.70%
Income tax benefit							4		60
Canadian Pension Settlement Charges [Domain]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							26.70%
Income tax benefit							5
Business Restructuring Reserves [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate									21.40%
Income tax benefit									45
Acquisition-related Costs [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							28.50%		28.60%
Income tax benefit							8		2
Tax benefit from retroactive U.S. tax law change [Domain]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Income tax benefit							10
Costs Related to Separation and Merger Transaction [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							20.00%
Income tax benefit							1
Remaining Amount [Member]
Income Taxes [Line Items]
Effective income tax rate							24.00%		23.1383%
Income tax benefit							$ 209		$ 174

[1] For the three and six months ended June 30, 2013, the expense includes the flow-through cost of sales of the step up to fair value of inventory acquired primarily from the North American architectural coatings business of AkzoNobel and advisory, legal, accounting, valuation and other professional or consulting fees incurred in connection with acquisition activity. For the six months ended June 30, 2012, the expense represents the flow-through cost of sales of the step up to fair value of inventory acquired from Dyrup and Colpisa. These costs are considered to be unusual and non-recurring and do not reduce the segment earnings used to evaluate the performance of the operating segments.