Acquisitions and Dispositions (Additional Information) (Detail) (USD $)	0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	0 Months Ended	1 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2013	Mar. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012	Nov. 30, 2014	Apr. 02, 2013	Sep. 30, 2014	Jul. 31, 2014	Nov. 05, 2014 store employee concessionaire distribution_center Facility
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Cash and Cash Equivalents						$ 154,000,000					$ 154,000,000
Business Acquisition Cost Of Acquired Entity Purchase Price Including Cash To Be Paid		189,000,000				36,000,000				189,000,000	36,000,000	288,000,000
Acquired Finite-lived Intangible Assets, Weighted Average Useful Life										16 years	10 years
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired										2,113,000,000	983,000,000	122,000,000
Repayments of Assumed Debt										314,000,000	0	119,000,000
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Revenue of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual										175,000,000
Proceeds from separation of business	900,000,000				1,735,000,000
Cash Divested from Deconsolidation	27,000,000
After-tax proceeds from divestiture of business					1,500,000,000
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage																40.00%
Share of net earnings (loss) of equity affiliates										101,000,000	(8,000,000)	9,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax					1,468,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) on Disposal of Discontinued Operation, Net of Tax					946,000,000				2,200,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Income (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation					522,000,000
discontinued operations tax on disposal - deferred portion					262,000,000
Discontinued operations, transactions costs incurred in divestiture					55,000,000
Term Of Dye Supply Agreement					5 years
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation During Phase-out Period, before Income Tax											0	345,000,000
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax										1,002,000,000	2,380,000,000	384,000,000
Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests										57,000,000	122,000,000	123,000,000
Discontinued operations		(3,000,000)	(6,000,000)	(7,000,000)	985,000,000	17,000,000	22,000,000	23,000,000	2,219,000,000	969,000,000	2,281,000,000	278,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Accounts, Notes and Loans Receivable, Net						225,000,000					225,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Inventory, Current						68,000,000					68,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Assets, Current						13,000,000					13,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Property, Plant and Equipment, Noncurrent						158,000,000					158,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Goodwill, Noncurrent						47,000,000					47,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Assets, Noncurrent						3,000,000					3,000,000
Assets of Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation						668,000,000					668,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Accounts Payable						(199,000,000)					(199,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Other Liabilities, Current						(24,000,000)					(24,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Pension Plan Benefit Obligation						(1,000,000)					(1,000,000)
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Liabilities, Noncurrent						(10,000,000)					(10,000,000)
Disposal group, including discontinued operations, noncontrolling interest						(167,000,000)					(167,000,000)
Disposal group, including discontinued operations, Net Assets attributable to parent						267,000,000					267,000,000
Common stock available for distribution in exchange	35,249,104
Value Of Shares Received	1,800,000,000
Final exchange ratio	3.2562
Treasury Stock, Shares, Acquired	10,825,227										10,825,227
Increase in treasury stock as a result of tender offer, noncash financing activity	1,561,000,000										1,561,000,000
Comex acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired													1,980,000,000
Cash Acquired from Acquisition													69,000,000
Repayments of Assumed Debt		280,000,000
Number of Stores																	3,700
number of concessionaires																	700
Entity Number of Employees																	3,900
Number of manufacturing facilities																	8
Number of Distribution Centers																	6
AkzoNobel NA Architectural coatings acquisition
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Total purchase price, net of cash acquired														947,000,000
Flat Glass Manufacturing Facility
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Disposal Group, Not Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) on Disposal															22,000,000
Sunlens Optical Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent					100.00%
Transitions Optical Business
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent					51.00%
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Revenue										247,000,000	843,000,000	826,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax										1,468,000,000	0	0
Discontinued Operation, Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operation During Phase-out Period, before Income Tax										104,000,000	263,000,000	229,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation										570,000,000	80,000,000	73,000,000
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax										1,002,000,000	183,000,000	156,000,000
Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests										(33,000,000)	(99,000,000)	(93,000,000)
Discontinued operations										969,000,000	84,000,000	63,000,000
Commodity Chemicals Segment
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Proceeds from separation of business	67,000,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Revenue											108,000,000	1,688,000,000
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) from Disposal of Discontinued Operation, before Income Tax											2,192,000,000	0
Discontinued Operation, Tax Effect of Discontinued Operation											(5,000,000)	117,000,000
Income from discontinued operations, net of tax											2,197,000,000	228,000,000
Less: net income attributable to noncontrolling interests											0	(13,000,000)
Discontinued operations											2,197,000,000	215,000,000
Pittsburgh Glass Works L L C [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Equity Method Investment, Ownership Percentage		40.00%								40.00%
Share of net earnings (loss) of equity affiliates																94,000,000
Proceeds from Equity Method Investment, Dividends or Distributions																41,000,000
Pensions | Commodity Chemicals Segment
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Net partial settlement loss	$ 33,000,000