Trend lists are usually written from mood boards. This one is written from the paperwork: the colour announcements the paint industry filed between October and December 2025, a designer survey of 468 professionals, and two trade reports on what is actually being specified in kitchens and bathrooms. Where the evidence is thin we say so.
Key takeaways
- Pantone named a white, Cloud Dancer, for the first time since 1999.
- Benjamin Moore went the other way, with the espresso brown Silhouette AF-655.
- 1stDibs found maximalism at 39% and eclecticism at 38% of client demand.
- NKBA respondents put neutrals at 96% for both kitchens and bathrooms.
How this list was put together
Everything below is sourced from something published, dated and attributable, because interior trend forecasting is otherwise indistinguishable from guessing. Where a claim rests on a single survey, we name the survey and the sample. Where it rests on our own reading of the market, we say that instead of dressing it up as a finding. Note that colour-of-the-year programmes are marketing exercises as much as forecasts, and they are self-fulfilling to a degree, since the paint gets made and merchandised whether or not the public asked for it.
The eight to watch
1. Brown promoted from accent to structural neutral
Benjamin Moore announced Silhouette AF-655 as its 2026 Colour of the Year on 16 October 2025, describing it as rich espresso with notes of charcoal, and its colour marketing director Andrea Magno tied the choice explicitly to a growing interest in the brown family. The 1stDibs designer survey published on 17 November 2025 found the same thing from the demand side, with 33% of respondents naming chocolate brown as the top trending colour. Two independent sources, same direction.
2. White reframed as a deliberate choice
Pantone named Cloud Dancer, PANTONE 11-4201, its Colour of the Year 2026, the first white it has chosen since the programme began in 1999. Read alongside the brown above, this is less contradictory than it looks: both are arguments against the mid-tone grey that dominated the last decade. White is being positioned as a considered ground rather than a landlord default.
3. Warm neutrals replacing cool ones
Sherwin-Williams picked Universal Khaki SW 6150, a mid-tone neutral with a warm earthy cast, and Valspar went with Warm Eucalyptus 8004-28F. C2 Paint chose a soft ochre. The pattern across the 2026 announcements is that even the safe choices lean yellow and brown rather than blue and grey.
4. Blue returning, but with range
AkzoNobel, the group behind Dulux, broke the single-colour convention entirely and released a trio it calls Rhythm of Blues: Mellow Flow, Slow Swing and Free Groove, running from pale through navy to a saturated royal. Behr’s Hidden Gem, a smoky jade sitting between green and blue, points the same way. Blue in 2026 is not one shade to paint a feature wall.
5. Maximalism, but curated
1stDibs ran its ninth annual Interior Designer Trends Survey with 468 design professionals worldwide, and found maximalism at 39% of most-requested styles, up from 34% in 2023, with eclecticism close behind at 38%. Dezeen’s January 2026 round-up framed the year as curated calm rather than superficial opulence, which is the useful nuance: more pattern and more personality, not more spending. If the distinction interests you, our piece asking whether maximalism has become the new minimalism works through where the line sits.
6. The vintage window moving earlier
The same 1stDibs survey reports that collectibles from the 1920s to the 1950s and pre-1920s antiques are gaining ground while designer interest in the 1970s has declined. That is a genuine shift after several years in which seventies furniture was the safe vintage bet, and it has a practical implication: the pieces getting expensive next are the ones nobody is photographing yet.
7. Flat-fronted kitchens in warm wood
Houzz’s 2026 reporting points to slab-front cabinetry gaining share, specified in warm wood species with matte finishes, alongside inset cabinetry, panelling and arched range hoods. The NKBA and KBIS 2026 Kitchen Trends Report, released in September 2025 from a survey of its North American community, found 96% naming neutrals as the dominant kitchen colours, with greens at 86% and blues at 78%, and 72% expecting transitional or timeless styles to lead over the next three years. Kitchens are being specified to outlast the trend cycle.
8. Lighting written into the brief, not added at the end
In the same NKBA report, 58% of respondents called natural light an extremely important kitchen design consideration and 52% said the same of lighting quality. Ninety-eight per cent said islands will function as defined working zones rather than decorative slabs. The trend here is procedural rather than visual: lighting and zoning are moving upstream into the plan instead of being resolved with fittings at the end.
The 2026 colour picks, side by side
| Brand | 2026 pick | Family |
|---|---|---|
| Pantone | Cloud Dancer 11-4201 | White |
| Benjamin Moore | Silhouette AF-655 | Deep brown |
| Sherwin-Williams | Universal Khaki SW 6150 | Warm neutral |
| AkzoNobel / Dulux | Rhythm of Blues trio | Blue |
| Behr | Hidden Gem | Smoky jade |
| Graham & Brown | Divine Damson | Deep plum |
| Valspar | Warm Eucalyptus 8004-28F | Warm green |
The three we would skip
These are our calls rather than survey findings, though each rests on something in the data above. Avoiding a trend never means ripping out what you already have. It means we would not start there in 2026.
1. Cool grey as the base of a scheme
Not a single 2026 announcement from a major paint brand points at cool grey. When the entire supply side moves warm, a grey scheme specified now will read as dated faster than usual, and matching timber, stone and textiles to it gets harder as ranges follow the colour cards.
2. Buying furniture to a trend cycle
The 1stDibs survey found 92% of designers reporting that the tariffs introduced in 2025 affected their businesses, and vintage and antique sourcing rising at the same time. Both point the same way: replaceable furniture is getting more expensive to replace. Buying fewer, better and secondhand is now the pragmatic position rather than the virtuous one.
3. Opulence used as a substitute for planning
Fluted panelling, arches and heavy marble have been applied to a lot of rooms that did not need them, and the 2026 commentary is turning against the look. Our objection is practical: those features are expensive, fixed, and they do nothing for how a room works. If a space feels underwhelming, the problem is almost always circulation or lighting, and no amount of marble reaches either.
Common questions on 2026 trends
Do colour-of-the-year picks actually predict anything?
They predict what will be easy to buy. Because brands merchandise around the pick, matching paints, textiles and accessories become widely available, which nudges the market in that direction whether or not the forecast was right to begin with.
Why did Pantone and Benjamin Moore choose opposite ends of the scale?
They serve different markets. Pantone’s pick covers fashion, graphics and product as well as interiors, while Benjamin Moore is selling wall paint to homeowners. Both readings still reject the cool mid-tones of the past decade.
Is minimalism finished?
No. It fell behind maximalism and eclecticism in reported client demand, which is a very different claim from disappearing. Restraint remains the easiest style to live with in a small home.
How much of a trend list should anyone act on?
The cheap and reversible parts, mainly paint, textiles and lighting. Anything fitted should be decided on how you use the room, because it will outlast three of these lists.
If you take one thing from the 2026 paperwork, take the direction rather than the shades. Warm, matte, and chosen to last. The specific browns and blues will move again next autumn, and the argument underneath them probably will not.
Still deciding how the space itself should be divided?
The layout question outlives every colour card, and the open plan has been losing the argument for a while.
Sources: Pantone Colour of the Year 2026, Cloud Dancer 11-4201, announced December 2025; Benjamin Moore Colour of the Year 2026, Silhouette AF-655, announced 16 October 2025; Sherwin-Williams, Behr, AkzoNobel, Graham & Brown, Valspar and C2 Paint 2026 announcements; 1stDibs ninth annual Interior Designer Trends Survey, 468 respondents, published 17 November 2025; NKBA and KBIS 2026 Kitchen Trends Report and 2026 Bath Trends Report, released 2025; Houzz 2026 kitchen and bath trends reporting; Dezeen interior design trends round-up, January 2026. The three trends to avoid are our editorial view, not a survey result. Updated August 2026.
