2021 Colors of the Year: Optimism, Comfort and Wellness

All the big names in color have officially announced their 2021 Color of the Year choices, predicting color trends for home décor, fashion and graphic design and also the perceived collective mood of our times as defined by each company. Here’s the breakdown:

Pantone 2021 Colors of the Year:
Ultimate Gray + Illuminating

Pantone has selected two Colors of the Year for 2021: 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + 13-0647 Illuminating. The colors were chosen to represent how disparate elements can work together.

Ultimate Gray represents stability, practicality, and resilience, evoking long-lasting, weathered earth elements like beach pebbles, sturdy old tree bark and iron. This color stands the test of time, enduring with wise, quiet composure. This color makes your home feel cozy and safe.

Illuminating is a cheerful and optimistic yellow, evoking the sun, lightning, and bright bursts of energy. This color is bold, vivacious, warm, and hopeful.

Combining the two colors is meant to express “positivity supported by fortitude, resilience and hope…pressing us forward toward new ways of thinking.”

Visit our pinterest board for some ways you can incorporate these colors into your life. Click the video below to see Pantone’s ultra-cool digital intro of their top picks:


Sherwin-Williams 2021 Color of the Year:
Urbane Bronze SW 7048

The Sherwin-Williams Color of the Year pick for 2021 is an elegant, calming, and versatile gray. Sherwin-Williams describes it as “embodying the richness of the Earth’s stone, metal and wood … forging a feeling that’s grounded, meditative and serene.” This is a perfect color to bring into our homes to help keep our hearts and minds healthy during challenging times. See more examples of how to use this beautiful hue on our pinterest board. Click the video below to see Sherwin-Williams plumb the depths of this earthy, serene color pick.


Benjamin Moore 2021 Color of the Year:
Aegean Teal 2136-40

Premium paint company Benjamin Moore picked Aegean Teal 2136-40 as their Color of the Year for 2021. This soothing, dusky blue could have been plucked from a summer sky or the depths of a crystal clear sea. Simple and warm, it feels like home and comfort. See ways to incorporate the gorgeous color into your home and your life on our pinterest board. Click the video below to see the story of this color from Benjamin Moore.


Farrow & Ball 2021 Colour Palette of the Year

British manufacturer of designer paints and wallpapers Farrow & Ball selected 12 rejuvenating hues in four distinct palettes for their Colour Trends Palette of 2021. They state “we see 2021 colour trends that reflect our recent collective journey – towards more time spent indoors, emphasis on sanctuary, and the need for rooms that enhance our wellbeing. We think you’ll agree that’s a lot to sum up in a single Colour of the Year!” The 12 hues are versatile, warm, comforting, and luxurious. View the full 12 colour palette and it’s many uses on our pinterest board.


PPG Paints 2021 Paint Color Palette of the Year

PPG Paints chose three colors that “bring warm lightness and a sense of calm to a space” as their Color Palette of the Year for 2021. Transcend is a nostalgic, earthy oatmeal-beige. Big Cypress is a ginger hue tinted with persimmon that they call a “hug” for your home. Misty Aqua splashes the color of the sea into the earthy mix. Collectively titled “Be Well,” the colors are neutral, serene and versatile and celebrate making wellness a priority. See the full 2021 color palette on our pinterest board.

PPG-owned Glidden paint brand went a different direction starting in 2019. They chose a Staple Color for 2020 that they predicted will trend for many years to come. This honor went to Whirlwind PPG1013-3, a “fail-proof cool gray with a touch of blue” that will pair well with a variety of accent colors.

This year, they reinforced their staple color choice and continued their rogue path by starting a brand new category: 2021 Accent Color of the Year. Their pick for 2021 is Aqua Fiesta PPG1147-4, similar to PPGs Misty Aqua. Paired with the staple Whirlwind, this festive color brings just the right amount of bright and happy while still being natural and comforting. Apply this color to your trim or an accent wall for a splash of brightness in 2021 while still being comfortable and safe within “staple gray” walls.

Everyone seems to agree that we need to feel comforted and safe in our homes while staying hopeful, harkening back to simpler times, evoking the wellness of nature, splashing in positive energy while keeping serene in our stay-at-home spaces. Here’s to a happier, healthier 2021!

2020 Colors of the Year

The 2020 Colors of the Year were announced in late 2019 and there were a bunch of them. You’ve probably seen them all but we’ve distilled the best-of-the-best to show you with some ideas for how you can use them in your home. This year highlights blues, greens and blush colors found in nature.

2020 COTYs 5

Such pretty eye candy! Let’s break them down:

Sherwin-Williams “Naval” SW 6244

Dark blues have been growing in popularity in recent years. We’ve seen more and more kitchen and bath cabinets using beautiful deep blues inspired by the sea. Sherwin-Williams chose this rich navy that they describe as creating a calm grounding environment infused with quiet confidence, paving the way to a new decade of wellness of the mind, body and soul. The company further says the color gives a nod to Art Deco influences, the power of nature, and the importance of our need as humans to interact with nature. Sounds like quite an inspiring color!

Check out our pinterest board for many more examples for incorporating this color in your life.

Naval Collage

Pantone “Classic Blue” 19-4052

Pantone Color Institute chose a blue they dubbed “Classic Blue” for it’s solid and dependable feel. They describe it as elegant in its simplicity and suggestive of the sky at dusk, thought provoking, reassuring, and stable. Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman said this of the choice: “Classic Blue provides and anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.” You can explore their color suggested color pairings on their website here.

Brighter than Naval, this blue is still a solid and popular choice for kitchen and bath cabinetry. See our pinterest board for many examples of this classic color from home décor to fashion.

Classic Blue Collage

PPG Paints “Chinese Porcelain” PPG1160-6

Blog PPG 1160 6

Brighter than Naval but darker and more muted than Classic Blue, Chinese Porcelain gets the special nod from PPG Paints. They describe the color as blend of cobalt and moody, ink blue. It evokes natural elements like the sea and the sky, imparting calmness, hopefulness, serenity and sense of long tradition. PPG color specialists see the new decade as leaving behind neutrals like gray for more colorful backdrops. As the most popular favorite color, blue is the “easiest possible entry point” from neutral to color.

Check out our pinterest board for many gorgeous ideas to use this color this year.

Chinese Porcelain Collage

Dunn-Edwards “Minty Fresh” DE5687

Dunn-Edwards choose a sweet, nostalgic pastel shade of minty green they call Minty Fresh for it’s fresh, clean feel. The company describes it as a subtle and relaxing pastel that conveys a partnership between technology and nature, bringing both an optimistic, upbeat feel and a tranquil balance. This color finds a home on many a front door and garden gate, but is no stranger in graphic design.

See our pinterest board for all the many places we discovered this shade in current home décor and fashion.

Mint Green Collage

Behr “Back to Nature” S340-4

Behr choose a muted, organic green hue that looks to be straight from the forest or a meadow. They describe the color as restorative and revitalizing, fulfilling the need to create a soft landing at home. Behr sees the trend of bringing the outside indoors as continuing into new decade and a need to engage with nature will be ever more important in the hustle-and-bustle of 2020.

See all the ways we found to use this organic green on our pinterest board.

Organic Green Collage

Benjamin Moore “First Light” 2102-70

Benjamin Moore sees this light, rosy pink as the defining shade to a new decade. They describe it as an uplifting, refreshing neutral that is soft, airy, and plays well with other colors. It’s a happy shade without being sticky sweet, luminescent and reflective without being too bright, and just crisp enough to look clean without feeling sterile. The company says it’s a cooler take on the very popular Millennial Pink that they see as continuing throughout this new decade.

See our pinterest board for all the ideas we found to bring this pretty pink into your new year.

Pink Collage

All the colors speak to a link between nature and technology and a need to slow down and relax in a rushed and hectic world. (Sounds blissful!) The terms revitalized, optimism, and fresh appear in most of the color descriptions released by the companies. Do you love them?

Color Your New Year Gorgeous

The 2017 Colors of the Year have all been announced and they offer the promise of bold, vibrant shades and depth of layers. Here is the lineup:

2017-colors-of-the-year-labeled

An interesting mix capturing an array of moods: light and calming, dramatic and intense, bright and hopeful, and timeless and earthy. Yet they can all work together in a cohesive palette should you choose to incorporate them all into your color scheme. Let’s check out the breakdown from the color experts.

Pantone “Greenery”
pantone-greeneryThe Pantone Color Institute describes their yellow-green, spring shade as refreshing and revitalizing shade, symbolic of new beginnings. Meant to evoke those early spring days when nature is waking and awash in bright green, it signals a reset, hope, and life.

Benjamin Moore “Shadow”
benjamin-moore-shadowThe experts at Benjamin Moore named their dramatic purple selection “Shadow” because of their fascination with how it changes hue as the light changes throughout the day. It’s a rich, royal amethyst they describe as allusive and enigmatic.

Sherwin Williams “Poised Taupe”
sherwin-williams-poised-taupeSherwin William’s “Poised Taupe” is a marriage between conservative gray and earthen beige to create a “weathered, woodsy and complex neutral that celebrates the imperfections and authenticity of a well-lived life.” Both warm and cool, classic and modern, it is meant to be an organic, balanced neutral.

Glidden Paints “Byzantine Blue”
glidden-paints-byzantine-blueGlidden Paints named a mystic purple-blue shade meant to be comforting and soothing, playful yet peaceful. The describe “Byzantine Blue” as a gender-neutral “purple in disguise” with all the best qualities of blue and gray. It morphs from hue to hue depending on what you partner shades you select.

Olympic Paints “Cloudberry”
olympic-paints-cloudberryOlympic Paints chose a soothing, lavender-purple the dubbed “Cloudberry” intended to be soothing, encourage meditation, and transform you space into a sanctuary. Cloudberry will float you away on a cloud to carefree, airy spaces.

PPG Pittsburgh Paints “Violet Verbena”
ppg-violet-verbenaPPG Pittsburgh Paints selected a moody, gray-purple they describe as playful, elegant and calming. “Violet Verbena” is expected to appeal to those seeking the popular bohemian look as well as those looking to create luxurious, pampering spaces. It finds a middle ground between masculine and feminine, young and old, work and play.

What do you think of the biggest colors predicted for 2017? Check out our pinterest board for even more Color of the Year images.