The end of 2025 came with the surprise announcement by Pantone that their colour of the year was Cloud Dancer, a subtle white tone.
Image credit Pantone
I have always liked the serenity of white in interiors, but I know it came as a shock to many interior designers, who have only recently been embracing colour drench and jewel tones.
The bright white and bleached wood Scandi look we saw dominating a few years ago is unlikely to return so soon. Instead, I see this reimagining of white working perhaps alongside a curated colour palette with deeper browns, bronze tones and some elements of lots of colours. Benjamin Moore's colour of the year, Silhouette, works super wellas a dramatic background colour, and can imagine this with Cloud Dancer-esque tones for a crisp, sophisticated palette.
Image credit Benjamin Moore
I can't see a move away from the beige toned quiet luxury trend, because it is such a gorgeous, classic look, but I do see more deeper tones subtly worked in as accents for contrast, as Rachel Lauren Interiors has done at Hale of A House:
Image credit
@nickfreemaninteriors
@haleofahouse
I absolutely love warm honeyed tones and look forward to seeing more of those in the coming months. We incorporated some into a bespoke, predominantly white porcelain ceramic wall artwork for a spa at a Belmond Hotel in Cap Juluca recently and I loved the look of them:
In terms of bolder colours, a lot of interior designers are using dark natural greens, such as Farrow and Ball's Douter, as well as some soft pinky tones and those that veer towards a super pale terracotta, such as Farrow and Ball's Scallop, both of which I have embraced in my studio lately:
"Garland for Georgia" pictured on Douter by Farrow and Ball
"The Softness", pictured on Scallop by Farrow and Ball
I think that the tones we saw prevail at Decorex in October, deep rusty reds, khaki and sage greens, muted pinks and hints of terracotta will continue to feature strongly, both subtly worked in and in layered tonal and colour drench schemes. I look forward to experimenting with some of these tones this year, on both my artwork and my walls:
Rugs by Birdie Fortesque seen at Decorex in Autumn year. These contained most of the prevailing colour palette we saw at the show in a single rug!
I have been seeing all of these tones in varying degrees of richness, and I'm here for them all!
In other interior aspects, I am noticing myself being drawn to imperfections such as age-worn antiques, textural and patterned fabrics and rugs and handmade, personal details. Perhaps these handmade, personal things are the antidote to the perfection of AI. In terms of luxury, something tailor made for your space, or with aspects that are personal to you rather than being generic, is the ultimate flex. The colours mentioned above all feel classic, with a heritage feel, and the idea of buying fewer, but buying better, pieces that have long lives ahead of them still prevails.
Perhaps on reflection, the core trend for 2026 is to find the new classic that feels right for your interior and personality, and not to be too driven by trends at all!
