The 2026 Paint Of The Year roundup
The annual Paint of the Year announcements are one of our go-to traditions to follow (and predict, with varying degrees of success). Each year, a lot of the largest paint manufacturers select a hue and/or palette they believe “captures” and/or “forecasts” design trends. Some are bold. Some are boring. Some are straight-up bonkers (who remembers the color we affectionately dubbed “hot dog”?). Now that it is January, we are calling this 2026 COTY list officially done… even though one of the brands we tracked never picked one. And be sure to check out our 2024 and 2025 round-ups as a recap!
Like we did last year, we are also showing you each company’s picks over the last few years right here in this post, because it is a lively way to see how styles shift and brands swing from year-to-year. And you can find our predictions at the bottom!
What is the 2026 Paint of the Year?
There is not one single “Paint of the Year.” Instead, several companies like Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, and Pantone, declare their own individual color. There are distinct methods for how each brand makes their choice, but the goal (besides marketing) is to comment on what they are seeing or predicting in the design world. Sometimes they also use it to represent larger trends or consumer moods like feeling hope, a returning to nature, or embracing rest.
What Were Last Year’s Colors?
Below are our recaps of every Paint of the Year for both 2024 and 2025 – and you can click those two years for an in-depth look at previous selections. The 2025 colors that were chosen were dominated by moody browns, purples, and mauves. It was in fact surprisingly consistent across most of the brands! Especially when you compare them to 2024, where we saw a lot more variety (some warm, some cool, some light, some dark).
It will be interesting to see if any brands richocet back to lighter, brighter, or cheerier colors in 2026 since we’d generally describe last year’s as… quite brown. Will we see a lot of commonalities across brands again this year? Or will the distinct companies make bold choices to distinguish themselves from the pack?
Every 2026 Paint of the Year
It took nearly 6 months for nearly all of the 2026 COTY announcements to roll out. We track 15 brands each year, and all but one made a selection this year. Here they are summarized in a list, with a deeper dive on each further below.
- Pantone: Cloud Dancer
- Benjamin Moore: Silhouette
- Sherwin-Williams: Universal Khaki
- Behr: Hidden Gem
- HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams: Universal Khaki
- Glidden: Warm Mahogany
- Valpsar: Warm Eucalyptus
- Dunn-Edwards: Midnight Garden
- Dutch Boy: Melodious Ivory
- Krylon: Coffee Bean
- Rust-Oleum: Satin Lagoon
- Minwax: Special Walnut
- Graham & Brown: Divine Damson
- C2 Paint: Epernay
Here is a closer look at each color selected this year.
Pantone’s 2026 Paint of the Year
In what many are describing as a “shocking” choice, Pantone selected a plain white tone called Cloud Dancer as its 2026 Paint of the Year. Pantone is typically who we can count on for a bold vibrant color that does not necessarily have to be good for an whole wall (as you can see from its past choices below). It is typically the most daring choice of the whole bunch. Well… not this year.
Do we have white walls so our colorful art and pillows and even our colorful cabinets can stand out? Yes. Yes we do. Do we like white as a bold Paint of the Year choice from Pantone? No, we are sad. What can we count on in this world if Pantone, who tends to be fearless and joyful and full of life… proclaims white as the Paint of the Year?! Perhaps next year they’ll get bolder and more daring again? Here is hoping!
Benjamin Moore’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Benjamin Moore selected Silhouette (AF-655) as their 2026 Paint of the Year. They describe it as a “burnt umber with delicate notes of charcoal” and was chosen to lead their 2026 Color Trends, dubbed “Refined Elegance.” Announced in October 2025, it fits a growing trend of brands using words like elegeant and timeless in this year’s selections. We have used Silhouette several times as a trusty alternative to black, since it is a slightly lighter and warmer.
When we look at the last 10 years of Benjamin Moore’s selections, this is least colorful tone since 2019’s Metropolitan – which matches the trend we have been seeing away from bright colors and to deep neutrals.
Sherwin-Williams’ 2026 Paint of the Year
This year, Sherwin-Williams’ declared Universal Khaki their 2026 Paint of the Year. This “warm, earthy neutral” spearheads a trend forecast they’ve dubbed “Tailored & Timeless” which uses descriptors like classic, plain, and elegant. It is the 3rd creamy tan tone announced for 2026 (4th if you count HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams doubling down on this same swatch).
As you can see from Sherwin-Williams’ past picks, they are big fans of muted, timeless hues (apart from a colorful detour from 2018 – 2020). And like this year’s selection most tend to be warm with red or yellow undertones.
Behr’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Behr kept things dark & rich for the third consective year with their 2026 Paint of the Year pick: Hidden Gem. Described as a “smokey jade with an air of mystery,” it is bold & colorful but still desaturated sufficient to make it suitable as a wall color. It is also reminds us of one of our go-to accent colors from around 15 years ago (this one).
As you can see, the last 3 years have been a notable shift from the lighter and breezier colors Behr used to select. We are not too surprised, given the prevalence of deep, moody colors lately (and full room color-drenching, which means painting the trim/molding as well as built-ins or cabinets the same rich hue).
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams 2026 Paint of the Year
No, you are not experiencing deja vu! This is the same swatch shown above for Sherwin-Williams. Unlike previous years, HGTV Home opted not to declare their own Paint of the Year and instead piggybacked on their parent brands’ choice: Universal Khaki.
HGTV Home did, however, announce a 2026 Color Collection of the Year called Honest Essentials, which includes Universal Khaki. These 10 swatches represent a series of color trend forecasts like Timeless Neutrals, Conscious Colors, and Neutrals & Nature – all pointing to subtle contrasts and organic, environmental hues.
While such a neutral choice is expected from their parent brand, Universal Khaki is a bit of a departure for HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams. Like their magazine covers, HGTV tends towards bolder, punchier colors – which is consistently lively to see. So personally we hope they choose their own Paint of the Year for 2027!
Glidden’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Glidden announced Warm Mahogany as their 2026 Paint of the Year. It is described as a “rich, grounded red” that anchors an annual color trends collection that is all about “rest, connection, and creativity.” This echoes some of the same language used in Valspar’s announcement (see below) which, ironically, is another color with “warm” in the name. However, this reddish tone fits more closely with the overall trend we saw in 2025 COTY announcements.
Interestingly, Warm Mahogany is not too far off from last year’s selection, Purple Basil. Both are dark, saturated, warm tones that are a noticable contrast from previous years.
Valspar’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Valspar’s 2026 selection, Warm Eucalyptus, is muted, earthy gray-green that the paint company describes as “restful to the eye” and therefore “restful to the soul.” Their announcement talks a lot about redefining how we think about neutral colors, and they say that neutrals are not colorless, they are simply inviting, calming, and grounding colors that feeling “restorative.”
This is Valspar’s third year of picking a single COTY (prior to 2024, they announced a mutli-color collection). It is certainly a popular color that has been trending for a while that, like their picks before it, is a safe choice that is fairly straightforward to use in a lot of applications (without being white/beige/tan). It will be interesting if we see them swing back to traditional colorless “neutrals” like grays, creams, or charcoals in the future.
Dunn-Edwards Paint of the Year 2026
Dunn-Edwards selected Midnight Garden as their 2026 COTY. Their selection of this “deep, muted green” echoes a lot of the themes we have been hearing this year. They describe it as “timeless color” with “earthy undertones” that embodies a “quiet elegance” of a lush garden in the moonlight. It is one of the more colorful picks of 2026 and the only green we have seen so far.
As you can see from Dunn-Edwards’ decade of picking Paints of the Year – they tend to go for bright, saturated hues. So Midnight Garden might be considered one of their more “neutral” selections, a trend we have seen with others this year (like Benjamin Moore).
Dutch Boy’s Paint of the Year 2026
The 2026 Paint of the Year from Dutch Boy (available at Menard’s) is Melodious Ivory. This warm cream color was selected for it is “nostaglic, elevated vibe” and it is ability to layer with bolder, accent colors. The imagery used in Dutch Boy’s announcement showcases a sort of rustic, nearly modern farmhouse look.
Melodious Ivory fits well with Dutch Boy’s past selections, which all tend to be quiet, comfortable colors that tend towards warm neutrals (apart from 2024’s Ironside). And if you scroll to the bottom, you will see this “creamy white” is not too far off from one of my predictions for the year!
Krylon’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Krylon selected Coffee Bean as their 2026 Paint of the Year. They do not offer much explanation in their announcement, but like many other picks this year, they say it was inspired by natural elements. Spray paints brands like Krylon have a more limited, less nuanced palette of colors to choose from compared to traditional paint companies, so it is consistently fascinating to see what they select.
As you can see from previous Krylon’s previous COTY picks, they tend towards bold, deeply saturated hues. It is interesting they have chosen two dark neutrals back-to-back, with Coffee Bean following last years Black.
Rust-Oleum’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Rust-Oleum selected Satin Lagoon as their 2026 Paint of the Year. They selected it because it can bring both “tranquility and vibrancy” to any space and pairs well with everything from neutrals to other bold hues. Since they are a spray paint brand, like Krylon, they have a more limited palette to choose from – frequently with brighter, more saturated colors (seen below).
Although unlike Krylon, they have not selected a true “neutral” like black, cream, or gray.
Minwax’s 2026 Paint of the Year
The wood stain brand Minwax gets in on the COTY action every year, and this year selected Special Walnut. This is frequently our go-to stain color (we even refinished the duplex floors in it!) so we fully support this selection. Minwax says they are reflecting a trend towards rustic wood tones and even “wood drenching” spaces across ceilings and walls. They use the word “grounding” that both Glidden & Valspar referenced also (FYI Minwax & Valspar are both owned by Sherwin-Williams).
And when we look back at Minwax’s 6 Paint of the Year selections, Special Walnut is truly the first time they’ve chosen a classic, medium wood tone.
Graham & Brown’s 2026 Paint of the Year
Divine Damson is Graham & Brown’s pick for 2026 Paint of the Year. I will admit I had to Google what a damson is! Each year they pick a paint color to complement the colorways of their wallpaper Design of the Year. This year’s deep, saturated purple is described as timeless and versitle. It was selected for how it evokes luxury, elegance, and sophistication.
As you can see from Graham & Brown’s recent Paint of the Year selections, they aim for sophisticated and elegant colors (again, picked to complement their high end wallpapers). This year’s Divine Damson nearly looks like they doubled down on last year’s Elderton, picking an even darker, more saturated hue!
C2 Paint’s 2026 Paint of the Year
C2 Paints selected Epernay for their 2026 Paint of the Year. The name references a French town known for champagne, and in their announcement, C2 says it embodies a return to “craft, artistry, and nature” seen in European interiors. The color is a soft yellow, or “earthy ochre” in their words, and is part of a trending palette they’ve dubbed En Terre (another earth reference) . And although its much more muted than most other selections this year, it is the third color to be described as “grounded.”
Looking back at C2 Paints’ previous Colof of the Year selections, they do tend towards softer, gentler hues – with the exception of last year’s Raku.
Our 2026 Paint of the Year Predictions
In addition to tracking these announcements, we like to make our own guesses. You can see how we did with our predictions last year right here in this recap. Here are our 2026 predictions, which we made on August 1, 2025 on Instagram stories (that is typically where you can find them each year).
Sherry’s Guesses
- A taupey-purple
- Emerald green
- Fire engine red
John’s Guesses
- A creamy white
- Rich navy
- Pink-ish terra cotta
While we did not nail any, we have been close on a couple. Dutch Boy’s Melodious Ivory and C2 Paint’s Epernay are warmer and more saturated than the “creamy white” I imagined, but both are fairly darn close. And Sherwin-William’s Universal Khaki is certainly darker, but is yet another creamy neutral on this list.
Dunn-Edwards’ Midnight Garden is more muted than the “emerald green” Sherry had hoped to see, but it is in the same neighborhood.
Glidden’s Warm Mahogony is like a darker version of the “terra cotta” I guessed. Nearly like I got the hue right, but the value wrong. And obviously this is not terribly scientific… it is mostly for lively & bragging rights in our house (Sherry & I have a friendly competion to see who can get more each year).
More Paint Colors We Enjoy
You can check out more of our go-to go-to paint colors by touring our homes in the menu at the top of our journal. We have also written these detailed deep-dive posts about our go-to paint colors:
