Paint does more than coat the walls of a room.
The color you choose can showcase personality, evoke emotion, and even make a space look bigger!
That is why once yearly, all the big paint and color companies come out with their colors of the year.
Whether you're renovating to sell or want to jazz up your favorite rooms, here are the latest paint trends to consider and how to use them during your next home improvement project.
How Color Influences a Room
Believe it or not, there's such thing as the psychology of paint.
Being a simple yet highly effective design tool, paint can evoke mood changes, create a sense of comfort, or trick the eye into thinking the space is larger than it is.
It's all about finding colors that make a room as cozy or spacious as possible and selecting colors that make you feel good. When done right, color can create a remarkable experience, transforming your home into an expression of your style.
Pantone Color of the Year
Since 2007 Pantone has been releasing their color of the year and 2022 is no exception! Pantone recently announced the color, Very Peri, as the color of 2022. Very Peri is a vibrant shade of periwinkle blue with violet-red undertones that was created as a brand-new color rather than selecting one from the company's existing array of hues. This break from the tradition was made to reflect the transformative times we currently live in. Very Peri helps us to embrace this altered landscape of possibilities, opening us up to a new vision as we rewrite our lives. Rekindling gratitude for some of the qualities that blue represents complemented by a new perspective that resonates today.
The Pantone Color of the Year selection process requires thoughtful consideration and trend analysis. To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at the Pantone Color Institute™ comb the world looking for new color influences. These can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions. Influences may also stem from new technologies, materials, textures, and effects that impact color, relevant social media platforms and even upcoming sporting events that capture worldwide attention. For 23 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.
Top Paint Trends for 2022
Each year, the top color experts and paint companies choose their "colors of the year" — often drawing on trends in fashion, pop culture, design, and technology from around the globe.
Whether your go-to brand is Behr or Valspar, learning what's trending across the industry can help you make the perfect selection of paints for your upcoming reno or home makeover. Here is what some of the top brands are recommending, plus how you can use these suggestions to enhance the rooms in your house.
1. Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore's Color Trends 2022 Palette includes 14 hues, offering endless combinations that ensure effortless harmony. These colors were chosen based on their "modern-day relevance and long-lasting appeal."
The company's top pick is October Mist, which evokes the silver-green stem of a flower. Acting as a canvas for other colors, this hue allows for plenty of creativity.
Tips from Benjamin Moore:
- Choose luminous pales to invigorate your senses
- Opt for botanical hues when seeking a sense of warmth
- Paint with refreshed primaries to let your personal style shine
2. BEHR
The BEHR® Colour Trends 2022 Palette offers 20 hues that will "ignite newfound passions and enhance every corner of your home."
Breezeway was the top pick, inspired by the hue "where the sea meets the sky." The idea of this color is to bring a breath of fresh air into any space. It is being used on everything from kitchen cabinetry to front doors, bedroom walls, to office walls. For effortless styling, harmonize with shades of white, grey, and natural wood tones.
Utilize BEHR's paint trends for 2022 by decorating:
- Flexible spaces (suggested colors include Laural Tree, Perfect Penny, Cracked Pepper, and Lunar Surface)
- Serene Sanctuaries (suggested colors include Ocean Abyss, Etched Glass, Dark Cobalt Blue, and Nightingale Gray)
- Natural influences (suggested colors include Basswood, Wild Mustang, Corn Stalk, and Studio Clay)
3. Valspar
For 2022, Valspar chose colors that come from nature, intending to bring a calming, comfortable presence into any home. The Valspar Colors of the Year are 12 hues that are both trendy and timeless.
Let's take a closer look at some of these colors.
- Blanched Thyme — This shade of green pairs perfectly with warmer wood tones to create a balanced, natural look. Trending because of its ability to help you refocus, this color promotes a space that is calming and grounding. In an office, style with a wood desk and other natural elements. In a bedroom or living room, pair with warm tones.
- Lilac Lane — This shade of pink is all about uplifting and restoring a space, bringing optimism into any room. Often used as a colorful backdrop, this color is great to feature as an accent wall, livening up your home, but also ideal for an entire room. To style, complement with textured accessories and pops of accent colors.
- Rustic Oak — This warm, rich color will bring in a level of sophistication. Reminiscent of shades from the 70s and 90s, warm tones are making a strong comeback. It's stunning when paired with dark wood floors, as this will help ground the shape and add interest.
Other trending colors include:
- Gilded Linen
- Delightful Moon
- Mountain River
- Orchid Ash
- Grey Suit
- Subtle Peach
- Sunset Curtains
- Country Charm
- Fired Earth
4. Sherwin Williams
For 2022, Sherwin Williams chose a soothing, subtle, and a perfect shade to freshen up any space. Evergreen Fog SW 9130 is a versatile and calming hue, a chameleon color of gorgeous green-meets-gray, with just a bit of blue. It's a simple but sophisticated wash of beautiful, organic color for spaces that crave a subtle yet stunning statement shade.
5. Dulux
For 2022, Dulux chose Olive Sprig. Olive Sprig DLX1125-4 is a relaxed but enticing green that emulates the feeling of soothing aloe vera or a fragrant plant – brightening any space with organic liveliness. A versatile paint colour that lives well inside or outside, Olive Sprig blends in with nearly any environment.
Elegant, grounded, versatile and highly-adaptable, the grey-green colour represents regrowth, mimicking nature’s resiliency. Olive Sprig can help create a sanctuary in a bedroom, or pairs beautifully with brass accents and wood tones on an island or lower kitchen cabinets.
Dive deeper in paint trends for 2022 with these guides:
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