Trends · 18 August 2026 · 6 min read
The 2026 colour-of-the-year forecasts, side by side
Every major paint house has now published. The overlap this year is unusually tight — warm, earthbound mid-tones with a green undertone.
For the first time in several seasons, the big forecasts are converging rather than competing. Where 2024 gave us everything from oxblood to millennial-adjacent pinks, 2026 lands on a narrow band of warm, slightly muddy mid-tones — the kind of colour that reads as a neutral in daylight and as a colour at night.
The practical takeaway for anyone cataloguing a home: undertone matters more than ever. Two greens a shade apart on the fan deck can pull completely different directions once they are on four walls under warm LED light. Record the manufacturer code, not just the name, and note the light the room gets.
We break down each forecast, the LRV ranges, and the finishes the brands are pushing alongside them.
Written by ChromaGain Editorial. This article is placeholder editorial content for launch — the news section moves to a CMS in phase 2.