We are immersed in color! It’s so much a part of us that we may not even notice its (omni)presence, but the impact color has on us and our interaction with it is a significant part of our lives. Color trends bubble up as an awareness or statement of our mood, current needs and our ever-changing environments. We surround ourselves with colors that help us navigate the latest shifts.
Currently we’re turning to greens, terra-cottas, muted color-washed tones, hopeful hues and statement tones that reflect our personality; they’re colors we’re making priorities in our homes for a variety of reasons relating in large part to what’s happening in our world.
All things green is a strong trend currently and various shades of it have been chosen as the 2022 Color of the Year by several paint companies, including Benjamin Moore. Green reflects our desire for calming nature, renewal and growth, and the healing that comes from the way green can act as nature’s pain relief. Its effect can be restful and refreshing. Green shades can expand and cool a room, giving us space to breathe. In a time when our routines have been changed, green brings a feeling of restoration and freedom. The three greens in Benjamin Moore’s 2022 Trends palette — "Fernwood Green", "High Park" and the Color of the Year “October Mist” — are soft, muted and easy to incorporate into our homes.
Terra-cotta shades are bringing us warmth and security and help to make us feel grounded, which is a big benefit when unprecedented changes occur in our lives. Benjamin Moore’s “Wild Flower” and “Venetian Portico” are shades in this year’s trends that add a little punch and interest to the palette without being overwhelming.
Being grounded is helpful when the world feels chaotic, but we’re also simultaneously craving travel. Muted, color-washed tones that remind us of exotic and anxiety-free destinations are being painted on our walls. Soft blues, lilacs, lemon and sage greens remind us of easy sun-soaked days and renewing our spirits. They are the primary focus of both the Benjamin Moore and Hirshfield’s 2022 Trend palette, including the hope-filled soft lilac of Hirshfield’s Color of the Year, “Desiree”.
Along with the serenity represented in “Desiree” and Benjamin Moore’s “Hint of Violet” is a spiritual strength that symbolizes our ability to create our own happiness and joy. This personal agency is also appearing in our homes as part of the Maximalist trend: bold feature walls, large patterns and inspiring accent colors that are visual representations of our individual personalities.
Yellow is one of those strong colors and has been trending for a few years. And yellow continues to influence several of Hirshfield’s and Benjamin Moore’s 2022 palette tones. “Collector’s Item” from Benjamin Moore is a yellowed-white with a unique hint of pink that reflects a larger trend to warm up the bright whites we’ve been seeing. Whites in general are softening up and after years of being crisp to complement the huge wave of gray, they are heading back in the direction of warmth and creaminess.
The neutrals have shifted away from the grays of the past few years and are warmer, cleaner shades of beige. Hirshfield’s “Sheepskin” and Benjamin Moore’s “Natural Linen” are easy colors that work with the color-washed tones of the 2022 palettes. The additional neutrals have, not surprisingly, a hint of green to them: Benjamin Moore’s “Morning Dew” and “Quiet Moments” and Hirshfield’s “Lady Nicole” are background colors with a hint of interest to help our spaces feel fresh.
Fresh shades need anchors to act a backdrop to their dramatic impact. Established classics such black, bronze and navy blue show up in Benjamin Moore's “Mysterious”, a rich deep blue black that belongs in the stable of trusted anchor colors in design, and in Hirshfield’s “Terra Pin”, a deep gray green.
The inspiring and harmonious colors in both Hirshfield’s and Benjamin Moore’s 2022 Trend palettes reflect another major trend: a change in how we spend our time. We’re reconsidering how and where we work and focusing on our friends and families in new ways. Authenticity is at the forefront of our interactions online and in person. Colors that allow us to stay true to who we are and how we want to function in the world will continue to trend strongly. And colors that help us feel good, happy, strong and inspired will keep emerging as trends we will embrace.
