Getting Bold with Color

Some consumers may always gravitate to neutrals, but there’s an increasing amount of bold colors showing up in home décor and products these days. These bold or statement colors may be used alone, paired with other bold hues, or as a way to liven up softer neutrals.

“Just as different people have different tastes in music, they also have different tastes in color,” says Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training. “When considering color, it’s essential to embrace and inspire both your current customers and those you aim to attract. Regardless of the product segment, it is the color mixes and harmonies that invariably spark the consumer’s eye and spark trend buzz.”

Bold colors are showing up in home painting treatments and DIY painted wall murals that are popular on TikTok. According to HGTV, some of the trending treatments that go beyond traditional accent walls include:

• Color Drenching – Painting a ceiling, walls, baseboards and window or door trim all the same color
• Stenciled Waves – Using a stencil to create a paint pattern with a different color from floor to ceiling
• Freehand Brushstrokes – A similar concept as above, but using a paintbrush to make a pattern that covers a wall
• Color Blocking – Painting more than one color on a wall by blocking off two or more sections

But all this boldness doesn’t mean that neutrals are “out,” Eiseman told attendees of The Inspired Home Show® 2024. Designers and marketers just need to combine neutrals with new hues so they’re not overlooked.

One such combination she’s loving right now? “The use of off-white and cream alongside what we’re calling punked-up pastels,” said Eiseman.

The importance of different color combinations is part of why Peach Fuzz was selected as Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year, Eiseman explained. It’s a versatile tone that pairs equally well with understated neutrals, as well as brighter hues in the pink, orange, blue-green and blue families.

In fact, the Pantone® View Home + Interiors 2025 forecast features seven palettes with nine different hues in total. Those palettes—and a wide variety of home and housewares products to match—are now featured in the newest portfolio in the HomePage News InSight™ Trend Index 2024/25.

While there’s a palette to suit every taste, trend and mood (and a bold hue is included in almost all of them), two palettes are bold and bright across the board:

• Staccato – Described as “sweet and sour” and “bright and bold,” Eiseman says this palette is unlike any other they’ve put together for the home sector. It incorporates bright hues that can be used in color blocking and evokes feelings of design as play.

• Crescendo – Like its name conveys, Crescendo includes colors that seems to make noise. Though Eiseman called it “not quite as bold as Staccato,” this palette also features vibrant tones that seem to build toward a joyful journey. It has influences in both technology and music.

Retailers can identify home and housewares products that bring to life the palettes from the Pantone® View Home + Interiors 2025 forecast in the HomePage News InSight™ Trend Index 2024/25.