A close-up of a cluster of swirling decorative art glass pieces by glass artist Dale Chihuly. The glass vessels have uneven shapes and swirls of color mixed into the glass and creating patterns that look much like large jellyfish, but in bright colors—orange, green, yellow, brown, and black.
Design 101

2023 Interior Design Color Trends

by Laura Grey No Comments

After nearly a decade of grey upholstery, pale woods, and all-white kitchens, color and warmth are returning to home interiors in a big way. We’ve reviewed the color forecasts of dozens of interior designers, style journalists, paint retailers, color consultancies, and furniture companies to learn about the big color trends of 2023 (as well as a few predictions for 2024). Adding a few fresh colors to your home can make it feel warm, inviting, and personal. Here are the top interior design color trends for 2023, from greens of all sorts to an array of oranges, to soft pinks, and even mauve. I’ve started with the softer, neutral tones, but if you like brights (Spring green! Tangerine! Peony pink!), keep on scrolling down to see colors with the bigger, bolder hues.

Warm Neutrals

Warm neutrals are back! Cool grey and white rooms have held sway for nearly a decade, but soft, pale colors with brown undertones are taking over throughout the home. Woods are also getting darker, and moving away from the pale birch-and-beech-based Scandinavian look. Color trends for 2023—including the focus on warm neutral tones—show that the more severe and grey variants of modern farmhouse style have fallen from favor. What’s on the way in is even warmer than Scandi and Japandi styles, and moving quite definitely toward midcentury modern color palettes.

A child's nursery all done up in wam neutrals—a pale wooden pull toy on a pale floor against a pale wood crib over which is draped a tan, beige, and brown woven wool blanket. A white bookcase with wicker drawers is at right.
Tatiana Syrikova for Pexels
A close-up of a large lop-earned golden brown and white rabbit.
Benjamin Stjepanović for Pexels
A low unmade bed with white crumpled linens and pillowcases, beige linen sheets, a pale woven basket, a white coffee cup on pale books, all next to a woven wool rug in warm rust and beige colors.
Tatiana Syrikova for Pexels
Soft, cozy, neutral colors evoke feelings of calm and comfort, especially when accented with pops of more saturated warm colors

Tan tones are back

A sun-filled kitchen of pale wood and white glass-fronted cabinets features a rustic butcher block wooden counter covered in old beige and brown crockery and a wall of many-paned windows.
Rustic materials like worn woods, vintage ceramics, and old-style chrome pulls are taking over from sleek all-white kitchens | Dominika Roseclay for Pexels

Tan tones ruled interiors during the early 2000s. That decade also saw a boom in white crown moldings, tall white baseboards, and glossy white beadboard and wainscoting. All that white trim set off the warm walls in shades of sand, toast, beige and taupe, making them look crisp and elegant. Natural cherry wood furniture and cabinetry were big then as well, so homes began filling with one warm tone after another. Soon tan and tasteful was the default style.

In the 2010s, interior and exterior home color trends went to the other extreme. Homeowners left the toasty beiges behind and embraced cool greys. Woods grew lighter, and pale Scandinavian minimalism glutted the market. But setting off pale greys with nothing but white paint and blonde wood tends to look chilly. Since 2015, modern farmhouse fans have tried to warm up grey rooms with rustic wood elements, but the result has often left rooms feeling hard-edged. It’s no wonder we’re hankering to return to a warmer, cozier aesthetic.

Warmer kitchen colors

Color trends for 2023 apply to kitchens and bathrooms as well. Since 2022, designers have hailed the return of warm neutrals, and the warming trend is definitely extending into kitchens. Kitchen cabinetry, tiles, flooring, countertops, and wallpaper in brown-based tones are showing up on websites and at retail outlets. But there’s a big backlog of grey and white cabinetry, countertop materials, and tiles in stores and showrooms. That means it may take a while for the new color trends to show up consistently in large numbers of homes.

A kitchen in white and taupe with smooth pale wood cabinets, a curvy mustard-colored upholstered chair, warm brown touches, and brushed gold cylindrical pendant lights
Max Rahubovskiy for Pexels
A detail of a slab of colorful marble with a busy pattern. The background is primarily a pale beige color with swirls of rust red, peach, and dark brown.
Marina Leonova for Pexels
A sleek minimalist dine-in kitchen with dark grey, round-backed upholstered chairs around a small round table. The cabinets are smooth-front cabinets in white and pale wood grain finishes. Details include pale beige bricks, pale wood floorboards, windows with white Venetian blinds, a clear glass large pendant lamp, and black wall ovens.
Max Rahubovskiy for Pexels
While kitchens are moving toward a less hard-edged, cold, minimalist look, even sleek modernist modern kitchens like these are using warmer tones, more round elements (which soften a room), and cabinets in mixed neutral tones. Brown and warm grey touches, pops of mustard, and colorful and heavily figured marble all add warmth and personality

If you just installed a grey and white kitchen, don’t worry—it’ll look tasteful and lovely for years to come. But you might want to add some warm elements to it to juice it up. Paint, wallpaper, or light fixtures with warm tones or wood elements help. So do large wooden cutting boards, wood bowls and trays, and other wooden kitchen decor items that are both practical and organic.

The change in trending kitchen colors corresponds to a change in materials as well. Watch for more relaxed kitchens with a less hard-edged, minimalist feeling.

Wood’s good

A white minimalist kitchen warmed by wood and orange touches. The back wall with a small over-sink window is covered in white porcelain hex tiles. The white marble waterfall-edged island has pale grey veining. Three low MCM-style wood barstools sit below the counter in front of figured wood cabinet doors. A large orange painting hangs at left behind a tall tropical plant. An enameled Dutch oven on the counter is in the same shade of grey-green as the plant. Sparkling glassware is in glass-front white cabinets on the back wall. Some glasses inside have copper highlights. The bottoms of the cabinets are painted orange. Large white globe pendant lights hang over the island.
If you have a white or grey kitchen but want to warm it up, bring in curvy wooden or caramel leather counter stools, linen or bamboo blinds, accent pieces in wood or copper, and art in warm colors. You can mix counter materials, leaving white cabinets on top but adding wooden ones below—or reface some of the doors with wood doors on a painted frame | Roam in Color for Unsplash

Designers tell us that all-white kitchens are on the way out. If you like the brightness of white but want to add warmth, consider an island with wood instead of painted cabinetry (even if the rest of your kitchen is painted), or a butcher-block top. However, if you go with wooden countertops, keep the wood well-oiled and use cutting boards instead of the counter itself to keep countertops looking great and feeling smooth.

Open wood shelving is still trending. This is attractive when staged with your nicest glass, wood, and ceramic pieces arranged with plenty of space around them. But is that how you really live? I’m wary about converting too many cabinets to open shelves. They tend toward clutter, and are exposed to dirt and cooking grease, so contents get dirtier faster. They also hold less than cabinets do.

Why not add a wooden sideboard, or put wooden counter stools around your island? These add instant warmth. If you have white cabinetry with glass doors, paint their interiors a warm color. Or line the cabinets (the sides, not just the bottoms) with wallpaper for a colorful touch. Instead of adding white pendant lights, consider copper, wicker, or wood fixtures to bring in warm tones with sparkle or texture to add personality and warmth.

The Return of Earth Tones

In 2020, pandemic-related quarantines pushed us into working and taking classes within our largely grey and white homes. We were stuck inside, away from loved ones, and our hunger for warmth grew. Millions embraced the hygge trend, seeking cozy textures and homier settings. As a result of the mass hunger for comfort, warm colors and richer wood tones started making a big comeback.

A king bed covered in white linens is topped with a textured brown and white blanket folded horizontally across the bed. The wall behind the bed is painted a deep chocolate brown , and a print in a rich brick color hangs over the bed, which has a brown headboard. The walls are creamy.
Pixabay for Pexels
A bunch of dry, brown oak leaves are scattered across a dark brown floor
Mathias Reding for Pexels
A room with dark brown walls and floors has white ceilings with dark brown beams. A taupe wooden post holds up the ceiling. Against the post is a large cream colored vase with tall brown grasses. A furnishings are all in shades of browns and creams.
Selenic Moon for Pexels
Chocolatey browns, brick reds, and warm biscuit and caramel tones add rich, warm, welcoming notes

Warm neutrals are beginning to overtake greys and whites. However, the big news about 2023’s color trends is the huge increase in popularity for all shades of brown. From tan to taupe, and caramel to cocoa, browns are showing up all over. You’ll see them in paint, textiles, wallpapers, upholstery, rugs, and curtains—and in warmer shades of wood, too. Warm browns mix perfectly with other colors with brown undertones, such as cream, coral, and honey. Designers foresee a new golden era for these golden yellow, orange, and brown-based shades.

Pieces like caramel-colored woven leather chairs are especially popular right now in interior design magazines, websites, and show homes. These chairs tie together several growing trends, including warm neutral brown tones, natural materials, and woven textures.

Other top tones

Color forecasts for 2023 vary a lot according to different house paint companies and color consultants. However, some of the trendier shades include oranges from melon to terracotta, tomato reds, warm yellows with tan or brown undertones, and a whole range of greens. Color trends are expected to move toward the pinks all year long. Currently popular pinks range from soft pastel shades to full-bodied roses (including 2023’s Pantone Color of the Year, Viva Magenta). Pale cameo pink and blush pinks with just a touch of peachiness look heavenly alongside creams and warm brown tones.

A soft pink velvet upholstered club chair is surrounded by white curctains and pink and white walls. In front of the chair is a rose gold side table topped with a laptop.
Ivan Samkov for Pexels
A close-up image of peachy-pink peony flowers with yellow centers on a white background
Marta Dzedyshko for Pexels
A surreal science fiction-style space with tall pink-toned walls at back pierced by tall capsule-shaped windows showing a lavender sky beyond. On the floor is a heathered lavender and pink floor with a pink-upholstered round stool net to a low four-lobed large grey shape that looks like a flower-shaped coffee table.
Mo Eid for Pexels
Soft rosy colors, blush pinks, and lavender and mauve shades are becoming popular in 2023, but designers foresee them becoming major shades in 2024

Some cooler blues and purples have also made the cut. Mauve is on the rise (see more about that below), and 2022’s Pantone Color of the Year, Veri Peri, is a cool but vibrant blue-purple periwinkle shade. You’ll see periwinkle and Wedgwood blue shades continuing to pop up, though this year’s shades are mostly moodier blues.

Expect to see the cooler shades appearing alongside warmer ones. For example, lavender mixes surprisingly well with browns and soft yellows. However, the color trends for 2023 are primarily toward earthier or sunnier colors. We’re craving warmth and a taste of the outdoors, and color is a great way to get it.

A cornflower blue wall stands behind a honey-wood desk, credenza, and matching open-backed bookcases. Between the bookcases are three bold modern prints with white backgrounds and mats in thin black frames. A taupe upholstered MCM chair faces away from us toward the desk; a grey office chair faces toward us. At left and right are MCM armchairs with honey-colored wood frames, both in royal blue or teal leather. Between them is a pale grey marble-topped rectangular table. The floor is in a modern wide-herringbone pattern with taupe woods. Outside the tall window at right are skyscrapers above a waterway.
Huseyn Kamaladdin for Pexels
A white room with cream colored tile floors features a dark blue wall of thin vertical wood strips from which hang dark wood and white horizontal cabinets above and below a black wall-hung TV. The wall has a midcentury modern feel to it. In front of the TV area is a navy upholstered boxy sofa topped with mustard colored throw pillows next to a matching mustard-colored MCM style bucket chair. A dark wood coffee table with a glass toip sits on a grey and white abstract print rug. At left is a dark brown door, next to which is a dark wood wall feature of tall thin vertical wood slats from which hangs a wood and white low rectangular pair of drawers. On top of the drawers sits a large brass seated Buddha.
Houzlook for Pexels
A man in dark shirt and slacks and white trainers sits in a teal velvet squared-off club chair on silver legs with rows of silver studs running down the fronts of the arms toward the floor. The man rests one arm on the high arm and rests his hand against his temples. He wears large dark sunglasses inside the darkened room. On the dark wood floor is a pale grey rug with dark blue and dark grey abstract patterns. A grey curtain hangs behind the man, whose chair is centered in the photo. On each side of him are brass planters on thin brass stnads that hold very tall tropical plants with huge leaves pointing upward.
Wade Carter for Pexels
True blues paired with honey-colored wood, gold upholstery, and bold greenery continue the natural-color trend. Blues range from cornflower and periwinkle to navy. Blue-tinged teals are still going strong

Take your cues from nature

Color trends don’t just apply to wall paint. They show up in the colors of the floors and furniture we choose, in our linens and towels and rugs, in our curtains and bedding. They also enliven the art we display, as well as our dishes, light fixtures, and wooden chests or cabinetry. Furniture makers and interior designers are looking to natural colors for inspiration for all of these design elements. The midcentury-inspired palettes that made earth tones so popular from the 1950s to the 1970s are once again showing up all over.

Mix contrasting natural colors

A busy modern sculpture or structure (which one isn't clear) with an atrium that opens up to a blue sky. The atrium has no visible windows otherwise, and surrounds the camera. The walls and partial ceiling go off in various angles and are made of hundreds of bars (perhaps 2x4s?) painted in bright shades of medium and dark green, yellow, orange, and rust. Most of the space is in green shades, but toward the bottom more orange and gold colors are mixed together.
Vibrant versions of natural colors reminiscent of golden, red, and orange nasturtiums mix together in a decidedly modernist space | Mitchell Luo for Pexels

Colors don’t all have to stay in the same family. As was popular during the midcentury modern (MCM) period, using contrasting colors from nature together creates harmonious but intriguing color combos. Warm, brown-based colors mix well with greens from very pale celery to rich forest green, and moss green to loden.

Browns and oranges also pop against blues from sky blue to cornflower, blue-grey to sapphire. Teals and soft greenish blues have been among the few more saturated colors in home furnishings over the past decade. This was true even when black, white, and grey held sway in so many homes. Dark teals and teals that verge on turquoise are still popular. Soft grey-green sage, olive, avocado, and forest greens are in. The occasional bold pop of emerald green looks marvelous in velvety upholstery or dark glossy chests, benches, or cabinets.

A blast from the past

Greens are also being paired with terracotta shades, creams, honey gold, even cameo pink, just as they were back in the 1980s. This is especially true of fabrics and wallpapers. True blues without a hint of green such as Wedgwood blue, grey-blue, and navy are also making a showing. These colors look crisp with white trim and shiny chrome accent pieces. Or you can soften them up by combining blues with medium wood tones and gold-toned metals.

Seventies Style Is Back

Expect to see not only seventies-style earth tones but also organic, rounded, overstuffed seventies-inspired upholstery. Seventies shapes and textures are catching on everywhere. Vintage seventies pieces are still available at good prices at estate sales, thrift shops, and local online auctions, but reproduction furniture is showing up all over the place as well.

Watch for seventies oranges in shades from peach to rust, melon to tangerine. Taupe, that slightly grey shade of medium brown, is popping up alongside warmer chocolatey browns. Brownish reds are back, too, in shades from oxblood to brick. Spotters of color trends are seeing more purple-reds like maroon and claret, too.

Maor Attias for Pexels
Corgi puppy on a bright orange background
Alvan Nee for Unsplash
An outdoor courtyard with a terracotta-colored floor is surrounded with terracotta-colored tents with curving arched openings.
Jaanus Jagomagi for Unsplash
Mixed colored bricks in a herringbone pattern in an outdoor setting; a few weeds poke up between the dark and light bricks.
Joe Dudeck for Unsplash
A pale grey marble floor is topped with a dark grey rug. Above that is a low vivid orange sofa made of a series of velvet upholstered square cushions. Dark grey large square pillows top the orange sofa. Dark grey curtains flank white sheers over a window with an urban view. Thin vertical wood slats alternate with dark grey vertical stripe on a feature wall topped with a hanging black TV. Across that wall is a low black horizontal cabinet suspended from the wood slats and the white wall to the left of the TV area. A shallow built-in dark taupe wooden bookshelf is at right.
Max Rahubovskiy for Pexels
A seventies-style woven rug features an oversized herringbone pattern featuring an array of shades of mustard, orange, and rust making up the rectangular shapes within the herringbone.
Tropojan Eagle for Pexels
Sweet, bold, tangy, and irresistible oranges of all intensities and shades are back

The bold, dark goldenrod yellow and chartreuse green that were all the rage not long ago (after acid green and highlighter yellow had their moments) are returning in more subdued versions. Honey gold tones—similar to “harvest gold” appliances of the 1960s and 1970s—are popping up on walls, wallpapers, dishes, linens, and upholstery.

Pastels like soft blues, pinks, and pale mauves mix well with silvery disco bling. Which is good, since silvery chrome is making a comeback in furnishings, as well as in light and plumbing fixtures.

In the pink

Vivid magenta is showing up as an accent color in a few show homes. However, most of us don’t want to live in a home that reminds us of Barabie, even if experts in color trends tell us we’re entering a new vie en rose period. The rosy hues of the moment are softer pinks, similar to the blush-toned millennial pink that was so popular around 2015. Pale creamy pinks and shell pinks with a slightly peachy tone are showing up in wallpapers, upholstery, and on walls.

Soft, pale pinks flatter a wide array of skin tones. That’s why using pinks in dining rooms with low, glowy light is a tried and true decorators’ trick. Pink dining areas make everyone look and feel prettier. Designers say mauve, that soft grey-pink shade that was so big in the early 1980s, is also making a comeback. Expect 2024 to be an even bigger year for pinks and mauves.

A bit about mauve

First, how should you pronounce it? My English-teacher mom was adamant that “mauve” should be pronounced with a long O to rhyme with “stove,” not with an “aw” sound like “Maude.” French, British, and Canadian folk still pronounce it with the long O—as do I. But in recent decades, the version with the “aw” sound became more common in the U.S. So it’s up to you!

As to the color, what is it? It’s helpful to point to a sample instead of describing a color as mauve, since nobody will be sure quite what you mean. Often described as a pale violet, it was named for the mallow flower. Mallows run from pale lavender to bold pink to red, so the definition is hardly helpful!

Canva’s version is a bright pinky-lavender. However, the shade known as “opera mauve” is closer to the shade that was traditionally described as mauve. Opera mauve is greyer and more subdued—what we used to call a mother-of-the-bride shade. That version of mauve (pale pinky taupe) was popular in clothing during the 1930s and 1940s.

A cluster of natural crystals in shades of pink and lavender against a turquoise background
Krystal for Unsplash
Lavender stalks dotted with buds appear against a blurry background of green at bottom and pale blue at the top.
Dorne Marting for Unsplash
Sparkly disco balls rest on a cement floor, all bathed in a soft lavender glow
Koolshooters for Pexels

Pinky-lavender or mauve shades reminiscent of the 1970s (so effective when paired with soft blues, greens, and warm greys) are on the way back—designers expect them to really take off in 2024

In any case, the shade in question can be confusing, but multiple designers predict that mauve will be the color of the year in 2024. So start looking at soft, friendly, sometimes smoky light purples this year to acclimatize yourself to it. Then you may be ready to try some marvelous mauves around your home by the time the lavender and mauve color trends reach their peak.

Paint the Whole Darned Room

Monochromatic paint jobs in which a room’s trim and ceilings match the wall colors are becoming popular. As opposed to the minimalist pale rooms of the past decade, this gives a more maximalist effect.

A room is painted a dark emerald green. The grey floor is covered with a grey rug and the warm tan sofa is topped with cream and dark green pillows. Two green velvet rounded-square stools on matte gold legs act as seating or footstools at right; at left is a glass-topped MCM coffee table. A large dark green tree disappears into the dark green back right corner.
A room with walls, trim, baseboards, and ceiling all bathed in a saturated color can look like an elegant jewel box, especially when accented with touches of shiny metal or glass | Janse Van Rensburg for Unsplash

The longtime standard was to paint ceilings white to make rooms look taller and larger, and maximize light in a room. (It also meant you didn’t have to repaint the ceiling—which is the hardest part of a room to paint—every time you changed the wall color.) Trim was usually varnished wood, or was painted white or off-white. It’s becoming more popular nowadays to paint rooms one color from ceiling to baseboards. In a small room like a bathroom, this can lead to a “jewelbox effect”—a small square enclosure painted from top to toe can feel like an exquisite little jewelry box. This “more is more” look is intense and feels too closed in for some, but can be exquisite.

Add contrast to keep a monochromatic room interesting

Some designers see enveloping rooms with a single, saturated color as a way to create a cozier atmosphere. To keep a room with a monochromatic paint scheme interesting, the tradition has been to use a contrasting color for about a third of the room. In a bathroom, this might mean using white bathroom fixtures and perhaps other white touches, such as sconces with white globes. Lighting is especially important if the room is painted in a medium to dark shade, to keep the room from feeling claustrophobic.

In larger rooms painted one color from floor trim to ceiling, you can add interest by adding other colors via wood, wallpaper, fabrics (as in curtains or upholstery) or tile. These all add texture as well, which helps to bring warmth and tone down the eye’s reaction to the intensity of the color.

Muted Color

A soft puppy snout peeks out from the middle of a pile of textured folded sweaters in various neutral colors.
Warm, muted, subtle colors in tactile materials mix wonderfully with more saturated tones, adding a softening touch to a room | DF Rahbar for Unsplash

After all those years of grey and white homes with black and light wood elements, most of us aren’t ready for neon brights. Earthier colors and muted tones may feel more comfortable as we get used to more colorful interiors.

The colors of the early 1940s are making a comeback. These include soft creams, pale pinks, touches of mauve, warm grey, taupe, subdued maroons. Just don’t let them get too dusty (grey) in tone—today’s trending colors are those with brown instead of grey undertones.

Golds, creams, soft pinks, and plums look beautiful when set off by gold hardware. However, the increasingly popular shiny silver of chrome finishes also looks marvelous with pinks, mauves, and plums, which all have a cool element to them. Silver is a cool color, but it also reflects the colors around it, so it’s more neutral than metals with yellow undertones.

The intense chartreuse green-yellows of the past few years have softened and deepened. Paler versions are are being used as accent colors. You might not think to mix even a pale mustard shade with a form of purple. However, it’s showing up mixed with soft mauve and touches of a slightly faded, deep plum shade. The warmth in the yellow picks up the warm undertones in the purple and looks rich.

So Many Shades of Green

Nearly all shades of green are big right now. They’re showing up in paint, wallpaper, flooring, rugs, furniture, cabinetry, and decor. Greens are turning up in colors from celery to sage, olive to forest. Emerald green has been a favorite accent color for designers for about three years now. Soft sage (a greyish green) is close behind. I expect to see green color trends move toward dramatic and saturated colors, especially in the emerald and olive tones.

Green may seem an odd color to use all over, since we don’t think of greens as neutral colors. But think of the great outdoors. Green is everywhere, and nearly every flower grows from a green plant. Greens can mix surprisingly well with other colors. However, they can also be tricky because some have distinct yellow undertones, and others are bluer, greyer, or browner in tone.

A dark green room features a white bed with dark grey bedding. Two prints with dark green tropical plants on plain white backgrounds hang over the bed. The bed frame is black.
Julie Aagaard for Pexels
Vivid hosta leaves, wide and curvy, are covered in bold green and white stripes.
Ren Ran for Unsplash
A bright emerald green chet with various drawers and pull-out desk sections stands against a white-painted brick wall next to a sofa or chair with goldenrod upholstered cushions. Resting on the chest is a mustard-colored tall jar/vase with a cluster of matching golden pampas grass. Behind the vase leaning against the brick wall are two frames, one white with a print that says "love will keep us alive" and the other with a white mat around an abstract white and pale image.
Alexandra Gorn for Unsplash
An avocado-painted wall has a long rustic wooden shelf filling the center of the image. A white planter with a ZZ plant sits just to the right of the center of the image, and some books fill the right side of the shelf, but are obscured by the top of a large plant on the floor in front of the shelf. At lower left is a white wooden chair facing the wall. At the upper left are two small framed photos of leaves in wooden frames that match the rustic shelf.
Olga Minkina for Pexels
A bouncy white dog, possibly a Shi Tzu, bounds across a dark green lawn.
Gabriel Crismariu for Unsplash
A woman in an olive green sweather lies on her back on. amatching olive green tufted Chesterfield-style sofa with her legs up and crossed over one arm of the sofa. Her hands are crossed on her chest, her fingernails painted bright orange. A matching orange book is open and rests over her face, obscuring it.
Cottonbro Studio for Pexels

Culture clash, or divine drama?

Though greens can mix excitingly with other colors, they can certainly clash if you’re mixing greens in a room. In this case, it’s usually best to keep them from being too similar. Traditionally, designers advised using all cool (with blue or white undertones) or all warm (with yellow or brown undertones) shades within a space. Placing a large swath of a cool green like sage right next to a yellowy shade like spring green can look jarring. However, if the colors are different enough, even mixing disparate colors like cool teal with warm olive can work. Providing enough contrast is key, and mixing in other shades helps.

As is true with shades of white or beige, greens can clash rather dramatically if their undertones aren’t harmonious. But if they’re dramatically different in value but share an undertone—say dark olive mixed with pale celery—they can look terrific, just as they did in midcentury prints and patterns. Keeping that common undertone (such as using olive shades that all have a brown undertone) can look quite chic in a pattern that also includes colors with the underlying color (in this case brown) that ties them together.

Bolder Colors

Though subdued earthy colors are the big trend, we’re seeing some rich, saturated colors as well. They tend not to be bright, bold kelly green, royal blue, or cherry red. We’re seeing more subtle versions of jewel tones—or, if you wish, more intense versions of warm shades. Some bolder colors are showing up—emerald and navy are trending in furniture, wall, and cabinetry colors. Maroons are showing up on walls and in upholstered chairs. They also appear in prints with goldenrod yellow and soft greens. As the mauve and lavender color trends build, expect to see darker plums as well.

A room with warm honey-colored walls and dark brown wood floors has a chair covered in fluffy white upholstery similar to a flokati rug. Against the back wall is a rustic wooden bench. An assortment of framed prints in various sizes sits on and below the bench. Also on the bench are a large clear bottle holding long branches and a fluffy green plant.
Beazy for Unsplash
A close-up of the face of a ginger cat with an orange and white face, pink nose, and golden-green eyes
Laura Marks for Unsplash
A white ceramic vase holds a cluster of acacia (yellow mimosa) blossoms and branches. More branches lie next to the vase on a wooden table next to a black pair of garden scissors.
Federica Gioia for Pexels
Gold, honey, and mustard colors are trending in soft to bold versions

Stone and marble are becoming more colorful as seen in counters, backsplashes, and marble-topped tables used as statement pieces. Look for tinted concrete floors and countertops, too.

Want to try some bold colors but don’t want to be overwhelmed by them? Start with small doses in decor that you can easily swap out later. And try them in multiple rooms around your house to see how they work with the existing colors, patterns, and lighting around your home. The new combinations may surprise you.

Bold kitchen colors

Intense navy, royal blue, and pale blue kitchen cabinets had a vogue for a while during the late 2010s. However, blues in kitchens are tending to be softer right now. Green cabinetry is getting a lot of attention in designer showrooms, on design websites, and on HGTV. HGTV’s Dream Home 2022 and Dream Home 2023, both designed by Brian Patrick Flynn, feature kitchen and mudroom cabinetry in sage greens. Designer Tiffany Brooks chose a subdued avocado green for HGTV’s 2022 Smart Home kitchen.

Moody Interiors

A number of designers have embraced what they’re calling moody interiors. Instead of looking for contrast with pale colors or setting off dark colors with natural light or light fixtures, you can now feel freer to create a room that emphasizes your darker side. Think about dark grey, cocoa brown, blue-green, or dark blue walls and ceilings. Now imagine them with dark grey marbles, black-stained wood, dark tiles, and dark stone or wood floors. When you mix a lot of dark colors, you can create more of a goth or nightclub feeling.

Dark colors can make a room feel richer, but they can also feel a bit hard-edged and unwelcoming if they’re not balanced by some elements of warmth and light. Even if you want to avoid brightness, add warm light and soft elements to keep the room cozy. These include throws, pillows, and upholstered furniture with curves. Round coffee tables or side tables, and round trays or bowls or rugs add softness. Circles and curves evoke feelings of softness and relaxation. Include plants to enliven a moody space and keep it from becoming static.

A dark grey, tall, grand room with tall arched windows and a dark wooden floor and paneled door is covered from the dark wainscot to the ceiling with a variety of paintings and prints of portraits of people and animals, from a horse and a dog to Napoleon. A large potted palm is at lower right and a chandelier's prisms hang down at upper left. The space appears to be a nightclub or bar; small round white marble-topped tables are surrounded with upholstered velvet chairs in dark grey, chartreuse green and vivid pink.
Tom Balabaud for Pexels
A dark room with dark brown wood floors, a forest green wall, and a screen of tall, think, vertical wooden elements at left has diagonal shadows falling across it from upper left to lower right. Hanging down in the center is a tubular golden light fixture—a pole with a downward arc ending in two small round white light bulbs. At lower left is a desk lamp sitting on the floor. It is an elongated oval made of brass tubing with a post coming up from the bottom ending in a large white round bulb.
Milad Fakurian for Unsplash
A dark grey room with matching grey molding around built-in bookcase and an arched niche, both backed in black-painted bricks. An upholstered loden-green velvet chair and mataching round footstool with golden legs sit at right; at left is a brass tray table topped with antlers, all sitting on a textured dark grey rug. An arch-topped wooden chest sits at left next to a dark green plant. The lighting is moody.
Olena Bohovyk for Pexels
Moody settings with dark but bold color schemes are having a moment—make them eye-catching with pops of brights, bold lighting, or glints of metal

Adding shimmery highlights to a moody room adds focus and interest. Metallic elements are a great way to incorporate shine and a bit of drama. Add mirrors and glass for reflected light. Clear glass vases, bowls, or a terrarium can add shimmer. Glass doesn’t take up as much visual weight as objects that aren’t transparent or translucent. These shimmery elements add “jewelry” to the room, making it feel more fully dressed. Just as with jewelry, if sparkly decor pulls too much attention, remove a few reflective elements until you get the balance right.

Make Mine Metallic

Color trends apply to the colors of metals, too. Metallic elements can add a tough, sharp feeling or a warm glow, depending on the color, material, surface, and other colors in the room. Metal elements take many forms. These might be sculptures, or metal frames around photos, paintings, or prints. Metal bowls or trays also add reflective glints. You can add shimmery textiles, too, like pillows or throws with metallic threads woven in. Light fixtures with shiny metal elements also add a wow factor.

Add more chrome to your home

As warm colors replace grey, you might expect gold metals to be big as well. However, the gold-tone hardware that’s been so popular in kitchens and bathrooms is starting to lose its golden glow for some designers. Polished chrome, long the most popular finish for plumbing fixtures, is making a comeback. Seventies disco flash is on the rise. Silvery chrome finish is returning in lighting fixtures, upholstered furniture in curved disco-era shapes with tubular legs or arms, metallic side tables, and arc lamps with big, round lamp heads.

If you prefer warm metals

Not a fan of silver finishes? Though shiny gold and brass hardware are slipping somewhat in popularity, they’re not likely to go completely out of fashion. Some designers feel the boom in warm neutral colors will keep gold metals around a bit longer. However, intensely yellow polished brass finishes appear to be on the wane. Why not consider brushed gold or burnished bronzy tones, such as oil-rubbed bronze? They work well with warm colors.

Replace black hardware with dark brown

Color trends apply to hardware as well as to walls, floors, and furnishings. Matte black hardware and fixtures are becoming less popular after peaking in popularity during the modern farmhouse style trend. If you want dark metal hardware, some designers recommend replacing matte black with an oil-rubbed bronze finish. This is a warm, dark brown, only slightly metallic color. It reads as a neutral on plumbing fixtures and also in door hardware. With long use, it can become burnished and may develop dark copper highlights. If you use it for door handles, the door will look best if you use the same finish for the door’s hinges as well.

Replacing a lot of door handles and hinges can get pricey. It’s tempting to just paint out shiny brass door handles with dark bronze paint. If you do this, know that any scratches to the paint from rings, fingernails, or clothes hangers may show up in bright gold. If you go ahead and paint brass, remove any clearcoat on the brass that could peel up, clean the metal thoroughly, and use a good metal primer coat.

Add sculptural details

Sculptural metal is hot, and getting hotter. Designers are suggesting that clients with deep pockets add more sculpture to their homes instead of focusing on art for their walls. If your budget is smaller, consider adding small sculptures—including things like book ends—around your home. (You can even display a single bookend, or split them up, if you like—here’s no law that says they need to stay together.) Bits of metal machinery—clock innards, old tools—add wonderful sculptural elements in bookshelves and on coffee tables and side tables, too.

Do Interior Design Trends Really Matter?

If you’re happy with your home, there’s no need to change it. But knowing what’s in style can open you up to new ideas. And if you’re renting or selling a home, it can help you make more money or sell faster. To learn more about the benefits of trendwatching, see our article Do Interior Design Trends Matter?

At top:

This cluster of seashell-like glass vessels by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly features several of this year’s trendiest colors, including shades of orange, green, brown, and golden yellow | Chris F for Pexels

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