2021 is already going by quickly and now is the time to nail down any New Year trends before this year gets ahead of us. The color of a room is one of the most key parts of interior design and will make or break a room. Every year new colors start to trend, and all of the paint trends of this year have one thing in common. They’re all an attempt to bounce back and heal from the tumultuous 2020. Many of them pay homage to the home we all share: Earth. Very little is as grounding and calming as being in nature, so now we’re bringing those tones into our homes. So get out your paint roller and get ready to get painting with these five unmissable paint trends!

Restorative Neutrals

Up first are restorative neutrals. Neutral colored paints will always be in style, but this year sandy-beige tones are taking center stage. Painting your room a neutral color is a great way to create a calming and bright environment without opting for that hospital-like pure white. It creates a beautiful foundation to incorporate colors in other ways.

I recently remodeled a dining room for a client. They originally had a very bright red color that wasn’t right for the space. It made the room seem smaller and darker. As with many of my designs, I started with a beautiful oriental rug that had a lot of green and sandy shades in it. We decided to repaint the walls with Benjamin Moore HC-99 Abingdon Putty, a great neutral tone that blended with the rug beautifully, while still allowing the greens to shine. Just check out the before and after!

Grounded Earthy Tones

As stated above, many of the trends of this year pay homage to nature and grounded earthy tones are at the top of the list. Surrounding yourself and your family with earthy tones will create a calming and comforting atmosphere for everyone to slowly get back on their feet. We painted this entryway with Farrow & Ball’s Elephant’s Breath – a beautiful grounded neutral tone. It’s reminiscent of rocks and mountains, perfect for this gorgeous winding stairwell. It paired beautifully with a brilliant white for the trimming and provided a lovely contrast to the darker woods on the stairs. Once again, this shade creates a bright and serene environment which is just what you want to come home to.

Serene Greens & Olive

Serene Greens and olive tones strike a beautiful balance of color without being too bright. These shades of green are extremely welcoming and calming. Being in a room that’s painted with the right shade of green can make you feel like you’re walking along a forest path, surrounded by animals, plants, and sounds of nature. Serene Greens and Olive tones also make fantastic accent walls. It’s a perfect shade for houseplant-lovers, as the green will complement your plants and help them shine. Opting for a color like Sap Green or Olive from Farrow & Ball is perfect for feeling cozy and safe in this new year. Sap Green is even part of the Color by Nature palette, which was created in collaboration with the UK’s Natural History Museum to, “bring the true colors of nature into your home.”

Warming Reds & Mulberry Tones

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I absolutely love warming reds & mulberry tones. These are such comforting but invigorating colors that are perfect for all year round – not just the holidays! As discussed in our article about picking the perfect paint color for your home office, red can inspire passion and adventure, and evoke a sense of urgency. If there’s one trending color this year that is all about the bounce back, it’s the red tones. However, red has to be used in the correct way to have the right effect. Oftentimes when an entire room is painted red, it can feel overwhelming. I often choose red as an accent color, as seen here where I used a Benjamin Moore Mexicana to paint this built-in bookcase. It’s created such a lovely reading nook, energizing you to get all your reading done in 2021!

Calming & Smooth Blues

Calming and Smooth Blues are perfect for anyone who loves the ocean. Blue is known to stimulate the mind and increase productivity while maintaining a calm effect, which is exactly what a lot of people need in this new year. A shade like UltraMarine by Farrow & Ball is a perfect soothing blue with a slightly romantic and nostalgic edge. It’s also a part of the UK’s National History Museum’s Color by Nature Palette, officially deemed the ultimate ocean color! Once again, blues work as fantastic accent colors. I didn’t design the room below, but I love how they incorporated the gold with the smooth blue accent wall!

Need help choosing?

We want to help! Interior design can be intimidating if you’re just starting out. Let us take that stress away for you. We offer an array of services from painting to full renovations, and we always put our clients at the center of every design we do. Head to our services page to learn how we can help you today.

Want to learn more about paint? Check out our article on picking the perfect paint color, or how to choose the perfect paint for your home office.