What Paint Colours Are Trending in UK Homes Right Now?

Dulux has named Soulful Sage, a soft grey-green, its Colour of the Year for 2027, built around a theme of lighter, calmer homes. Muted greens have been popular in bedrooms and living rooms for a few years, and this choice confirms the direction. Soft sage works well in bedrooms, hallways, studies and kitchens, and it sits comfortably beside warm whites, creams and natural wood. Look at it in your own light first, because a grey-green can read cool on a north-facing wall and warmer in the afternoon sun.

For 2026, Dulux broke with tradition and named three blues instead of one, called Free Groove, Mellow Flow and Slow Swing. They range from a light, airy blue through to a deeper indigo, so there's a blue for most rooms. Lighter blues suit bedrooms and bathrooms, and a deep indigo works well in hallways, studies and snugs, especially with cream or soft white woodwork. Blue is also easy to combine with other colours, which is part of why it keeps coming back.

Pantone's colour of the year for 2026 is Cloud Dancer, a soft white with balanced warm and cool undertones and the first white the company has ever chosen. The lesson for your home is that whites aren't interchangeable. A white that suits a sunny south-facing room can look flat or chilly in a darker one, so try a few large samples on the wall before you choose. A soft white also makes a good base for bolder colours elsewhere in the house.

Deep, rich colours are the counterpoint to all that calm. Little Greene named Adventurer, a shade somewhere between burgundy and plum, as its first-ever colour of the year, and Graham & Brown chose Divine Damson, a deep crimson. These colours suit rooms where you want warmth and atmosphere, such as dining rooms, snugs and living rooms used mainly in the evening. They look best with good lighting and rewards careful preparation, because dark colours show every flaw in the wall.

Trends aren't only about colour. Colour drenching, where walls, ceiling and woodwork are all painted the same colour, has been one of the most talked-about approaches, and colour capping, where shades of one colour deepen towards the ceiling, has followed it. Both treat the ceiling and woodwork as part of the scheme instead of leaving them white. Our guide to colour drenching explains how both work and where they suit.

Start with the room, not the trend. Look at the light it gets, the size, the flooring and the furniture you're keeping. Try tester pots on more than one wall, and look at them in the morning, afternoon and evening. Check the undertone: a green or blue can lean warm or cool, and it needs to sit comfortably with your floors and fabrics. If you're nervous, start small, with a hallway, a snug, a front door or the woodwork in one room, before committing to a whole house.

Bold colours usually take more work than pale ones. A dark colour often needs a tinted primer and extra coats for an even finish, and it shows brush marks, patches and uneven plaster more readily. Going from a deep colour back to a pale one later also needs extra coats. That adds time, which is worth knowing when you compare quotes, so check how many coats a quote includes.

Paint is one of the cheapest ways to change a home, so trying something current is a reasonable risk. But trends date, and a colour you love now may not feel right in five years. If you're selling or renting out a property in Sutton Coldfield, calm, neutral colours appeal to the widest range of buyers and tenants. If you're staying, choose a colour that you'll enjoy living with, and use trend colours where they're easiest to change, such as accent walls, woodwork or a single room.

This guide reflects colours announced up to September 2026. Several brands announce their colours of the year through the autumn and into early December, so the picture will keep shifting, and we update this guide as it does.