Is There Even a Color of the Year for 2024? Here's What Three Experts Say
Brown and burgundy and butter yellow, oh my! Over the past year, so many different colors have come to the fore that it actually feels impossible to pinpoint just one true “it” shade for homes in 2024. Consider this a definite 180 from years past: Millennial pink ruled the latter half of the 2010s, 2022 was ALL about sage green, and you’d have to be completely off the grid to miss Barbie pink’s chokehold on 2023.
Since 1999, Pantone has set the precedent for annual color of the year accolades, but today, more paint brands and retailers have started following suit with their own picks — which, for 2024, were all across the board. Not to mention, TikTok seems to breed a here-today-gone-tomorrow “core” every time you refresh your FYP, and new colors seem to be crowned with each fleeting aesthetic. So, how do you know which color trends to invest in right now, and is there even one dominant hue to keep an eye out for this year? I polled three design experts to get their takes.
Why Are There So Many Popular 2024 Colors?
For starters, Etsy’s trend expert Dayna Isom Johnson blames it on the current trend landscape. “When I was studying at [the Fashion Institute of Technology], I was taught that trends cycle through every 20 years, but today, trend cycles are moving faster than ever,” she says. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, though; because so many design influences have entered the zeitgeist, Johnson has noticed more decorating “mash-ups” that channel a variety of different colors and decades in the same space. Basically, there’s not really one all-encompassing trending interior style at the moment — so why would there be a singular standout color, either?
Johnson cites social media as a key culprit for the current trend — and color — overload as well. “With access at the palm of our hands, we are being served inspiration at every touchpoint of our lives, from celebrity spaces that ignite our imaginations to influencers who spark creativity,” she adds. Even pop culture influences feel more prominent in the home space now than ever, arguably thanks to TikTok and Instagram content: Beyonce’s western-themed tour helped champion an entire cowboy gothic aesthetic, last year’s Barbie movie instigated the all-pink-everything #Barbiecore style, and Netflix’s Bridgerton series created a spike in Regency Era-inspired design.
To top it all off, food associations are steering certain color trends, too, as seen with the tomato girl red aesthetic or even Pantone’s 2024 color of the year, Peach Fuzz. “The food industry is currently top of mind for many of us, whether it’s from watching our favorite celebrity chefs or award-winning television shows that insert food as a centerpiece in our homes and entertainment,” Johnson explains. “This influence is manifesting in many ways, whether using food literally for inspiration, as seen in [Etsy’s] recent spring/summer trend guide with the “Chef’s Kiss” trend, or incorporating it into decor and color schemes.”
What Does This Mean for Decorating Your Space?
One thing’s for sure: We’re all getting bombarded with color content at lighting speed. But even with a new hue having a heyday, well, almost every day, South Carolina-based textile designer Rebecca Atwood notes that’s not necessarily indicative of how people actually decorate their homes. “There’s TikTok, and there’s Instagram, and there’s all of these things, and it could feel like [trends are] moving fast,” Atwood notes. “But I think what’s actually happening in people’s homes and appliances — it’s moving a lot slower.”
Contrary to popular belief, Lee Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, also thinks color trends have more longevity nowadays, but it’s largely because of increased financial constraints. “Colors have a much longer lifespan than they ever have before,” she notes. “The reason primarily is the economics of it. And what that does is to slow down trends on big-ticket items.” To that end, Atwood notes that iconic colors like millennial pink and sage green didn’t become decorating staples overnight; it was a slow burn as they gained momentum in our homes, and we’re still seeing their effects today in sofas, tiles, and on walls.
The duration of certain color trends can be contingent upon different living situations, too, as Atwood adds. Renters staying in a short-term apartment may feel more inclined to take a fun wall color risk that they can paint over before moving, versus someone who’s just bought a permanent home and might want to choose something extra palatable that they’ll love living with for years.
What Are the 2024 Color Trends Worth Using?
If you’re curious to know which colors design experts are actually seeing implemented this year (and will likely stick around through 2025), all three pitched relatively classic shades. Atwood specifically praised green’s staying power: “I think there’s been a love of green that’s continued to trend — green was our number-one color for fabric sales this year,” she explains. Eiseman agrees, pointing to warm greens with slightly yellowish undertones as a more subtle “neutral” (and a potential territory sage green might evolve into).
Blue isn’t going anywhere any time soon, either, but Eiseman suggests offsetting its coolness with orange and pink accents. Count on earth tones, like clay and terracotta, to be standouts for the near future, too. Even brown has been having a moment: Atwood’s Laurel wallpaper, pictured above, was one of her brand’s top SKUs from the first half of the year. Johnson expects to see jewel tones — including Etsy’s 2024 color of the year, berry — lasting through fall and the holiday season as well.
Oh, and don’t sleep on butter yellow: What might seem like a potentially fleeting fad has already gained major traction in the retail space, and both Eiseman and Atwood predict that this color family will be a continuing phenomenon. “Yellow is on an upswing as a color — the butter is a very absorbable version of that color,” Atwood adds.
Ultimately, though, the bottom line for picking the best color in your own space comes down to how it makes you feel. “That’s got to be your judgment point,” adds Eiseman. “It’s not just because it’s a hot or ‘in’ color, because you’re the person who has to live with it.”
Further Reading
A Travel Warning From an Entomologist: Always Put Your Suitcase in the Hotel Bathroom!
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
