Why We’re Skipping Cloud Dancer and Choosing Cosier, More Expressive Colours for 2026
, by Ruth Wilbur, 1 min reading time
Pantone’s 2026 Colour of the Year, Cloud Dancer, is all about restraint: a soft, airy white designed to evoke calm, clarity and space. While we understand the cultural mood it’s responding to, it’s not a colour that resonates with us.
At a time when homes, fashion and interiors are becoming ever more personal, we’re finding ourselves drawn in the opposite direction, towards warmth, depth and expressive colour.
The Problem With “Quiet” White
Minimal whites work beautifully as a backdrop, but they can also feel distant, cold and impersonal. For us, Cloud Dancer feels less like comfort and more like a pause button and 2026 feels like a year where people want to feel something again.
Cosy doesn’t mean cluttered. Expressive doesn’t mean loud. It means colour that adds emotion, softness and character to everyday spaces.
The Colours We’re Actually Excited About
Instead of starting with white, we’re gravitating toward tones that feel lived-in, grounding and emotionally rich, colours that make you want to stay a little longer. For us that's earthy warm colours, olive greens, plum, oxblood, rust, burnt orange and mustards. These shades feel comforting rather than clinical and pair beautifully with natural textures like wood, linen and wool. They bring a sense of calm without fading into the background especially if you embrace colour drenching and darker decor. For us we find them more inviting than stark white walls or pale greys. They add warmth and personality when used thoughtfully on upholstery, feature walls or accessories and make spaces feel intentional and emotionally rich.
Our Take on Trends in 2026
For us, 2026 isn’t about starting with a blank canvas, it’s about starting with feeling. While Cloud Dancer may define the mood for some, we’re choosing colour palettes that feel expressive rather than neutral, comforting rather than empty and warm rather than weightless, because the most inspiring spaces aren’t the quietest ones, they’re the ones that make you feel at home.
Our final word on Pantone’s Colour of the Year?
We see Cloud Dancer as a useful pause, a reminder of calm and simplicity but it’s not where our hearts lie. For us, colour isn’t just a backdrop; it’s an emotional layer, a way of telling stories and making interiors feel lived-in and loved. As we look ahead to 2026, we’re choosing richness over restraint, comfort over coolness, and expressive colour over perfect white because the spaces that matter most should feel like home.
