2023 paint trend forecast: bold and daring

Pantone's color of the year makes a global splash on social media, unlike other industry leaders. So what do the experts at Pantone prescribe and predict for 2023? A color called Viva Magenta will reign supreme. This fuschia-like color might remind you of a certain unrealistically proportioned doll?

Life's too precious and short to be boring, and the magentaverse couldn't have come any sooner.

Barbiecore is still a buzzword, but if the thought of using lumo pink tones gives you a headache, you can work the feminine theme into your home in a quieter manner. Go for romantic mauves, lavenders, and lilacs, or softer rosy pinks, like Terra Rosa by Dunn-Edwards. These blush shades are relaxing, which is precisely what you want to come home to.

Earthy shades are overtaking Pinterest mood boards already. The trend toward leathery colors, mustard, terracotta, or a chic tinge like Redend Point by Sherwin-Williams is a welcome one after years of cool tones. Take the route of textured reddish brown paint, or opt for a smooth finish in a mid-century modern home.

Ever seen a bluish-green patina on copper? That's verdigris, and interior trendsters are all over it. It's more neutral than teal, although the latter is still happening, as evidenced by Vining Ivy, Glidden's color of the year.

Verdigris paint can have an aged effect that is pleasing to the eye and adds a ton of rustic character. This turquoisey shade could be an excellent statement color this year.

2023 is the year to challenge conventions like painting every room in your home the same color. Why not use paint to represent the phases of a day? Work in a space that's light and airy, and paint a bedroom in cozy darker shades. You'll be decorating with your circadian rhythm at the fore, which can enhance your well-being.

This paint trend brings to mind the studies in regency novels—so many of Kate and Anthony's scenes in Bridgerton take place in rooms with natural finishes and rich jewel tones. In 2023, inky blues, ruby reds, and dark plums will add drama and gravity to interiors. Wooden slats complete the urbane look.

Sunsets set our souls on fire, so if you're similarly inspired every time you see the horizon at day's end, you'll be thrilled to know that corals, apricots, and tangerines are hot right now. Consider a shade like Raspberry Blush, Benjamin Moore's 2023 color of the year. It's cheerful and energizing, and you won't tire of it if you use beiges and off-whites to soften the aesthetic.

PS: sunset-adjacent cotton candy pinks and purples fall under the Barbiecore category too.

Sage isn't for everyone, so if you're not keen on hospital green, how about a woodsy or emerald shade instead? Spanish Moss, Krylon's color of the year, is a fantastic example and one of our favorites in 2023. It's sophisticated and pairs particularly well with gold or rust accents.

You can also use it as a solid accompaniment to sandstone walls—imagine midnight green in zen garden nooks, painted onto furniture, or on scatter cushions. This is a color that you could marry with just about any other shade.

If you've always wanted to incorporate saturated, vivid colors but need your home to appeal to a broader cross-section of people in case you choose to sell, now's the time for those striking colors to shine. Secondary palettes can be fun—from acid green to a more refined choice like burgundy, you do you. Accent colors can inject vitality into a room when offset against complementary neutrals and used on feature walls and trim.

Don't like paint smells or the thought of covering your furniture with plastic? You can still give a room a much-needed makeover with classy wallpaper. Mural wallpapers of beloved pictures and artworks are in vogue, as are geometric patterns, stripes, and wallpapered ceilings with plain walls.

But the hottest trend right now continues to be an attempt to bring nature indoors with botanical, tropical, and floral prints—these can be subtle or elaborately detailed, and they serve as a fab backdrop to a setting laden with houseplants.