Color Trends for 2023

As the Director of Color Marketing at Sherwin-Williams, Sue Wadden is the lucky one who gets to name new paint colors. She is also responsible for the vision and philosophy of color leadership at the company and plays a key role in leading major world color forecasting for both designers and homeowners.

Sue was a featured presenter at the Houzz Pro booth at this year’s Kitchen and Bath Industry and International Builders Shows where she revealed the color and design forecasts for 2023 and - of course - the color of the year.

Below are three takeaways. You can see the full video of Sue’s trends presentation below. 

Clay is the New Neutral

The pandemic focused us on warmth and wellness, and the latest color trends take that to the next level. Old reliable grays are disappearing. Rose, terracotta and brown tones are moving in. 

“I just love the warmth,” Sue says. “Browns are on the rise in a big way - terracotta tones, mocha tones or deeper, darker brown. You are going to see them in all the magazines,” she says.

That leads to (big reveal) the Sherwin-Williams 2023 Color of the Year. It is Redend Point, SW 9081, an earthy, baked clay, terracotta tone that embraces this attraction to warmth. “It’s very soothing, very calming, it’s a beautiful color,” Sue says. You will see these rose tones on laptops, faucets, outdoor furniture and more. “We put it on cabinets to show how versatile and different it can be,” she says. “It’s really a color to pay attention to.”

At the same time, minimalism is warming up. Banish the right angles, and expect to see softer, rounded edges. Think sculptural shapes, like totem lamps, and natural materials like cane. “It’s similar to the modern vibe in the 80s, but done in a bohemian warm, sort of laser cut way,” Sue says. Laser etching technology also takes natural materials to a new level.

Fearless Color Expression  

It’s not all about staying neutral. In small pops, homeowners are embracing bright colors too. “We're trying to rediscover what a hybrid life is, we want to live boldly, we want to go for it,” she says. 

Finding their way into homes are high end furniture pieces painted in bright hues, and wisps of uplifting sunset tones on accent walls, she says. Expect to see more experimentation with bright accent colors, Sue says. “People are getting really creative. They are not afraid. They want color in their life.”

Nostalgia is also being reinvented. Mid-century modern design is not going away, but new interpretations are emerging - like a classic sofa brought forward in brighter colors. 

Wood remains an increasingly popular choice in homes, with some dramatic differences. “Wood is everywhere in all sorts of configurations and that's going to continue,” Sue says. The choice of tones is becoming darker and darker, however. “There’s no grays here, no driftwood, none of that,” she says. “We are really, really warming up and going to a level that is nature-inspired but much darker - I daresay espresso tones,” she says. “It's starting to come back in the vocabulary. I didn't think we'd ever see that again.”

Artistic Decisions from a Worldwide Perspective

The influence of makers in home design is everywhere too. “We're seeing it in all sorts of applications with a fusion of global influences,” Sue says. Even needlepoint pieces are being reinterpreted in a modern and fresh way. “There is brand new luxury fabric, and it looks like your grandma's needlepoint,” she says. 

Homeowners are making artistic choices through a global lens. “Brazilian hardwoods are rising in popularity,” she says. African, tribal, and Latin influences are being reflected in carpeting and wall coverings. And they are showing a preference for authenticity. “There's nothing that's super perfect,” Sue says. “You see the artisan quality to these products. All the tiles look handcrafted,” she says.

Homeowners also are echoing the natural world in their homes through their choices. “People love nature and have a strong relation to it,” she says. There is more inlaying and fusing multiple colors of wood together, for example.

Sustainable, organic design is also rising in surprising ways. Paris Design Week featured designers using shells and even recycled waste from fisheries and putting them in interior projects, she says. Erik de Laurens showed a table made from a material manufactured from fish scales.

 “It's wild, but fun to see,” Sue says.