22 Sep 2026 Color me calm

Every year, paint companies choose a Color of the Year. And apparently, this year they think we all need to calm down.

Sherwin-Williams chose Celery, a soft herbal green. Behr chose Grounded, a deep mossy olive. Glidden went with a smoky blue called Artifact, while Valspar chose a muted blue-gray called Cottage Door.

The colors are different, but the explanations for them sound remarkably similar: calm, comfort, nature, restoration, a place to recharge.

I find that more interesting than the colors themselves, because these companies aren’t just predicting what shade we’ll want on our walls. They’re trying to predict how we’ll want our homes to make us feel.

And right now, home should feel like an exhale.

I think they got that right.