Many of the UK’s leading paint brands have revealed their Colours Of The Year for 2026; the shades, colour groupings and palettes that they expect everyone will be using in a year’s time. In order to select the key colours for the year ahead and make these predictions, many paint brands analyse the current interior trends and monitor consumer preferences, while some also take a deep dive into the current world climate and the correlating impact colour psychology has on how we choose to decorate our personal spaces.

As a huge lover of colour, colour trends and decorating my own home, I always take a big interest in what’s named as the next Colour Of The Year. So far, Graham & Brown, Dulux, Little Greene and Lick have named their key colours and palettes, so let’s take a look at each shade:

Dulux: The Rhythm of Blues

Dulux have gone against the grain of only picking one Colour Of The Year this year, and have instead picked three under one umbrella titled ‘The Rhythm Of Blues’. The blue colour family of Mellow Flow (a grey-based blue), Free Groove (a rich cobalt blue), and Slow Swing (a deeper navy) were announced by Dulux ambassador Marianne Shillingford at a huge event in central London earlier in the month, with the Dulux colour insight experts stating that blues have both an aesthetic appeal and mindset benefits.

Rather than used individually, Dulux state that each of the three blue shades have been selected to be used alongside a number of colours in different palette categories. Explaining that The Rhythm Of Blues should be combined with earthy terracotta shades, deep chocolate browns, or, alongside springtime tones of yellow and green for the best end result.

While I love blue - it’s probably my favourite colour to decorate with - and while I think blue is really having a moment within interiors, I wasn’t overly enamoured with the three blue shades Dulux selected. Navy blue had its day years ago with the overuse of Farrow & Ball’s ‘Hague Blue’ on everything (especially kitchen cabinets). Mellow Flow has far too much grey in it to have any trend-like appeal, while Free Groove is a hard colour to use anywhere else apart from on a small piece of furniture. In my opinion, I always find this a problem with Dulux’s COTY - they pick a colour, but it’s never the right shade! I’d much rather see a strong paler blue, or perhaps a slightly green-tinged blue than anything grey-based. I do, however, support their mix of blue with colour groupings of brown. Tan with blue, or rich dark chocolate browns with blue, are just the perfect colour combo for 2026, and we are already seeing this colour pairing across fashion and homeware.

Graham & Brown: Divine Damson

I’m a big fan of the family-run Graham & Brown brand, who have just launched their first ever showroom on the Kings Road in London. Last year, their Colour Of The Year 2025, Elderton (a purple based brown), was a great choice. Since then, brown tones have definitely taken the interiors world by storm in 2025, and by having string purple undertones, Graham & Brown selected a trend-led colour with a more youthful edge to the coffee-coloured hues that appeared elsewhere.

For 2026, Graham & Brown have highlighted Divine Damson - a highly pigmented deep merlot red - as their Colour Of The Year. Graham & Brown’s stylist and trend-specialist, Paula Taylor, comments “Divine Damson brings a dramatic flair to any space, its subtle undertone adding a touch of refined elegance.”

A cocooning, comforting shade, I do love Divine Damson as a key colour for 2026. I think we will see this shade used a lot in small bathrooms with no natural light, as it works perfectly when lit with bathroom wall lights to transform a bland white box. Over on Pinterest, a lot of American homes have been using shades like Divine Damson in small spaces, and I think we will see this trend move over to the UK.

I also think this colour is a great shade to use on kitchen cabinets. With most modern kitchens opting for open shelving over wall units, it’s easier to bring in bold hues on cupboards as the shades are not used above eye-level (which can feel imposing).

Little Greene: Adventurer and sunset tones

Officially, Little Greene do not release a COTY, but I caught up with Little Greene’s Creative Director Ruth Mottershead last week at the launch of their charity partnership with Coppafeel, and she told me that their range of sunset tones - with Adventurer being the central hue - were the shades that they had a focus on for 2026. This was the colour grouping that Little Greene were seeing surge in popularity, and it includes the tones of Ashes Of Roses, Nether Red, Roman Plaster, and Beauvais Lilac.

*Walls painted in Adventurer. Image Credit: Little Greene.*

One of my all-time favourite paint brands, I love Little Greene sunset tones, having recently painted my small loo in Nether Red.

*My small shower room that I painted in Nether Red by Little Greene.*

Each tin of Little Greene paint sold in October will automatically generate 15p for Coppafeel, the charity which focuses on breast and chest cancer.

Lick: Return To Play

Modern and youthful paint brand Lick have chosen a Colour Edit for 2026 over a single colour. Lick say that the colours selected for their edit have been expertly curated to encourage unexpected colour palettes, while the eight key colours themselves are ‘nostalgic primary colours reimagined with a grown-up feel.’

The Return To Play palette spans from a deep red, through to a warm taupe, plus greens, blues, and a subtle butter yellow. It’s a lovely range of shades that help a consumer with a starting point colour upon which to build up a more bespoke scheme.