Help your customers find their favorites from next year’s hottest colors.
Customers rely on you to answer their questions when it comes to paint and color. The new 2026 Colormix® Forecast Anthology Volume Two report from Sherwin-Williams breaks down which colors are trending and on-the-rise, so that you can feel prepared and helpful when customers and homeowners ask for your opinion on color choice.
“Everyone wants to know others’ opinions,” says Emily Kantz, Color Marketing Manager at Sherwin-Williams. “Even the most opinionated homeowner who has a specific vision in their mind will probably askyou, ‘What do you think?’ Being asked questions about colors can make some painters uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to. The Colormix Forecast is sought after by designers, so having it in your back pocket can give you confidence that you know what you’re talking about when it comes to trending color.”
Building an Anthology
So what is Colormix Anthology Volume Two, exactly? Colormix is an annual trend forecast curated by the Sherwin-Williams Trendsight team, made up of color and design experts from all over the world.
“Our Trendsight team has a huge mix of perspectives and experience,” Kantz says. “We have field representation from Latin America and design marketing managers from Canada. We have people who specialize in interior design, exterior architecture, and performance coatings. And we bring all those people together, and out of that meeting, we figure out what color groupings make up the future forecast.”
Every other year, Colormix dives deeper into specific color families, with a focus on explaining where the color world has been and where it’s moving.
“Different colors have defined distinct eras of history,” Kantz says. “We try to find out why we have gravitated towards certain colors at certain moments in time, so that we can figure out where we are going next.”
This year’s Anthology Volume Two trend report, she says, focuses on “four key color families: our most sensational pastels, retro-inspired reds and golds, soothing darks and modern neutrals.”
Frosted Tints
Designed to complement each other in any combination, this palette features icy tinted pastels in whispers of blue, green, and purple. “I think homeowners will really gravitate towards these colors,” Kantz says. “There’s longevity, usefulness, and a surprising complexity to this color group.”
Modern Lavender SW 9688 (walls) and White Snow SW 9541 (trim)
Sunbaked Hues
For clients who want to stoke the fires of creativity, this palette of warm natural clay, buttery yellow, and intensely enriched red will ignite a nostalgic reverie, dramatic potential, and the confidence to play with color.
Pennywise SW 6349
Restorative Darks
Want to inspire restfulness, release, and harmonious richness? Choose this sophisticated palette of deep, nocturnal colors to create a peaceful sanctuary.
Rojo Marron SW 9182
See all Restorative Darks colors
Foundational Neutrals
Return back to basics with a twist. The most essential neutrals of the moment expand on the concept of black and white with a gradient of strongly saturated near-black, silvery gray, extraordinary tans and taupes, and sparkling white.
White Snow SW 9541
See all Foundational Neutrals colors
Designer colors
This year’s collection also marks the first time that the Sherwin-Williams Designer Color Collection has been included in the Colormix Forecast.
“Painters often hear customers say that they like using a particular competitor color, but those customers may not realize that many of those colors – particularly brighter whites and neutrals – have Sherwin-Williams alternatives now available through the Designer Color Collection,” Kantz says. “Now homeowners can get premium-quality Sherwin-Williams paint in popular and trending colors. And because Designer Color Collection colors are now available in a wider selection of products than ever before, we’re able to offer them as part of this year’s Colormix Forecast.”
Easy to mix and match
Kantz says one of the strengths of this collection is each color’s ability to be mixed and matched together with colors from other families.
“Any of these colors could be used within different design styles,” Kantz says. “Ask your customer which colors speak to them. Pull colors together from different palettes, mix and match them, and see if they fit. There’s a lot of room here for people to experiment and lean into color, and plenty of neutrals for those who are feeling less experimental. Anthology Volume Two has something for everybody.”
See all the colors in the collection at swcolorforecast.com.
Four ways to guide your customer on their color journey
- Pick up 2˝ x 3˝ color chips at your local Sherwin-Williams store or order them for free online. They’re perfect for the customer who has a lot of color ideas for their space.
- With no mess and no dry time, Peel & Stick 8˝̋x 8˝ adhesive color samples can be ordered in many colors.
- The Pro Color Toolkit, available through the Sherwin-Williams PRO+ app, is an easy-to-use hub for expert color tools, personalized resources and lists of popular and trending colors.
- Use the Sherwin-Williams Color Expert™ app to connect homeowners with instant color recommendations, powered by next-gen technology. Download on Google Play or the App Store.
“Having these tools in your toolkit gives you plenty of ways to showcase these incredible colors to your clients,” Kantz says.
©2025 Fusable. Photography courtesy Sherwin-Williams.
