Popular Paint Colors of 2022

Many people across the world have been forced to adapt their home life to include spaces for work and, for families with children, spaces for learning. Some of these new spaces were temporary, while others may become permanent. 

These changes serve as a reminder that homes are living, breathing entities that grow and adapt to the lifestyles we lead. Whether you’re converting a temporary workspace into a permanent workspace, or you just think it’s time to make some changes to the interior or exterior of your home, nothing transforms a room like a new coat of paint. 

It’s natural to search for a paint color that captures the essence of the space you are updating, which is why so many people are curious to learn about the popular paint colors of 2022.  

A variety of paint manufacturers, interior designers, and home improvement websites have made their selections for the top paint colors of the year. Although everyone has their own preferences, there are a few interior and exterior painting color trends you should keep in mind as you make a selection. 

Interior Painting Color Trends

With how much time you likely spent indoors over the past year or two, it’s natural to be ready for some fresh colors to look at in your home. The popular interior paint color trends of 2022 span a variety of hues, but they all appear to have similar goals: to create more soothing interior spaces. 

One with Nature
Funnily enough, this trend has become quite popular in workspaces in recent years. The idea behind adding earthy, natural tones to a space is to blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors. These colors are ideal for adding warmth and comfort to rooms, especially workspaces where much of the day might be spent. 

Some of the more popular paint colors that fit this trend include deep blues and greens, lively citruses, or even browns and rust colors.  

Pastels
Pastels are proving to be some of the more popular paint colors of 2022. The idea behind these soft colors is to turn a living space into a soothing, serene sanctuary for yourself. Pastels are often very peaceful, tranquil colors, but they can also be uplifting and happy. It’s easy to see why pastels are a top interior painting color trend. 

Look for pastel hues such as chalk, soft sky blues, oyster, cream, celadon greens, and even oatmeal. 

Moodier Colors
Another popular interior paint trend is to incorporate moodier hues between rooms with lighter, more frivolous colors. This concept creates a nice juxtaposition between the dark and light colors, clearly defining where one space ends and another begins.  

To add some moodiness to your home interior, consider dark grays, deep reds, or even bold and dark yellows or tans. 

Exterior Painting Color Trends

Exterior painting color trends usually aren’t as fickle as their interior counterparts, but there has been a shift in popular exterior colors in recent years. Let’s take a look at some of these new trends: 

Charcoals and Blacks
All-black or charcoal exteriors is a major departure from past paint trends, but it’s become quite popular in recent years. These dark colors give homes a very modern look while also serving to ensure they stand out from the crowd. 

If you’re wary of going with an all-black exterior, a charcoal color can also be a great choice for your shutters, exterior doors, or even as an accent. 

Warm Whites and Creams
Although pure whites have long been a popular paint color for home exteriors, there’s been a recent shift toward more subdued hues. Not only are these tones a little easier on the eyes, but they help give your home a more sophisticated look. 

Dark, Smoky Greens
More popular in home interiors back in the late 19th century, smoky greens are seeing a resurgence as an exterior painting color trend. If your house strongly features flowerbeds and gardens, these shades of green can be quite flattering to your greenery.  

2022 Paint Color of the Year

Unfortunately, there’s no universal color of the year. Paint manufacturers and other companies prefer to select one of their own colors to highlight each year, and some even select multiple colors. However, if you’re looking for the most popular paint colors of 2022, these are sure to fit the bill: 

• Urbane Bronze: Sherwin-Williams selected this rich, bold neutral as its color of the year. This gray-brown hue is meant to be inspired by nature and a desire for serenity. 
• Misty Aqua: PPG Paints selected three colors, two of which were earth tones. The third is a soft, tropical aqua that would look great in any room. 
• Garden Flower: Valspar really had trouble narrowing things down and ended up with 12 colors of the year. Garden flower is part of their gray family, but it comes off as sort of a mint green tone.
• Canyon Dusk: Behr’s color of the year is a brown meant to convey tranquility, connectivity, and grounding.  

Although there is no clear winner for paint color of the year, it’s clear that the most popular paint colors of 2022 follow similar trends.  

Regardless of whether you’re painting a single interior room, or going big and painting your exterior, color choice is just one of many steps required to pull off a successful project. We offer color selection assistance to our customers to help you find the right colors for your project.