The leading color forecaster Pantone has announced its Colors of the Year for 2021. The company is followed closely by fashion and home designers for its yearly predictions on color trends, and this year it tweaked the process by naming two colors instead of one: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, which is a bright yellow.

Pantone says it selected these two colors to showcase a sense of calm and optimism, calling them “practical and rock solid, but at the same time warming and optimistic.”

I love the combination of gray and yellow, and I’ve used this palette in a few of my projects, including my own home. I’m not sure it’s the cutting-edge of color predictions, but I do think these are two colors that we really need in our homes right now.

Gray is elegant, refined, and understated. In color psychology, it’s considered a calming color that brings compromise and compassion.

Almost on the other side of the coin entirely, yellow is seen as energetic, hopeful, and happy. Psychologically, yellow is uplifting and empowering. So you can see why these two colors may epitomize all of our wishes for the new year. I would guess that everyone would want 2021 to be calm and hopeful, quiet and happy.

What do you think of the two colors Pantone has selected for 2021? Let me know in the comments section below!

All the best,

Kara