December 4, 2025

Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year Is ‘Cloud Dancer’

For 2025, it was rich, pigmented Mocha Mousse.

Pantone’s choice for the 2026 Color of the Year is almost the opposite: Cloud Dancer, a classic white.

Pantone describes the color (PANTONE 11-4201) as “an ethereal white hue that serves as a symbol of calming influence in a frenetic society rediscovering the value of measured consideration and quiet reflection. Cloud Dancer quiets the mind,encouraging true relaxation and focus that allows the mind to wander, and creativity to breathe, making room for innovation and [evolving] our desire for contentment and feelings of peace, unity and cohesiveness.”

A Cloud Dancer collaboration between Pantone and furniture company Joy Bird shows the color in situ. / Photo courtesy Pantone

“An airy white hue, PANTONE 11-4201 Cloud Dancer opens up space for creativity, allowing our imagination to wander and drift so that new insights and bold ideas can emerge and take shape,” Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the Pantone Color Institute, said in a press release announcing the Color of the Year.

The color choice comes amid reports from Pinterest and Houzz showing that homeowners and designers are embracing color—jewel tones, wallpaper, statement ceilings, painted doors and playful patterns in a push for individuality—after years of beige and greige.

Will the announcement of the Color of the Year change that trajectory?

Only time will tell.