Let's address the "white" elephant in the room!

Pantone's 2026 color of the year, as shown on their Instagram post.

I'm sure some of you may have heard, but if you haven't I need to explain. Pantone recently released it's 2026 color of the year and the design world (at large) is in a total uproar about it!

I have truly enjoyed all of the jokes, comments, memes and chatter surrounding it all, truly. However, I would be remiss if I didn't explain to everyone what all the drama is about.

It is a white. Pantone has chosen a shade of white as their color of the year. They call it Cloud Dancer. A soft neutral that is supposed to bring us the inspiration of calm amidst all the chaos of the current world we live in. Why is everyone confused and irritated? Let's give a bit of background, shall we?

Pantone is highly regarded as being the gold standard for having a universal, complete palette of thousands of colors that are critically used world wide. When I say this... what I mean is that these colors are used as the color coded gold standard language used by artists, designers, the printing industry, packaging, rug makers, the fashion industry, wallpaper companies, obviously paint colors... the list goes on and on. They are regarded as having a kind of color reference "bible" by which all major industries are ale to lean on and count on to essentially ensure that the language of color can be upheld to the standards that creators need to have. A lot of this means maintaining brand recognition, etc.

Pantone's color of the year release generally is a widely anticipated event as it sparks many collaborations and partnerships betwixt many industries because it fuels trends and creativity on a global scale. Historically they have chosen a wide array of colors... bright colors, soft colors, rich colors... but, it has always been a COLOR of some kind. Some would argue that white is the absence of color, not a color at all... which means that to most, this move has been a move that is completely off-color for them. (Pun absolutely intended.)

The move kind of feels ass-backwards because white is a workhorse color. It is always present. It's used widely as a supporting cast member to actual colors. It takes zero imagination to incorporate white into a room or to make white the star of the show. While there are TONS of different shades of whites available... and choosing the correct white is ALWAYS VITAL... but, for the likes of designer's it is NOT a difficult task. For a well-trained designer selecting the correct white is an OBVIOUS task. There isn't anything particularly groundbreaking about this white. Even the most perfect, neutral white in the entire world... that would compliment nearly every color combination possible... in all of it's soft and simple glory... IS... STILL... WHITE.

I've used tons of whites on projects all across the country to emphasize the architectural elements of spaces and to balance color or set the stage for all kinds of sexy building materials. White is great for all of that. It's important. Its literally the one "color" that we all use everyday to support other colors. But, I wouldn't exactly label it as being inspirational, or trend setting. In a world where we are seeing so many wonderful opportunities for so many color options, moody colors, a return to classic color palettes from so many previous design periods, reimagined... ESPECIALLY when the use of color, now more than ever is SO prevalent! It seems to be a confusing and lazy choice for the self proclaimed leader in COLOR inspiration and trend setting. A missed opportunity if you will. And well folks... I guess if you are looking for color inspiration... this year especially, it looks like you are going to have to ask me, your friendly neighborhood interior designer!