The annual Color of the Year announcements are one of our favorite traditions to follow (and predict, with varying degrees of sucess). Each year, a lot of the largest paint manufacturers select a hue and/or palette they believe "captures" and/or "forecasts" design trends. Some are bold. Some are boring. Some are straight-up bonkers (who remembers the color we affectionately dubbed "hot dog"?). So we'll continue to update this post as the 2026 COTYs are announced over the next six months.

Continue reading Every 2026 Color of the Year at Young House Love.

We love predicting Color of the Year selections each year, so we thought we'd start a post to keep track of each selection as they come out. This will be much easier to reference next year when we make our predictions instead of Googling around to find them all again. Will blue be big again like it was in 2024? Will any of our guesses even be remotely close? You can read below to follow along - and check back for updates as more COTY news rolls in.

Continue reading Every 2025 Color of the Year – All in One Place! at Young House Love.

Guessing the Color of the Year is one of our favorite pastimes. We did it for years on our podcast and now we keep up the tradition on Instagram Stories. And every time the next COTY announcement season rolls around, we like to see all of the previous picks in one easy place. So here’s a snapshot of not only every 2024 Color of the Year, but also how they compare to each company’s previous selections. Buckle up, fellow color nerds!

As more and more companies jump on the color forecasting bandwagon, we’ve decided to focus on the major paint and color companies in the post. Many brands also release yearly palettes instead of one single color. For simplicity’s sake, we’ve omitted those as well. So apologies if we’ve missed your favorite niche paint brand below.

Continue reading Every Color of the Year 2024 – All In One Place! at Young House Love.

In all of our years of DIYing, I don’t think we’ve ever used a solid stain before. But we recently had a project that was *perfectly* suited for it and, well, solid stain quickly won us over. It was recommended by a professional house painter to us, specifically because he thought it would be great for our outdoor shower. And we found it easy to apply, it gave us great coverage, and we got an even-better-than-we-expected result (which is always the best kind!). So here’s a post that covers all the pros & cons and hows & whys of solid stain.

As you can see, the “canvas” for this staining project was our outdoor shower. We gave it a mini-makeover right after moving in, but we knew it may need more attention and care down the line. Honestly, we dreaded the task of stripping and restaining it – so many nooks & crannies!

Continue reading Using Solid Stain In Our Outdoor Shower at Young House Love.

“Greige” is that sweet spot between gray & beige, and it’s a paint color that’s both trendy and timeless. In fact, we’ve been on the greige bandwagon for nearly 20 years – well before we’d even heard that term! But finding the perfect greige can be daunting. There are 100s of neutral paint colors that could be considered greige, so we’ve waded through dozens of expert round-ups to see what colors come up over and over again. (Yes, I made a spreadsheet. And yes, I liked it).

We weren’t surprised to see our favorite greige paint show up on this Iist, but the color that ranked #1 was a bit of a shock to us!

What Is Greige?

Greige is an umbrella term for any color that dances the line between gray and beige (gray + beige = greige).

Continue reading The 9 Best Greige Paint Colors (According To Experts) at Young House Love.

We scoured 100+ white paint colors featured on more than a dozen “best white” lists to determine what are truly the most universally loved white paints. I even made a spreadsheet! These are the 12 colors that came up over & over again. They’re trusted by everyone from interior designers & architects to builders & bloggers alike. So let’s dive into why experts recommend them and how you can pick the right white paint color for your home.

Why Designers Love White Paint

Walls, Trim, & Ceiling: SW Pure White

White is a classic choice for trim, ceilings, and even cabinets. But white paint on your walls? That’s when the strong opinions come out! Critics write off white walls as basic or boring. But they can be a smart, classic choice that’s both timeless and on-trend. We personally love them.

Continue reading The 12 Best White Paint Colors (According To Experts) at Young House Love.

White paints can be complicated. And believe me, we’ve tried more than a few over the years. Over a decade ago, we finally landed on Benjamin Moore’s Simply White (OC-117) as our favorite go-to white paint. It’s a warm and bright white that we put everywhere: walls, trim, doors, and cabinetry. Case closed, right? Well, it’s not quite that simple…

Walls & trim: BM Simply White | Ceiling: BM Galt Blue

What makes BM Simply White a popular white?

Walls, trim, bookshelves: BM Simply White | Ceiling: BM Galt Blue

Picking the perfect white paint for your home is hard because a true “simple” white doesn’t exist. And even if it did, you wouldn’t want it on your walls! The best white paints typically have hints of black and subtle colorful undertones like yellow, green, or pink.

Continue reading Benjamin Moore Simply White (OC-117) Color Review at Young House Love.

From its name, you might expect Sherwin-Williams Extra White (SW7 7006) to be the brightest, whitest paint on the market. And while it is a crisp clean white color – it has some nuances when it comes to where and when it should (and shouldn’t) be used in your home. So let’s answer some common questions about this popular white paint color so you can decide if it’s right for you.

Walls & trim: SW Extra White | Cabinets: SW Contented

What makes SW Extra White a popular white?

Extra White is one of the most popular white paints out there. Lots of these whites have names that lead you to believe they are the best, brightest, or “whitest” white around. You’ll see names like Extra, Super, Ultra, Pure, and even Simply White to sort through (all of which we’ll compare in more detail later).

Continue reading Sherwin Williams Extra White (SW 7006) Color Review at Young House Love.