This already extremely popular colour is clearly not going anywhere in 2027 as Dulux names it colour of the year

Yesterday, the Dulux colour of the year 2027 was revealed. The brand crowned Soulful Sage, a soft, light shade of sage green, as the defining shade of the coming year.

This time of year, from early autumn all the way to early December, is when all the paint brands and colour authorities announce their colours of the year (also referred to as COTYs for short). And these are what inform future colour trends for next year. Last week, Graham & Brown kicked off the season announcing its latest colour of the year as 'rose earth' – and Dulux is next up.

In all honesty, I was a little taken aback by Dulux’s colour of the year 2027 choice as sage green has been a popular colour for a few years now, especially as a bedroom colour idea due to its calming, soothing effect and a 'new neutral' quality. If anything, I thought it was on its way out, as new sage green bedroom colour alternatives have become increasingly popular this year. But perhaps I was wrong, and sage is about to have a resurgence in 2027.

‘I do love a sage green,’ says Jenny McFarlane, Ideal Home’s Senior Digital Editor and self-proclaimed fan of sage green. ‘It's a really relaxing shade. So much so, that I've used it as our bedroom hue in the last two houses we've lived in. It's gentle, soothing, and I think it always feels fresh.’

That’s exactly why Dulux opted for this colour as Marianne Shillingford, creative director and colour expert at Dulux, explains, ‘There’s something wonderfully uplifting about green. It’s the colour we instinctively associate with nature, new growth and the feeling of taking a deep breath outdoors, so when we were looking for a shade that captured our desire to “Live Lightly”, green felt like a natural place to land.’

Marianne continues to describe the concept of ‘Live Lightly’ which inspired this colour choice and was Dulux’s starting point for 2027. ‘Our overarching theme, “Live Lightly”, reflects what we feel people need from their homes right now. With increasingly busy lives, information overload and a world that can often feel quite heavy, our homes should provide a counterbalance – somewhere we can switch off, reconnect and make room for moments of joy.’

The sentiment behind this colour choice is very similar to Dulux’s 2026 colours of the year, selecting three different shades of blue as it’s the most familiar colour to us as people and one that sets our bodies’ biological clock.

It seems that biophilic design ideas which first became popular during the Covid 19 lockdowns are not going anywhere anytime soon. And to that end, nature-inspired hues are still the most popular, both now and in the near future.

What are your thoughts on Soulful Sage as the colour of the year for 2027? Are you going to embrace it in your home or go in a different direction?