I asked Farrow & Ball for their most popular paint shades of 2026 – and their top 7 colours surprised me

Farrow & Ball is undoubtedly one of the most iconic paint brands, if not the most iconic. You’ll find Farrow & Ball’s paint covering the walls of the most stylish homes – and so I wanted to know what have been Farrow & Ball’s most popular paint colours of 2026 thus far.

I’ve gone straight to the source to find out what the current and future colour trends are, as Farrow & Ball is nothing short of a trendsetter in this space. The brand’s shared a few of its bestselling shades – and I must say that several of them surprised me, not to mention that most of them are also newcomers to the list of bestsellers when compared to 2025’s most popular Farrow & Ball shades.

I’d expected the likes of Scallop or Sulking Room Pink to make an appearance in the top sellers as they are some of the shades that I keep hearing about and seeing in people’s homes time and time again.

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At the same time, there are a couple of colours which experts predicted to be big in 2026 at the end of last year alongside those fully welcome surprises.

1. Wimborne White

Every paint brand’s top selling colour is their best white paint, pretty much without fail. And despite Farrow & Ball’s impressive range of 132 beautiful shades, this rule applies to this iconic paint company, too.

‘For the first time, Wimborne White, named after Farrow & Ball’s home town, has taken the top spot in our rankings, overtaking All White as our number‑one colour,’ says Patrick O'Donnell, brand ambassador at Farrow & Ball.

Farrow & Ball’s All White is unique in that it includes no other pigment than white. Meanwhile, pretty much every other white paint on the market will feature an undertone of another pigment which includes the infamous brilliant white which traditionally has blue undertones.

But this year, Farrow & Ball’s most popular white is Wimborne White which is the softest off white with a slight warm yellow undertone.

2. Porphyry Pink

Now, let’s get into the really surprising stuff as mentioned above. The most unexpected top seller is Farrow & Ball’s Porphyry Pink – and that’s largely because I’ve personally never heard of this shade. And neither has anyone on the Ideal Home team which is unusual as between all of us, we’ve covered the majority of the brand’s offering. I suspect this is because this pink shade is an archival colour which is not part of the core range.

But I’m glad I’m now familiar with Porphyry Pink as it’s a beautiful colour, described as a deep muted rose. Named after porphyry stone characterised by its dark pink colour, this paint shade is inspired by the Regency period which was in turn influenced by ancient Roman and Greek art and architecture. And Romans apparently used to love to build with porphyry.

3. Mouse’s Back

Brown has been a major colour trend for the last couple of years. And Farrow & Ball has seen a significant rise in the popularity of this earthy colour. Last year, Farrow & Ball released 12 new shades, including Broccoli Brown which quickly became one of the brand’s bestsellers.

And while Broccoli Brown is still up there, Mouse’s Back is another brown shade that’s topping the charts at the moment. Similarly to last year’s Pantone colour of the year, Mocha Mousse, Mouse’s Back is a softer and more gentle brown which also has slight grey undertones, referencing the ‘fawny colour of a British field mouse’ according to Farrow & Ball.

4. Brinjal and Preference Red

‘Warm, characterful colours are driving sales in 2026,’ Patrick at Farrow & Ball says. And Brinjal and Preference Red are certainly that.

Brinjal is actually one of the two Farrow & Ball shades that experts predicted to soon become bestsellers last year. And they were clearly right about this sophisticated deep aubergine colour.

While Brinjal is more of a dark purple, Preference Red (pictured above) is Farrow & Ball’s deepest and richest red. ‘Preference Red is showing an increase in popularity that signifies a demand for richer, earthier tones,’ Patrick adds.

5. Dead Salmon

The presence of Dead Salmon on the bestsellers list is surprising to me as I would have expected the trending, recently launched Scallop to feature in its place. Scallop was developed as a response to customer demand for a lighter version of Dead Salmon.

Described as an aged salmon pink, Dead Salmon is a very interesting Farrow & Ball colour because everyone sees it differently. While some see a pink shade, I (and many others) see more of a light mushroom colour.

6. Hay

‘Even softer shades like Hay are rising, reinforcing a clear shift toward warmer, more expressive palettes,’ Patrick says.

Farrow & Ball’s Hay is the other predicted future bestseller by experts last year. And they were clearly onto something as this joyful but soft and muted yellow shade is becoming a customer go-to.

If the butter yellow colour trend is up your street, this colour named after the dried crop is for you.

Which one of these popular shades would you use in your home?