Top colors to decorate with in 2024 include Peach Fuzz, Cracked Pepper

METRO DETROIT — Paint companies including BEHR, Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams have chosen neutral and muted tones as the 2024 colors of the year, while Pantone is inviting people to “embrace the warmth” with its choice.

The BEHR paint company’s 2024 color of the year is Cracked Pepper — a color that associate broker Laurie Glass, of Cooper Glass Homes with Max Broock Realtors, in Birmingham, said can make a room feel very “rich,” “warm” and “inviting.”

“It’s a striking color that you can really make exciting and warm by adding some rich woods in front of it, and like a warm leather or chocolate sofa, or even a honey-colored sofa,” Glass said. “And then gold, and then a white rug to contrast — it’ll really feel rich. … Very cozy for winter. You’re taking a very striking color and making it very cozy and inviting for winter.”

BEHR’s website describes Cracked Pepper as “a versatile, soft black that elevates every environment.”

According to its website, Cracked Pepper brings a modern appeal that pairs with complementary colors, finishes and materials in both residential and commercial spaces.

Glass added that Cracked Pepper can also give a room a more modern look.

“The thing about Cracked Pepper is that it takes something that may look old and it modernizes it. It can crisp it up, make it look fresh,” she said. “It can also take an imperfect wall and make it look striking.”

Benjamin Moore’s 2024 color of the year is Blue Nova, which the company’s website said will “elevate the everyday and expand horizons through juxtaposed color that is sure to inspire.”

“With Blue Nova leading the way, depth and intrigue are balanced by an undercurrent of reassurance,” the website states. “This alluring mid-tone features an enchanting duality, capturing the spotlight with endlessly classic appeal.”

Glass said Blue Nova would work well as a backdrop or an accent wall in a bathroom with white cabinetry and white tile. She also said it could work well as an accent wall in a child’s room, or even as a ceiling color.

“It could also be very interesting as a ceiling paint color, underneath the front porch or even in the basement,” she said. “I’m not really fond of these black and dark gray basement colors. I think they sit very heavy. But something like this blue could bring some real personality to a modern, clean, minimal basement.”

For 2024, Sherwin-Williams named Upward its color of the year, describing the color as “a breezy, blissful blue” on its website.

The website adds that Upward is “the color found when we slow down, take a breath and allow the mind to clear.”

Glass said Upward would be a nice color for a dining room, depending on how it’s decorated. She also added that it could give a room a “beachy” feel.

“It’d be fairly pretty with gold accent pieces as well,” she said.

In contrast to the paint companies, Pantone named Peach Fuzz its 2024 color of the year.

“Peach Fuzz captures our desire to nurture ourselves and others,” Pantone states on its website. “It’s a velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body and soul.”

In a prepared statement, Leatrice Eiseman, executive director for the Pantone Color Institute, said Peach Fuzz “echoes our innate yearning for closeness and connection.”

“A shade that resonates with compassion, offers a tactile embrace and effortlessly bridges the youthful with the timeless,” she said.

Glass said that, while Peach Fuzz isn’t her favorite color, it would make a nice accent wall in a kid’s bedroom or a bathroom with warm wood.

“It makes your skin feel warm,” she said. “And it just brings a warmth and an attractiveness to the bathroom.”

Emily Sikora — of Just By Happenstance in Clinton Township, who refinishes furniture and deals in home decor, wall art and more — said all the colors pair well together.

“There are so many uses, using the deepness of the Cracked Pepper and Blue Nova on your larger furniture pieces (allows) you to set the accents with the softer colors with pillows, artwork and other decor,” she said in an email. “I would also use the lighter colors to refinish smaller pieces of furniture to add a whimsical feel to it.”

Sikora added that Blue Nova and Cracked Pepper allow the softness of Peach Fuzz and Upward to “really pop.”

When it comes to renovating a house, Glass added that, in her opinion, there’s more value in painting than anything else.

“We often say that there’s more bang for your buck in paint than anything else you can do in terms of dollar-for-dollar return,” she said.