Benjamin Moore’s Color of the Year 2021 Is a Soothing Blue-Gray
Every fall, paint brand Benjamin Moore makes a splash with its annual Color of the Year event, drawing out the mystery before dropping its chosen hue, which serves as a prediction for trends in the coming year. Today, for the first time, the color's unveiling—like so many events in 2020—took place virtually. But that didn't stop designers from putting up their best guesses as to what the hue might be.
In Benjamin Moore's reveal video, designers offered their hunches for 2021's Color of the Year, and their predictions ran the gamut—er, color wheel. "Jamie and I, without consulting each other, came up with the same color: a pale, optimistic yellow," said Drake/Anderson's Caleb Anderson. Added Jamie Drake: "Something bright and clear as if the sun is just starting to shine through the clouds."
Young Huh meanwhile, was confident that the shade would be a bright green, while Jay Jeffers proclaimed, "I am loving deep, red tones."
As varied as their predictions were, the polled designers all cited similar reasoning behind them: references to nature, soothing feelings, and happiness. The ultimate color chosen by Benjamin Moore, Aegean Teal 2136-40, takes into account many of these factors.
"It has a really beautiful blend of blue and green with a touch of gray that gives a softened elegance that's very inviting," says Andrea Magno, director of color marketing and development at Benjamin Moore. This year, she notes, "we really looked to the home" for inspiration. Though the color was selected prior to the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing stay-at-home orders, it proved apt: "We started taking a critical look at the modern home two years ago, and that examination only deepened this year, as the home truly grew to become the center of our lives," Magno tells House Beautiful. "As the events of 2020 unfolded, we felt strongly that Aegean Teal continued to resonate in the home, possibly more so as the importance and expectations of the home reached new levels."
A reveal video for the hue opened on an appropriately homey scene—soft linen sheets, cashmere slippers, and coffee brewing—then followed a child running out into nature, amidst green grass and brown gravel before cutting to a couple setting a table with freshly-baked bread, bright vegetables, and glowing candles.
The color's multi-functionality was also a key factor, said the Benjamin Moore team. Aegean Teal can read blue, green, or gray—and it works anywhere from the kitchen to the living room, an appropriate consideration at a time when different parts of our homes are serving more purposes than ever.
Finally, the hue's tie to nature is key. Organic colors tend to ground and calm us, both things we could use a little bit more of right now.
Aegean Teal is also of 12 colors in Benjamin Moore's Palette of the Year, which all have a "sun-baked quality" and can all be used in a variety of ways for comfortable, casual, grounded rooms. "The warm, ‘lived-in’ quality of the 12 hues within the palette has a lot of resonance with the post- pandemic home, specifically the need for comfort and moments of joy," Magno says. "Aegean Teal invites us all to take a moment to reflect and reset."
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