What color could define 2026? Paint maker Behr is betting on a lush green.
The Santa Ana, California-based company announced its 2026 Color of the Year on Wednesday, crowning a “smokey jade” named Hidden Gem, according to a press release from Behr.
Tempered by notes of blue, the deep color was selected for its “subtly and lasting appeal,” the release continued. At the same time, Behr nodded to the color’s inherent drama.
"Now more than ever, there's a growing appetite for colors that challenge convention and bring an unexpected sense of wonder to everyday spaces," Erika Woelfel, the company's vice president of color and creative services, said in the release.
Behr’s Hidden Gem selection also meets steadily rising interest in green paint: Google Trends shows that searches for “green paint” have increased steadily since tracking began in 2004. In March and July of this year, the tracker shows searches hitting highs seen in May 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic kept some homeowners inside and redecorating their spaces. Coincidentally, that's the same year Dakota Johnson went viral for staging limes in a green-painted kitchen of her own for an Architectural Digest video, even though the Los Angeles-based actress is allergic to the citrus in question.
The selection also meets recent design demand for the moody paint colors that homeowners used to “color drench” their homes and spaces, gravitating away from the monochromatic aesthetics popular in the 2010s.
Using Hidden Gem inside your home: adding depth, detail
The color might be dramatic, but it’s “incredibly versatile,” interior designer Manuella Moreira, founder of Manuella Moreira Interiors, explained over email. “It can be used in a variety of applications — from enveloping the walls of a living room, dining room, or bedroom, to adding depth to kitchen cabinetry or even transforming a small space like a powder room.”
The New York-based designer also sees Hidden Gem working well as an accent color, noting that homeowners could use it to distinguish millwork in the home or apply it to built-ins to add complexity to a space.
Whether high-gloss or matte, Moreira noted that a specific finish can also help “shape the mood” of a Hidden Gem space. For a homeowner looking for something eye-catching and reflective, a shiny, high-gloss finish might be the way to go. For someone looking to treat the green as a neutral, Moreira calls a matte finish “beautiful and grounding.”
But for a homeowner having trouble settling on a finish, Moreira wouldn’t rule out something more playful.
“I also love experimenting with finish contrasts in the same space,” she detailed. “For example, creating vertical or horizontal tone-on-tone stripes using the same color in both matte and high gloss can add subtle dimension.”
Where does Hidden Gem work?
Moreira sees the color, which Behr is selling only through The Home Depot, working especially well in a living room. The color gives an aura of being “sophisticated yet approachable,” she said. The designer pointed to one such space where she flooded a traditional living room with Hidden Gem, accenting the color with light pink furnishings.
“The result was a space that felt elevated and rich, with the color adding both depth and architectural emphasis,” Moreira said.