poppy seeds in the color of the year palettes

Color of the Year 2024

A hug for your home, our Color of the Year 2024 is Sweet Embrace ™. Its calming mood is inspired by soft feathers and subtle evening clouds.

In today’s ever-changing world, people are seeking precious moments of joy and a feeling of stability. The color experts from AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center exploring current global social, design and consumer trends discovered a desire to belong, to feel grounded in memories and personal relationships. 

Together with top international design experts, our color specialists carried out extensive research that showed people want to create their own ‘special somewhere’. They want welcoming, calming surroundings where they can feel they fit in and belong.

To reflect this, Sweet Embrace™ and its three complementary palettes bring a sense of constancy, tranquility and friendliness to our living and working environments. The delicate shade changes tone with the light, filling every space with warmth. It’s a subtle, sophisticated stand-alone hue that also adds life and personality to other shades.

After
Before

Find your own Sweet Embrace™

Discover your own ‘special somewhere’ and find peace in your space with beautiful shades from our ready-made color palettes.

Warm colors

global earth tones

This color palette reminds you of home, somewhere you can create a nest-like space in which to feel snug and comfortable. It combines shades of stone, soil and clay, offering safety and security.

Calm colors

fluid, natural tones

Evoking thoughts of nature and the essence of life, this color palette brings together the soft greens and blues of the woods and sea. Its tones help clear the mind, bringing peace and an appreciation of the importance of simple things.

Uplifting colors

modern pastel tones

The dreamy lilacs and modern yellows of this color palette bring a smile to the face and promote feelings of positivity. Its hues hint at new possibilities and moments of light-hearted joy.


“With society in a state of flux, we’re reassessing how we cope with the world. Starting at home, we’re looking to create our own ‘special somewhere’ that grounds us in our individual memories and relationships. Our Color of the Year, Sweet Embrace™, and its three complementary color palettes can help us achieve that. They enable us to personalize our environments to fit the times we live in, as well as bringing a sense of stability and moments of joy to our spaces.”
- Heleen van Gent, Creative Director, AkzoNobel’s Aesthetic Center


Milestone year

Celebrating 30 years of color research and 20 years of ColourFutures

It’s been a colorful journey for our Global Aesthetic Center and its ColourFutures trend report. Responsible for trend analysis, color research, color design and art direction, the Global Aesthetic Center engages leading design professionals from all over the world in identifying the trends and capturing the mood of the moment. That research is translated into color, products and inspiring trend collections by each of our color-based business.



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