Color Expert Lee Eiseman Shares Insights on Pantone® View Home + Interiors 2026 Forecast during The Inspired Home Show® 2025
CHICAGO, IL – (March 4, 2025) – As consumers around the world continue their search for balance and beauty in their homes and lives, color expert Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman explained to The Inspired Home Show® 2025 attendees the reasons why “Welcome Home” was selected as the theme of the Pantone® View Home + Interiors 2026 forecast. The seven palettes, which were unveiled at the Show, are on display here in the Pantone ColorWatch display.
Eiseman is a color specialist whose color expertise is recognized worldwide as the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training.
Hosted by the International Housewares Association (IHA), the Show is being held March 2-4 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. Buyers from more than 100 countries are joining 1,600 home and housewares companies to explore new products, new insights and countless opportunities to strengthen partnerships and drive growth.
In explaining the “Welcome Home” theme, Eiseman said, “These are two words, when used together, that express the most deep-seated and intrinsic human needs. It’s a theme that’s highly relatable and well understood, as a welcoming home provides the roof over our heads, whether it be a condo in the city, an expansive loft that has reminders of its industrial origins or the relaxed elegance of a country cottage with a revisit to not so shabby chic.”
The 2026 color trends will be deeply rooted in the past, according to Eiseman, with a mixing of different eras. “When people are uncertain about the future, they invariably look to the past,” said Eiseman, quoting Vanessa Friedman, fashion director of The New York Times.
Eiseman told the full-house crowd that the 2026 palettes were also heavily influenced by the 2025 Pantone® Color of the Year, Mocha Mousse, which she described as an “evocative, soft brown that transports our senses into thoughts of pleasure and deliciousness.” She reminded attendees, “If you can get a color to evoke an emotion that involves the senses and you involve more than one sense, it really captures the human eye.”
Eiseman then explained each of the seven palettes in the Pantone® View Home + Interiors 2026 forecast, sharing how they take existing elements to make the palette fresh and modern. “The home needs to provide a functional and organized workspace for us to live within, but also for us to make a living in,” she said, offering a variety of palette options for different lifestyles and play styles.
The seven home palettes for 2026 are:
- Out of the Ordinary – Eiseman calls this “Scandinese style,” blending time-honored Scandinavian and Japanese design principles. The palette includes familiar neutral colors with a few warmer ones that are “out of the ordinary” to represent the imperfect beauty of nature. This palette embraces homeostasis, where a balance of warmth and coolness helps to regulate the temperature of the person living within that environment.
- Ancestral—This palette is designed to remind people of our human heritage—think caves and early native dwellings with raw, earthy warmth. This palette largely has warm colors, with some cooler colors, like neutral gray, and is a warmer alternative to black and white.
- Modern West—This is where Western classic meets modern style and cowboy/cowgirl couture. Browns are balanced by green – a neutral color in nature. Global influences from countries like Argentina, Australia and the Czech Republic add some brightness with turquoise. This palette is also influenced by indigenous patterns and authentic Western embellishments.
- Augmented—In this palette, surreal and abstract design is inspired by AI, as well as immersive and digital experiences. This is a vibrant combination of reds, pinks, oranges and yellows, with blue and gray to balance the brightness.
- Rustic Revival—This is all about sustainability and industrial design with a softer, outdoor cabin feel. It’s a muted, subtle palette with sienna and gray tones that represent transforming waste into functional home elements.
- Exotic Retreat—Eiseman says this palette is perhaps the most fun. It touts nature’s maximalism with vibrant colors and is a beautiful balance of cools and warms, including fuchsia, purples and browns. With tropical glamour meeting boho paradise, it helps to bring vacation color and design back home.
- Futura—Inspired by the cosmos with celestial motifs and galactic influences, Futura is minimalist and high tech. But it’s not cool like you might think, said Eiseman. There are nuances of color that add a bit of warmth.
An audio recording of the program will be posted on the Show’s website at TheInspiredHomeShow.com/education/#keynotes in the coming days.
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The International Housewares Association is the 86-year-old voice of the housewares industry. The not-for-profit, full-service association sponsors the world’s premier exposition of products for the home, The Inspired Home Show, IHA’s Global Home + Housewares Market (TheInspiredHomeShow.com) which celebrates its 125th Show in 2025, and offers its member companies a wide range of services, including industry and government advocacy; export assistance; industry and consumer trends through various industry reports; executive management peer groups; group buying discounts on business solutions services; and an independent news and information platform through HomePageNews.com.
