What if your home could do more than look beautiful?
What if the colours around you could help create a sense of calm, encourage reflection and make a space feel lighter?
That is the thinking behind Soulful Sage™, the colour AkzoNobel has selected as its Colour of the Year 2027.
Described as an ethereal, soft silvery green, Soulful Sage is designed to bring a sense of serenity and versatility into interiors. More importantly, it reflects a wider shift in what people are looking for from the spaces around them.
In a world filled with noise, information and constant demands for attention, the colour is being positioned as an invitation to slow down, breathe easier and live lighter.
A Colour Born From Changing Times
Soulful Sage did not emerge in isolation.
The colour comes from AkzoNobel’s annual trend research conducted by its Global Aesthetic Center through the ColourFutures™ programme.
The research brings together architects, designers, trend specialists and industry experts across multiple sectors. Its findings point towards a growing desire for simplicity and wellbeing.
According to the research, designers are moving away from saturated and demanding colour palettes. Instead, there is increasing interest in colours that support a space rather than dominate it.
That is where Soulful Sage finds its place.
Palesa Ramaisa, Dulux Colour Expert, describes the shade as versatile enough to work as a statement wall, a ceiling colour or a grounding base within layered interiors.
For design professionals, she says, Soulful Sage creates a bridge between minimalism and warmth.
Creating Lighter Spaces for Lighter Lives
The thinking behind the 2027 Colour of the Year goes beyond aesthetics.
Heleen van Gent, Creative Director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center, says the colour responds to the feeling of being weighed down by world events, information overload and the many things competing for people’s attention.
Soulful Sage therefore offers a practical way to rethink our surroundings.
The goal is to create spaces that feel like sanctuaries. These are places where some of that weight can finally lift.
It is a simple idea, but one with a powerful emotional dimension: the spaces we inhabit can influence how we experience everyday life.
Three Colour Stories, One Vision
Soulful Sage anchors three carefully curated colour stories for 2027: Glow, Light and Lift.
Each palette explores a different emotional interpretation of creating spaces that restore, inspire and uplift.
Glow: Find Comfort
The Glow Colour Story creates a warm and nourishing environment.
Its earthy, grounding character is designed to wrap a space in comfort. It is about reconnecting with ourselves and focusing on what truly matters.
The result is a colour story centred on warmth, grounding and a sense of belonging.
Light: Find Your Calm
The Light Colour Story moves in a softer direction.
It creates a calm and healing atmosphere that feels restorative and peaceful.
This is the palette for spaces designed to encourage reflection, refocusing and recharging.
Lift: Embrace Possibility
Then comes Lift.
Bright and uplifting, this colour story is designed to feel energising and joyful.
Its optimistic character is about embracing possibility, finding renewed energy and allowing room for dreams.
Together, Glow, Light and Lift give Soulful Sage a broader visual language. The colour can shift depending on the atmosphere a designer wants to create.
Beyond the Home
Although interiors are an important part of the story, AkzoNobel’s colour research reaches far beyond residential spaces.
The colours, textures and special effects developed for the collection have been created for a wide range of markets.
These include aerospace, automotive, consumer electronics, metal furniture, lighting, cabinetry, flooring, building products and architecture.
That wider application reflects the role colour can play across different forms of design.
For designers, Soulful Sage can be layered across multiple applications, from residential interiors and hospitality environments to architectural cladding and commercial furniture.
The intention is to make it possible to create a cohesive aesthetic across different projects and industries.
Designed Through Collaboration
AkzoNobel says its colour stories are not developed in isolation.
The company works with architects, interior designers, trend specialists and product developers as part of its annual research process.
That collaboration brings different perspectives into the development of its colour trends.
For Nathalie Sweeney, Marketing Director for Dulux, the result is a collection that reflects changes in design and consumer behaviour across industries.
She also highlights the relevance of these solutions for customers in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the aim is to provide options tailored to local needs and help create spaces that feel lighter, brighter and more alive.
Why Soulful Sage Matters for 2027
Colour trends can sometimes feel fleeting.
A shade appears, dominates mood boards and then makes way for the next big thing.
Soulful Sage is being presented differently.
Its story is rooted in a broader conversation about how people want to experience their surroundings.
The emphasis is not simply on making a room fashionable. It is on creating environments that restore rather than overwhelm.
That makes the three colour stories particularly compelling.
Glow is about comfort.
Light is about calm.
Lift is about energy and possibility.
And Soulful Sage sits at the centre of all three.
As Dulux and AkzoNobel look towards 2027, the message is refreshingly simple: sometimes changing a space does not require filling it with more.
Sometimes, it means choosing a colour that allows everything else to breathe.
Soulful Sage™ is AkzoNobel’s Colour of the Year 2027 — a soft silvery green created around the idea of living lighter.
