AkzoNobel names Soulful Sage 2027 Color of the Year

AkzoNobel Wood Coatings is bringing the company’s 2027 Color of the Year, Soulful Sage, to industrial wood finishing, offering manufacturers a new color direction for furniture, cabinetry, flooring, windows, doors, siding and cladding.

Described as a soft, silvery green, Soulful Sage is intended to create interiors and products that feel lighter, calmer and more inviting. The shade sits at the centre of three supporting color stories, Glow, Light and Lift, developed through AkzoNobel’s annual trend research.

“Our 2027 Color of the Year is all about creating lighter spaces for a lighter life,” said Heleen van Gent, Creative Director of AkzoNobel’s Global Aesthetic Center. “Many people are feeling weighed down by world events and overloaded with information. We want to offer a way to create lighter environment so people can feel that weight lifted off their shoulders.”

For wood product manufacturers, the company said Soulful Sage can serve as a starting point for new product and finish development, while the three supporting palettes offer options for coordinated product collections.

Glow focuses on earth tones designed to create a warm, familiar appearance. Light combines pale colors with darker shades to produce a quieter, brighter aesthetic. Lift uses more positive tones intended to create an energetic and inspiring look.

The colors and finishes can be used individually or combined across a product range. AkzoNobel said the palettes are also designed to work alongside natural and stained wood, allowing manufacturers to combine colored surfaces with visible wood grain and other natural characteristics.

Adapting a trend color to industrial production requires more than selecting a shade. Color appearance can vary depending on the coating system, substrate, application method, sheen and opacity. AkzoNobel Wood Coatings said its technical services and design teams can support manufacturers with color matching, coating-system selection, application guidance and finish development.

“Manufacturers need to balance changing design expectations with the practical demands of production,” said Henri Bijsterbosch, Color Product Marketing Manager for AkzoNobel’s Industrial Coatings business. “Soulful Sage and the three supporting color palettes give our OEM customers a clear creative direction, while our coatings expertise helps them develop finishes that can be applied consistently and integrated into their production processes.”

Soulful Sage and its supporting palettes are part of AkzoNobel’s broader 2027 color collection, which includes colors, textures and special effects for several markets, including decorative paints, cabinetry, flooring, building products, architecture, automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, metal furniture and lighting.

The collection was developed through AkzoNobel’s ColourFutures™ trend forecasting process, which brings together company specialists with architects, designers, journalists and other industry professionals to examine how social and design trends influence color preferences.