Pantone announces the Color of the Year 2026: a shade suspended between calm, light, and creativity that inspires materials, furnishings, and interior surfaces designed to feel more airy and contemplative
Pantone opens 2026 with Cloud Dancer (PANTONE 11-4201), a soft, airy white that becomes a symbol of serenity in an increasingly overstimulated world. “A whisper of calm and peace in a noisy world”: this is how Pantone describes the shade, capable of conveying lightness and tranquility without appearing sterile or anonymous.
Cloud Dancer is not just any white: it is an invitation to slow down, to find an inner space where creativity can breathe. A color that oscillates between brightness and ethereality, perfect for interiors seeking balance, clarity, and renewal. In living rooms and bathrooms alike, on surfaces and furnishings, this white takes on an active role: it expands space, embraces silence, and creates surfaces on which the mind can wander.
Surfaces that evoke landscapes
Neolith WhiteSands interprets Cloud Dancer through a vision inspired by the desert dunes of New Mexico. Part of the Atmosphere collection, this sintered stone offers a luminous, natural aesthetic and is available in 6, 12 and 20 mm thicknesses. Suitable for floors, walls, countertops, shower trays, bathtubs, and bespoke sinks, WhiteSands brings an open, contemplative horizon into interior spaces.
The bathroom as a sculptural space
Kora by Kreoo, designed by Enzo Berti, transforms the freestanding bathtub into a true sculptural object. Carved from a single block of marble, it features an irregular upper edge that eases access and adds dynamism to its shape. The metal trestle – available in gold bronze, dark bronze, or black metal – supports the monolith with an architectural gesture that feels both light and harmonious. Available in seven marble varieties, Kora becomes a centerpiece in both residential and hospitality bathrooms, enhanced by the suspended purity of Cloud Dancer.
Art and irony in decorative surfaces
The Hypernature Macro wallpaper, designed by Gian Paolo Venier for SpaghettiWall, transforms an X-rayed cabbage into a pop, surprising and refined image. A contemporary artwork for living spaces, available on seven material substrates and suitable even for humid environments. An eccentric aesthetic that dialogues with the purity of Cloud Dancer, creating sophisticated contrasts and interiors with a strong personality.
A professional kitchen with a domestic soul
The Ego kitchen by Abimis reinterprets the soft shapes of the 1950s with the precision of professional stainless steel. Designed by Alberto Torsello, Ego is crafted entirely from AISI 304 stainless steel, featuring rounded doors, curved internal corners, recessed plinth, and a countertop with raised edge. The signature ring handles complete the monolithic composition. Ego can be custom-made in various finishes—orbited, mirror, scotch brite—or with glossy or matte lacquer. A design that integrates seamlessly into the luminous, minimalist aesthetic of Cloud Dancer, adding elegance and functionality to the home kitchen.
The SIT collection: a new way to interpret seating
Designed by Marco Zito for Bross, the SIT collection recalls in its name the essential gesture of sitting, interpreted as a system of furnishings that includes an armchair, lounge chair, pouf, and coffee table. The shell features soft, curved profiles, while the backrest—developed only on two sides—has padding shaped with varying thicknesses to naturally embrace the body. One fully open side expands compositional possibilities, allowing intuitive combinations with coffee and side tables to create a fluid, contemporary refuge. A collection that expresses the airy, contemplative spirit of Cloud Dancer through welcoming, lightweight, and versatile forms.
A white that speaks of active calm
Pantone Cloud Dancer marks a new way of imagining color: not just a neutral tone, but a design attitude. An invitation to surround oneself with materials that visually lighten, forms that make room, and objects that encourage focus. In 2026, design inhabits a white that breathes—a color that welcomes while also stimulating. A shade that doesn’t just illuminate interiors, but transforms them into places of quiet, vision, and renewed creativity.
