White has long been the default paint choice in U.S. homes, but recent design reports and paint-brand forecasts show a steady move toward warmer, more dimensional neutrals. One of the clearest examples is Benjamin Moore’s Cinnamon Slate, a muted plum-brown introduced as the company’s 2025 Color of the Year on October 16, 2024, and now frequently cited by designers as an alternative to stark white.
Benjamin Moore put a specific name to the shift away from stark white
Benjamin Moore formally announced Cinnamon Slate 2113-40 as its 2025 Color of the Year on October 16, 2024, describing it as a “delicate mix” of heathered plum and velvety brown. The company paired it with a broader Color Trends 2025 palette, signaling that the selection was not a one-off novelty shade but part of a larger, coordinated move toward softer and more livable interiors. That matters because Color of the Year announcements often serve as an industry shorthand for what paint makers and designers believe homeowners are ready to use next.
The choice also stood out because it did not reinforce the clean, bright-white formula that dominated the 2010s and early 2020s. Instead, Benjamin Moore positioned Cinnamon Slate as a “quietly colorful” neutral, a category that lets homeowners step beyond white without committing to a saturated statement wall. Design coverage from ELLE Decor described the shade as a subdued mix of purple and brown, underscoring how brands are now framing in-between colors as practical, not risky, for everyday rooms.
Benjamin Moore is not alone in that repositioning. Sherwin-Williams’ 2025 Color Capsule highlighted Sunbleached, an airy light neutral the company says is deeper than white and not quite gray, while Behr’s 2025 trend palette included Even Better Beige as a featured warm neutral. Taken together, those releases show multiple national paint brands steering consumers toward layered neutrals with visible warmth rather than crisp whites intended to disappear into the background.
That broader industry alignment gives Cinnamon Slate extra significance. It is not necessarily the only color homeowners are choosing instead of white, and no single national dataset says it has replaced white across all rooms. What is verified is that major paint companies have spent the past two product cycles elevating warmer neutrals and muted earth tones, and Cinnamon Slate has become one of the most recognizable names attached to that movement.
The shift is showing up nationally, but room-by-room data is still mixed
The move away from white is visible in national trend reporting, though it is not uniform across every part of the house. Houzz’s 2026 kitchen trends coverage found that wood became the top cabinet finish in renovated kitchens at 29%, edging past white at 28%, a measurable sign that homeowners are increasingly favoring warmer, natural-looking surfaces over the bright, all-white look that dominated prior years. That does not directly measure wall paint, but it points to a broader preference for warmth in renovation decisions.
Houzz has also been more explicit about the color direction itself. Its 2026 Emerging Summer Trends Report highlighted warm, earthy colors, and separate Houzz editorial trend coverage said the era of all-white interiors and icy gray palettes has “come to an end,” reflecting what its design contributors are seeing in client work. Forbes’ summary of the Houzz report similarly noted that warm, earthy tones are taking center stage in current home design.
Even so, the data remains nuanced. Houzz’s 2025 U.S. Kitchen Trends Study still reported that white remained the leading wall color in kitchens, which shows the transition is gradual rather than absolute. In other words, homeowners are not abandoning white everywhere at once; they are increasingly mixing in warmer cabinet finishes, earthier accents and more complex neutrals, especially where they want a room to feel less clinical.
What is not yet publicly confirmed is a single nationwide count showing exactly how many homeowners chose Cinnamon Slate over white walls in 2025 or 2026. Paint brands publish trend forecasts and selected bestseller information, but they have not released a comprehensive, room-by-room national ledger for this specific comparison. The clearest confirmed takeaway is that white remains widely used, while warmer neutrals and muted colors are gaining share and visibility across multiple categories of home renovation.
Designers say warmth, flexibility and livability are driving the change
The main reason designers understand the shift is practical: white can be difficult to get right. Benjamin Moore’s own white paint guidance says choosing the right white is an enduring challenge because undertones and surrounding light can change how it reads from room to room. That technical reality helps explain why many homeowners are considering colors that still behave like neutrals but offer more forgiveness and more visual depth.
Sherwin-Williams has described Sunbleached, one of its featured 2025 neutrals, as a shade that sits between warm and cool and helps people ease away from cool grays. Behr’s 2025 trend content makes a similar case for Even Better Beige, calling it a versatile neutral with a warm and distinctive feel. Those brand statements align with what trend editors and designers have been reporting for the past year: homeowners want rooms that feel calm and settled, but not sterile.
Industry reporting has repeatedly tied that preference to a larger rejection of sharp, high-contrast interiors. Houzz’s broader 2026 trend coverage linked the shift to biophilic, nature-inspired design, while design publications have framed the change as a move toward layered warmth, earthy tones and more collected-looking rooms. In that context, Cinnamon Slate works because it reads as a neutral first, but carries enough plum-brown undertone to add character that plain white walls often do not provide.
For homeowners, the practical implication is straightforward. White is still a common and usable choice, but the current market is giving equal or greater attention to off-whites, warm beiges, soft taupes and “quietly colorful” shades like Cinnamon Slate. Based on the paint-brand releases and Houzz trend reports now in circulation, residents planning a repaint in 2026 should expect to see more warm-neutral recommendations from retailers, designers and inspiration platforms than they would have several years ago.