Jenna Lyons predicts this exact color will be big news in 2022

The shade combines two of the most fashionable hues of the season – because of course it does

Small sage green kitchen with open shelving
(Image credit: Anna Stathaki)

When it comes to choosing a new shade for the year ahead, you could do far worse than follow the prediction of style guru Jenna Lyons. The interiors expert has aptly joined The Expert – a virtual service that gives offers a 1:1 consultation with a designer – and to celebrate, she shared her color trend forecast for the new year. So, what will set the tone this 2022? 

The color in question is gray-green – a dusty tone that blends two of the most fashionable hues of the recent year, naturally. In an Instagram live discussion with designer Jake Arnold, Jenna revealed her forecast for the future.

‘Gray-green. A very gray-green. I’m obsessed with green,’ Jenna says. Jake similarly remarked that gray-green is one of those colors that ‘just works,’ before Jenna further reinforced her love for the color. ‘I totally agree,’ she adds. ‘I love a gray-green.’

Gray-green dining table in a room designed by Annie Sloan

(Image credit: Annie Sloan)

However, Jenna’s interior design trend predictions don’t end there. Alongside her paint forecast, the designer shared her admiration for another statement that is currently taking over our kitchens and bathroom ideas: marble. I really love dramatic marble… it’s pretty cool. People are taking risks [with marble], and it’s so fun,’ she adds. 

And if Jenna and Jake haven’t already convinced you to revolutionize your painted wall ideas, color expert Annie Sloan similarly urges you to go green – with a gray twist. 

Lime green living room with abstract artwork

(Image credit: Little Greene)

‘I love grey-greens as neutrals, and so should you, because they’re a very forgiving base,’ Annie explains. She suggests spreading the color across your walls for an  'immediately luxurious' and 'immediately refined' look that is always fashionable – but never cold. 

The paint expert particularly recommends using the color in hallways, porches 'to provide a wonderful first impression of just what a tasteful person you are.' She also urges you to bring the shade into your kitchen – to get ahead of the trend and embrace the green kitchen idea of the (very near) future. 

Similarly, global paint companies, including Farrow & Ball and Sherwin-Williams, have recently labeled gray-green as their Colors of the Year for 2022. So, you can rest easy that Jenna is in great company. Well, she is the expert, after all.  

Megan Slack

Megan is the News and Trends Editor at Homes & Gardens. She first joined Future Plc as a News Writer across their interiors titles, including Livingetc and Real Homes. As the News Editor, she often focuses on emerging microtrends, well-being stories, and celebrity-focused pieces.


Before joining Future, Megan worked as a News Explainer at The Telegraph, following her MA in International Journalism at the University of Leeds. During her BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, she gained writing experience in the US whilst studying in New York. Megan also focused on travel writing during her time living in Paris, where she produced content for a French travel site.