Ideal Home reacts to Etsy's first-ever colours of the year

Etsy has picked a joint winner for its colour of the year – here's what we think

navy living room with gold curtains and christmas tree
(Image credit: Future PLC)

It's that time of year again! When we look ahead to next year's interior trends, from living room trends to paint trends, and imagine what our future homes might look like.

Last week, Pantone unveiled Viva Magenta as its colour of the year, and now Etsy has revealed the colours it predicts will be setting the tone for 2023. This year and for the first time ever, Etsy has released two Colours of the Year for 2023 – indigo and honeycomb. 

Here's what we think of the colour pairing.

navy living room with yellow accents

(Image credit: Future PLC)

Etsy colour of the year: indigo and honeycomb

Etsy has chosen to 'embrace the theme of duality around contrast and exploring opposites' by choosing two highly contrasting shades. 'The former [indigo] represents wisdom and intuition whereas the latter [honeycomb] reminds us to appreciate and protect the intelligence of nature that exists all around us,' says Etsy.

The online retailer explains that indigo and honeycomb bring out each other's radiance. Indigo is a high-impact, futuristic tone that combines blue and violet, while honeycomb lights up a room and reminds us of naturally occurring golden tones.

navy living room with yellow accents

(Image credit: Future PLC / Chris Snook)

We think dark blue and mustard colour schemes can look really stylish, and adding a few honeycomb accessories like cushions, curtains, vases and artwork is a lovely way to update existing blue living room ideas. Whether you go for deep, inky indigo or something more along the lines of navy, dark blues are really liveable shades ideal for living rooms, hallways and bedrooms. 

'I'm loving Etsy's colours of the year – my living room is navy and it's making me want to add in some warm golden tones, which will look great alongside Christmas decorations and on into the new year,' says Ideal Home Deputy Editor (digital) Rebecca Knight. 'After lots of green tones dominating colour trends it's interesting to see Etsy suggesting we'll be leaning into something a little moodier and darker.'

kitchen and dining area with wooden chairs in navy and yellow

(Image credit: Future PLC / David Parmiter)

'Etsy's colours of the year are a combination that's sure to command any room,' says Ideal Home Junior Writer Jullia Joson. 'It's an eye-catching combo and offers many opportunities to play around with different decor pieces and materials. 'I'm a fan of the honeycomb, especially, and will definitely be trying to incorporate it into my own space,' she says. 

As blue and yellow sit directly opposite each other on the colour wheel, this duo creates a sense of harmony, and indigo and honeycomb feel like a nice grown-up version of these complementary shades. What do you think of Etsy's colour of the year?

Millie Hurst
Senior Content Editor

Millie Hurst was Senior Content Editor at Ideal Home from 2020-2022, and is now Section Editor at Homes & Gardens. Before stepping into the world of interiors, she worked as a Senior SEO Editor for News UK in both London and New York. You can usually find her looking up trending terms and finding real-life budget makeovers our readers love. Millie came up with the website's daily dupes article which gives readers ways to curate a stylish home for less.