Transformative Teal: Why this calming blue-green is the key to embracing bold, personalised colour
Crown Paints combines Teal with dark blue (woodwork), Indulgence from the Crafted collection.
It’s no secret that next year will accelerate a dramatic return to the kind of highly personalised decorating that was steadily obliterated from the end of the 1990s.
Cloud grey and chill white caverns of chic will be pushed aside in favour of something more openly emotional, striding away from the paralysing terror of decorating to please a future buyer.
Interior trends are fickle. It’s unlikely most of us will spontaneously slosh up melodramatic paintwork in every corner and shovel our homes with sentimental stuff from stem to stern.
It is probable that spurred on by everyday decorators on social media, we will put our shivering toes back into more expressive, energising colour and character. Adding colour for one person might be just putting a vibrant throw on a bed, whereas for someone else it could be a full-on, house-wide reimagining in theatrical shades.
Colours of the year are stirred into life by industry-led think-tanks. A beautiful family of popular colours, sapphire blues and teal appear in a fashion cycle about every six years.
Dulux have shattered the Colour-of-the-Year moniker, vouching for a triumvirate of three cool, true, contemporary blues to accompany their quiet browns (Rhythm of Blues in Slow Swing/Free Groove/Mellow Flow).
Mellow Flow, a delicate silvery, cornflower blue, marketed as a supporting player to the other powerful indigos, is the real winner for me. Otherwise, it’s all a bit visually exhausting and a teenage boy’s bedroom.
Another of the most powerful of the global market analysists WSGN and Coloro make longer term, macro predictions to last more than a mere 12 months. Introduced right back in November of 2024, they declared Transformative Teal as their colour for 2026.
Could teal be warmer, easier to scheme with and live with than darker, typical blues? Let’s explore the depth and dimensionality this stunner has to offer.
Teal is a combination of dark blue and green, and it is named for the coloured mask on the eye of the Eurasian Teal, a sweet little dabbling duck we have here in Ireland in summer. A classic teal is really quite deep, but it is on offer in more dilute, aquatic varieties of the blue/green family.
Expect to find it dialled up into both celestial, dusty shades and mesmerising, rich oceanic tones in the lookbooks of wallpaper makers, paint makers, fabric houses, fashion design, and accessorising of all kinds. When actor Stanley Tucci launched his range of Italian-made cookware right back last spring, I wasn’t surprised to see that he included a mouth-watering Venetian Teal.
Compelling but not a wild, eccentric teal plays well against many blues and greens, and with the jewel flash of intense tourmaline, it sits up proudly against white and our favourite, fragile neutrals. It’s up to you to go for something more blue or green-tinted, as you can pull either colour forward by adding tonal or contrasting colours to your wider decorating.
Easy companion colours for teal include soft powder pinks, mint and olive greens, baby blues, copper and gold, and various other greens and blues. Adding sumptuous new colour, you can freshen it up by just using a white or neutral background.
If you’re looking for a sophisticated tonal match anywhere in the house, try mustard, emerald green or a clay brown (also feted for 2026 scheming). Psychologically, teal like all blues is calming with a short wavelength, making it less energising than yellow, for example.
If you are unsure about the contemporary clout of dark topaz blue in your kitchen cabinets (a must-have from 2020 to 2024), teal is slightly softer than that poster paint chill, and looks gorgeous against copper, timber, plants and a range of wall colours including pink inclined off-whites and delicate cooler greens.
Teal is excellent in a sophisticated mid-century palette, and it has a stirring tropical feel in a bluer choice. It’s a cool tone, but again, not as shrill as a true blue can be.
Consider taking teal to say one hero piece in an all-white, pale grey or stainless-steel kitchen. You could use just a pantry cupboard, a plate rack, or a dresser, or even mix up two shades of built-in cabinetry, grounding the kitchen in teal base units.
Colour inside glazed cupboards can offer a punch of wonderful colour in the iciest surroundings. Teal inside white cabinetry using paint or wallpaper? Clean, crisp, simply gorgeous.
Gold and brass highlights are a favourite for this multi-faceted colour. One brilliant and much-loved arrangement is blue teal velvet against putty grey walls, so if you are already into grey – this little bit of peacock blue with a lovely sofa or chair could make the scheme sing.
Every paint maker offers teal colours, and there really is something for every budget. Starting with inspiration from Farrow & Ball, Vardo 288 is a charming, well-balanced blue/green teal, named for the highly decorated traditional horse-drawn Romany wagons painted with these colours.
Mere Green 219 takes this shade down a little darker. Coppice Blue G9 is just that bit bluer and is derived by a stately home in the English Cotswolds. 2.5l of Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion, €78 from a range of suppliers.
Dulux includes a lovely, slightly blue Teal Voyage, and a determinedly greener Finest Turquoise, in their family of colours (stunning against a white marble or quartz worktop). From €12 per litre, depending on the can size.
As with any paint, these shades will respond to the light and aspect of whatever room you’re considering, so test on all walls at various times of the day under natural and artificial light. For the ultimate in that enfolding jewel box feel, cloak the whole room, ceiling and all, and rely on your artificial lighting to deliver intense, sensual shadow in your teal room.
Crown styles dark blue woodwork against its signature Teal, a very striking idea for cloaking a period room with timber window mouldings in their Crafted collection in Indulgence (a multi-surface emulsion from €47 for 2.5l, various suppliers).
Fleetwood includes a gorgeous Avalon Teal - deep and luxuriant, and typical of true teals, it’s perfect for a colour drench in a bedroom if you fancy cocooning comfort. They suggest combining it with a softer, eggshell blue to prevent it from becoming too overpowering.
Avalon Teal is available in Fleetwood’s Super-Flex opaque wood paint for cladding and woodwork if you want to take it outside, priced from €25 per litre. Darker again? Choose Fleetwood Deep Teal.
Don’t neglect the power of colour-blocking in a contemporary space, using teal and any deeper shade. This can not only create visual interest but also be used to manipulate the dimensions of walls and even the height of your ceiling.
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