The Benjamin Moore Paint Color of the Year 2026, Silhouette, has officially been announced, and its corresponding Color Trends 2026 palette is on track to start trending.
Silhouette (AF-655) is the Benjamin Moore 2026 Color of the Year, and it’s a deep, moody hue that brings both interest and comfort to any space.
According to Benjamin Moore, Color Marketing and Design Director Andrea Magno, “The connection between fashion and interiors has always been a source of inspiration, but this year in particular, we’ve noticed a renewed interest in suiting and classic silhouettes; the resurgence of timeless pieces; and the growing interest in the brown color family.”
Silhouette is such a curious color. It’s a brown paint color, but it’s a very cool (cold) brown. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring this color, both since the Color of the Year 2026 announcement and throughout my career as a paint color consultant.
We’ve used it a lot for exterior color palettes, especially along rooflines, but its status as Color of the Year has definitely got me thinking about all the ways I could use this hue as interior paint.
In this post, I’ll review Benjamin Moore Silhouette and share how you can use the entire BM Color Trends 2026 palette throughout your home.
All of these paint colors are available in Benjamin Moore paint stores nationwide.
Note: We used photos courtesy of Benjamin Moore because we don’t have most of these in our collection of projects yet, but aren’t compensated by them.
*This post contains affiliate links for Samplize products. If you click on some links and make a purchase, I will get a small commission at no cost to you. This helps pay for the costs of the blog, so I can continue to offer great content to our readers.
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What Color is Benjamin Moore Silhouette?
Silhouette (Sample) is a very rich chocolate brown with cool undertones. Benjamin Moore often pulls from the fashion world when picking its Color of the Year, and Silhouette is no exception.
Rich brown colors are absolutely trending for clothes and accessories this year. My brand new purse, for example, (pictured below) is a very similar hue to the Color of the Year. While last season’s colors trended more to purples and burgundies, this year, a unique cool flavor of chocolate brown is everywhere in the fashion world.
What is the BM Silhouette LRV?
Silhouette has an LRV of 10.18. It’s certainly a dark paint color, but it’s not particularly dark when it comes to browns. There are many darker browns out there. This actually makes this color ideal for interior accent walls, rooms, and cabinets because it won’t overwhelm a space – especially if it’s balanced with lots of light.
What are the Silhouette undertones?
Silhouette has violet undertones that are part of what makes this color so unique and interesting. It’s definitely brown, but also has aspects of a deep violet-gray paint color.
Is BM Silhouette warm or cool?
While we often think of brown paint colors as being inherently warm, Silhouette is actually quite cool.
Using BM Silhouette Interior Paint
While we’ve most often used Silhouette as an exterior paint color for our color consulting clients, I’m now fully sold on using it as an interior color. Read on for some of our top ideas for using this hue in your home.
Can you use BM Silhouette as an interior whole-house color?
No, Silhouette would not be a good interior whole-house color (Article). It’s too dark and too bold for an entire home. It may become overwhelming in a large, open-concept space or throughout an entire home.
It is, however, a beautiful paint color for single rooms, accent walls (Article), and other details throughout a home, including in home decor. I would love to paint Silhouette wainscoting for a powder room or dining room. It could also be beautiful as a color-drenched (Article) bedroom or office.
Should I try BM Silhouette cabinets?
I think Silhouette cabinets would be gorgeous! It would work especially well as darker lower cabinets in a tuxedo kitchen palette, paired with warm white or clean white upper cabinets (Article). To keep it from looking too heavy, make sure that you balance with light countertop and backsplash.
Should I try color drenching Silhouette?
Silhouette is a great option for color drenching. Color drenching traditionally has involved painting the walls, trim and ceiling all one color. But I’m seeing more and more homeowners keeping their trim white while drenching the walls and ceilings in a bold color.
In their Color of the Year photos, Benjamin Moore has done the same thing, pairing Silhouette (and other bold hues) with BM Swiss Coffee (Article) trim for contrast and warmth, such as in the room pictured below. I love that they picked Swiss Coffee because its so creamy. A lighter or cooler white would have been too stark to pair with these rich, moody colors.
I think this is a very nice use of the color. I’m always a little afraid to completely drench trim, walls and ceiling with this dark a color because it can be quite oppressive. But the contrast of white trim offers the perfect balance.
Using Benjamin Moore Silhouette Exterior Paint
BM Silhouette exterior paint is how I’ve most commonly used this hue in my color consulting practice. I especially love to use Silhouette as a dark exterior trim color (Article) along a roofline or anywhere else you need contrast.
On the client’s home below, for example, we used Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze (Article) for the window frames, garage doors, roofline trim, gutters, and downspouts. Benjamin Moore Silhouette would look very similar, and would also be beautiful with this brown brick.
Using the 2026 Color of the Year Palette
In addition to naming Silhouette its 2026 Color of the Year, Benjamin Moore also released a coordinating Color Trends palette featuring 7 other gorgeous paint colors. The full palette is below:
- Silhouette (AF-655)
- Raindance (1572)
- First Crush (CSP-310)
- Swiss Coffee (OC-45)
- Batik (AF-610)
- Narragansett Green (HC-157)
- Southwest Pottery (048)
- Sherwood Tan (1054)
The Color Trends palette is designed to be used as guideline for a whole-house color scheme. In past years, I haven’t always loved all of the hues suggested as part of the COTY palette, but this year Benjamin Moore has absolutely nailed it.
We use most of these colors on a regular basis, and the ones that we don’t regularly use, I have already fallen in love with.
The palette features one of our favorite foundational white paint colors, Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee, and brings in plenty of color with greens, and warm pinks and terracotta while still remaining muted.
As you explore the 2026 Color Trends, note that the colors in this palette aren’t just for paint colors. You can also use them for decor and other accents. Weave the colors into your accent pillows, furniture, rugs, and art. You might even discover you already have many of the colors in your home.
Keep reading for a look at the best ways to use all the colors in this BM Silhouette color palette.
BM First Crush – Whole-House Neutral
For whole-house color schemes, we like to start with a foundation neutral. This is the color that you would paint any open concept areas and other common areas such as staircases and hallways – plus any other rooms you want.
In this palette, First Crush would be a great light neutral. It’s kind of an old-school color – a variation of what we saw in the Tuscan era but lighter and cleaner. It’s a pinky-beige, similar, and lighter than Sherwin-Williams Natural Linen (Article).
If you want to add warmth to your home, First Crush walls would definitely do the trick.
BM Swiss Coffee – Trim & Ceiling
Swiss Coffee (Article) is one of our favorite white paint colors of all time. It is warm and inviting, with invisible green undertones that keep it from looking yellow on the wall. We use this color often in our color consulting practice. The photo below, for example, is our client’s home painted with Swiss Coffee walls, trim, and ceilings in different sheens. You could even use this as the foundation wall color in your palette if you wanted to use a creamy white instead of a light beige like First Crush.
This is a fantastic color for trim and ceilings, especially with this earthier palette. Throughout its Color of the Year images, Benjamin Moore has paired Swiss Coffee trim with some of the bolder, darker colors in this palette. Its warmth and contrast really helps them come alive!
In the photo below, for example, Swiss Coffee trim paired with Silhouette walls and ceiling in the entryway looks so earthy, warm, and inviting.
BM Silhouette – Accent Rooms & Color Drenching
Of course, we can’t forget about the 2026 Color of the Year itself! Silhouette, as we’ve already discussed earlier in this post, is a gorgeous accent paint color for walls or even whole rooms.
You could completely color-drench a room in this hue, but I’m loving the trend we’re seeing lately of keeping the trim white with walls and ceiling drenched in one color. It adds just a bit more contrast, makes the whole look less oppressive with a dark color like Silhouette, and is also easier (and less expensive) to update if trends change down the line.
Of course, Silhouette also works as a traditional accent wall paint color, like in the image below.
BM Southwest Pottery – Accent Color
And we’re seeing a lot of these terracottas, like the southwest pottery color, also a good exterior front door color.
I have so much love for this color – it’s the kind of color that could really bring a secondary room to life! Benjamin Moore is presenting it as a bold paint color for accent walls and accent rooms, such as bedrooms. I had a bedroom painted in a similar hue for many years and absolutely loved it.
BM Narragansett Green – Powder Room Paint Color
Greens (Article) continue to be some of the most popular paint colors in 2026. Narragansett Green is a gorgeous, super-dark green that we’ve used as exterior paint multiple times for our clients. In the palette below, for example, we recommended Narragansett Green as the timber color for a modern Tudor home (Article).
You could also use this color in a bathroom or powder room. Just make sure you have plenty of light! I absolutely love the way the bathroom pictured below is drenched with Narragansett Green on the walls and ceiling, but contrasted with BM Swiss Coffee trim.
This would also be gorgeous in an office as an accent wall or a color for built-in cabinets.
In the image below, for example, our SEO specialist Danielle’s office built-ins are painted with BM Salamander (Article), which is a very similar hue.
BM Sherwood Tan – Kitchen or Dining Room Paint Color
Sherwood Tan is a gorgeous color for any kind of smaller room in your home, such as a dining room, study or even a kitchen. It’s a very warm hue that brings so much energy and light to a space. Although it looks warmer in the photo, it actually has green undertones.
BM Raindance – Bedroom Paint Color
Raindance is a color we’ve used for primary bedrooms, nurseries, and kids’ bedrooms. It’s a great bedroom paint color (Article) because it’s calming but still fun and colorful.
Photo courtesy of Benjamin Moore
On occasion, we’ve even used it for cabinets in a really beachy house or as an exterior door color (Article), such as the client’s home pictured below.
BM Batik – Children’s Bedroom Paint Color
Batik is a gorgeous blush color – almost a light mauve. It actually reminds me of a lighter version of the 2025 Color of the Year, Cinnamon Slate (Article).
This would be a beautiful color for a nursery or kids’ bedroom, but could also work for an office or study if you really love pink. I have a client right now who’s looking for a pink office and I plan to recommend this color.
What is the best way to test the Benjamin Moore 2026 Color Trend paint colors?
We always recommend that you test paint colors on your home because lighting can change a color completely, both with interiors as well as exteriors.
In the old days, this meant we painted a large poster board with sample pots and a huge mess.
Now we have a better way to test paint, with Samplize Peel-and-Stick samples!
- Samples pre-painted with 2 coats of real paint from the manufacturer.
- Large 9” x 14” samples to see the color better in the lighting.
- Delivered overnight
- Colors are accurate
- Less expensive than painting a large poster board with sample pots
- No mess, and no toxic paint to dispose of
I use these in my own color consulting practice for exact results. Discover Samplize peel-and-stick paint samples:
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Sample the individual paint colors in this BM Silhouette color scheme by linking to the colors below:
- Silhouette (AF-655)
- Raindance (1572)
- First Crush (CSP-310)
- Swiss Coffee (OC-45)
- Batik (AF-610)
- Narragansett Green (HC-157)
- Southwest Pottery (048)
- Sherwood Tan (1054)
Or, use the link below to sample the full 2026 Color Trends palette.
Benjamin Moore Silhouette Alternatives
One of my favorite ways to get to know a paint color better is to compare it to other similar hues. Undertones become more clear when you directly compare colors, and it’s easier to see just how muted (or not muted) a color is.
Here are some of the best alternatives to BM Silhouette:
Benjamin Moore Silhouette vs Sherwin-Williams Stony Creek
Stony Creek is by far the closest match to BM Silhouette. It has an LRV of 9, so it’s just slightly darker than Silhouette. But it has similar violet undertones and is similarly muted.
Benjamin Moore Silhouette vs Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze
SW Urbane Bronze is a very popular color that was the SW Color of the Year back in 2021. It is similar to Silhouette but a bit darker (with an LRV of 8) and much warmer, thanks to green undertones.
Benjamin Moore Silhouette vs Sherwin-Williams Black Fox
SW Black Fox is another similar hue. It is warmer and browner than Silhouette, with green undertones. It’s also much darker, with an LRV of 7. Black Fox is more likely than Silhouette to look black in dimly lit interiors because of its LRV.
Benjamin Moore Silhouette vs Sherwin-Williams Porpoise
SW Porpoise is essentially a lighter version of Urbane Bronze. It is lighter than Silhouette, with an LRV of 13. It is similarly muted but is warmer, with strong green undertones.
Key Learning Points
Benjamin Moore launched their 2026 Color of the Year, Silhouette, and we couldn’t be more excited to see where this color goes.
- Silhouette is a deep, muted brown with violet undertones that add depth and interest to this color.
- The 2026 Color of the Year palette can also be used as a whole-house palette.
- Balance Silhouette with warm whites (like BM Swiss Coffee) and style it with the other colors in the 2026 palette.
Remember: NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may truly believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here.
No matter what, always test your paint colors. It’s a standard best practice. Whenever I test my paint colors, they are perfect, and when I don’t test they turn out wrong. Learn how to test your paint colors here.
Online Color Consulting
If you still need help with paint colors, check out our Online Color Consulting packages or an In-Person Color Consultation in the Denver Metro area.
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- Sherwin-Williams 2024 Color of the Year
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- Benjamin Moore White Dove Color Review
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person. I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is impossible to give specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, please consider purchasing a color consultation. Thank you for your understanding.
