How to Use Pantone’s Minimal Colour of the Year: Advice from AD100 Designers on Uplifting Off-White Interiors

AD100 designers chip on the best ways to bathe your space in the colour of the year, proving that off-white interiors need not boring.

When Minimal was announce the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2026, the design world didn’t receive another bold directive to drench homes in a single shade. Instead, it was handed something more nuanced: an invitation to reconsider off-white not as a default neutral, but as a material with depth. To understand what that looks like in practice, we spoke to AD100 designers about how they’re using off-white today, from texture and light to scale and restraint.

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The distinction matters. Paint is flat, passive, a backdrop. But when off-white reads as stone, plaster or linen, it becomes an active participant in a room's atmosphere. This shift, from colour to material, is where the real potential lies.​

“Off-white is a colour found in nature through stone, light woods, pale plaster, limewash and in the way daylight settles on mineral surfaces,” says Lebanese designer and architect Carl Gerges. “Across Mediterranean and Middle Eastern architecture, these tones have long been used for their sustainability, durability, and ability to age gracefully.”

The key is to think beyond the paint swatch. Consider what the shade looks like when it's embodied in raw linen that catches light differently at every angle, or in unlacquered wood that reveals its grain through tonal variation. These materials carry memory and texture in ways that paint, no matter how expertly applied, simply cannot replicate.

“Beyond paint, materials such as plaster, stone, linen, and ceramics elevate off-white by introducing tactility and variation,” says Dubai-based interior designer Hana Akram. “We are drawn to it when it reads as a material rather than a colour choice. Stone, unlacquered wood, raw linen, bouclé, ceramic, and woven surfaces all carry tones that feel alive and dimensional, holding nuance, warmth, and shadow in a way paint alone often cannot.”

“A common pitfall is treating off-white as safe,” says Saudi designer Nebras AlJoaib. “When everything is uniformly smooth or evenly lit, the space loses tension. Off-white needs friction, texture, scale, or a deliberate interruption to feel intentional rather than empty. It’s rarely the focal point, but it’s always essential: the connective tissue that allows everything else to exist. Living rooms and bedrooms are where it feels most impactful – spaces that allow calm and continuity so subtle variations can be felt rather than announced.”

The most common mistake isn't choosing the wrong shade; it's treating the entire space as if it should speak in the same voice. A room that relies on a single finish, no matter how beautiful, risks becoming monotonous. The solution isn't contrast for its own sake, but rather a deliberate layering of textures that create rhythm and visual interest.​

“The key to making the space feel interesting and less clinical is to avoid using similar finishes on everything. Play with texture and finishes to create a more dynamic space,” Emirati interior architect Alamira Noor Bani Hashim explains.​

In practice, this might mean introducing grout lines that cast shadows, specifying tiles in two different finishes to break up expansive floors, or layering wall treatments at different heights. The goal isn't to see each texture individually, but to feel the cumulative effect, a sense of dimensionality that keeps the eye moving. Akram has tested this principle across hospitality projects, where the challenge of maintaining visual interest in large, open commercial spaces becomes particularly acute.

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​“To avoid flatness, we rely on layering rather than contrast alone,” says Akram. “In one F&B project, a terracotta tiled flooring brought warmth and character, but when used continuously, it felt too intense for the desired aesthetic. Introducing a complementary tile softened the overall effect, creating rhythm and visual pauses that allowed the terracotta to read as richer rather than overpowering. Texture, grout depth, and the way the surface responds to light were as important as the colour itself.”​

The same principle applies to vertical surfaces, particularly in spaces with challenging proportions. When working with rooms that have unusually high ceilings, designers often face the risk of creating a single, overwhelming expanse of white that feels more institutional than intimate.

“In another project, a bakery with very high ceilings, we wanted the walls to remain off-white while avoiding the feeling of a single, uninterrupted surface,” says Akram. “By breaking the wall composition and introducing a second off-white through a different popcorn finish texture, we were able to control scale and introduce depth while maintaining a restrained palette."

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​Museums paint their walls white for a reason: it’s not about the wall. When handled well, off-white becomes a form of restraint and a way of giving other elements room to lead. This is especially effective in rooms with strong furniture, art or architecture.

“When working with a single colour, commit fully to the envelope,” says Syrian-American designer Nicholas Obeid. “Cover walls, ceiling, furniture, fixtures, and window treatments in the same chalky ivory tone — this cohesion is what makes the approach work. Concentrate your colour deliberately, like in this Greenwich Village bedroom where the rules are loosened only on textiles: mustard pillows, a gray and golden linen coverlet, and a chartreuse rug. The off-white backdrop amplifies whatever tones you introduce.”​

Gerges has employed this strategy across residential projects in different urban contexts, recognising that the role of off-white shifts depending on what else occupies the room.

​“In more urban settings, such as our latest private residence in Beirut and the Noura Arida apartment in Paris, off-white becomes a composed backdrop that allows colour, art, and furniture to emerge, creating contrast and moments of subtle intensity without overwhelming the space,” says Gerges.

The technique requires discipline. It means resisting the urge to add pattern or colour where it isn't needed, trusting that the carefully selected pieces will carry the room's visual weight. When every surface competes for attention, nothing truly stands out. But in a deliberately minimal palette, each choice becomes intentional.

“The contrast between a softly lime-washed bone white wall against a high-gloss black chunky piece of furniture is impactful and creates tension,” Alamira Noor Bani Hashim explains. ‘It allows for the carefully curated pieces to speak."

Not every room can handle off-white in the same way. The colour needs space to unfold. In compact rooms with low ceilings, an all-white scheme might feel cramped or clinical. But in large, open-plan living areas or double-height spaces, it has the room it needs to breathe, to shift with the light and to create those essential moments of visual pause.

This is particularly true in rooms with strong architectural features. High ceilings, expansive windows, or distinctive materiality all benefit from a palette that doesn't fight for dominance. Off-white becomes the connecting tissue that allows different elements, such as stone floors, timber beams, and floor-to-ceiling glazing, to coexist without visual chaos.

“It is especially impactful in large, open rooms or spaces with strong material identities, such as living areas or double height spaces, where colour needs room to breathe and moments of visual pause become essential,” says Akram.

The principle extends beyond interior volumes. In architectural contexts, off-white can help buildings integrate with their surroundings rather than impose upon them, a particularly relevant consideration in landscapes where built forms sit alongside natural terrain. Gerges explores this relationship in projects where the boundary between architecture and landscape becomes deliberately blurred.

“Off-white allows architecture to blend rather than impose itself,” he adds. “At Villa A, off-white operates at the scale of the landscape, where stone and concrete respond to light, weather, and seasonal change, becoming part of the terrain rather than a surface treatment.”

​Off-white is never static. Its appearance shifts constantly depending on the quality and direction of light. Morning sun renders it warm and golden, overcast conditions reveal cooler undertones, and artificial lighting at night creates yet another interpretation. This changeability is one of its greatest assets, but it requires consideration during the design process.

The interplay between off-white surfaces and light can be subtle or dramatic. In Mediterranean climates, strong sunlight creates pronounced shadows that give texture and relief to pale surfaces. In northern light or heavily shaded rooms, those same surfaces might appear flat without careful attention to finish and materiality.

Understanding this relationship means thinking about orientation, window placement, and how rooms will be used throughout the day. A breakfast room that receives direct morning light might embrace warmer off-white tones, while an evening living space could lean slightly cooler.

Artificial lighting becomes equally important; layered light sources at different temperatures can amplify the tonal shifts that make off-white spaces feel alive. This temporal quality becomes particularly evident in projects with strong exposure to natural elements.

Perhaps the most crucial distinction in working with off-white interiors is recognising the difference between choosing the colour deliberately and defaulting to it out of indecision. The former creates spaces with clarity and purpose. The latter produces rooms that feel unfinished or generic, neutral not because they're thoughtfully restrained, but because no real choices were made.

Restraint, properly understood, is an active decision. It means editing ruthlessly, understanding when to add and when to hold back, and recognising that every element in a room should justify its presence. An off-white scheme executed with this level of intention feels curated rather than cautious.

“Minimal rooms are never really about absence but about restraint, which I find I practice quite heavily,” Alamira Noor Bani Hashim explains. "When done well, they create a quiet backdrop that allows every decision to feel intentional rather than overshadowed,” she adds. “Using off-white isn't about a neutral backdrop that erases, but about intentionally editing.”

A mistake to avoid is treating off-white as a safe choice – something that offends no one but excites no one either. Without variation in texture, without dialogue with other materials, without attention to light and scale, off-white becomes precisely what its critics claim: bland, forgettable, and flat.