Hardwood Floors December 2024/January 2025

Design Trends (Continued) AkzoNobel’s Color of the Year for 2025 is True Joy TM – a sunny yellow shade that brings optimism, pride and a splash of vibrant color. The color is intended to inspire customers to celebrate their roots and their creativity. It is for those who wish to embrace the optimism of moving forward and bringing certainty to an otherwise uncertain world. True Joy™ is a recognition that change also can be an opportunity for reimagination and for creating something better. It is a color that embodies a desire to embrace the unknown, celebrate craftsmanship, and accept who we are. There are three supporting color stories for wood coatings to inspire designers and manufacturers to differentiate their products and provide colors and finishes that reflect a variety of moods and match their customer’s design preferences: Bold – an invitation to leave your comfort zone and inject adventure with bright and uplifting colors. Human – a reminder to bring creativity with unique touches and finishes that exude craftsmanship to help people to feel connected to the natural world around them. Proud – a celebration of personality and giving your customer the opportunity to embrace their identity and have the confidence to create a home that’s just as unique as they are.

We know that different wood products require specially crafted finishes, and flooring coatings often are used to highlight and play with the natural beauty of the wood rather than to cover a blank surface. It’s important to create coatings that combine on-trend colors with natural finishes that maintain good clarity and grain definition. Great color is just the beginning. Innovative solutions that align with future trends help shape the future of the hardwood flooring sector with products that inspire optimism and bring joy to customers’ spaces. Bryan Hodges is the color and design manager for wood finishes at the global paints and coatings company AkzoNobel. For more information, visit akzonobel.com.

For additional information about

wood flooring finishes, check out the NWFA's Technical Guidelines at NWFA.ORG/TECHNICAL- GUIDELINES/.

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