What is Color Capping?
I’m breaking down 2026’s first interior design trend. Here’s what you need to know and how to achieve in your own home.
I previously wrote about Color Capping in this blog post (if you want to know my other favorite trends for 2026, save that page to read later!).
Color Drenching
To understand color capping, you should first know color drenching. This was a big trend in 2025 will all the walls, trim and ceiling being painted one color. If you wanted to really go the extra mile, you would have also added furniture, rugs and art with the same tones as the paint.
Color Capping
For color capping, think color drenching, but with a different color on the crown and ceiling. This is usually within the same color family just a shade or two darker, but it could also be a contrasting color, if you are feeling a little bold.
How I Would Use
Paint is such an easy and relatively inexpensive way to transform any room, and color capping just adds a little extra drama! I would love to do this in an older historic home, maybe a craftsman style with original moulding. This would be a great way to modernize the space, but keep the character.
If you want a more modern home and don’t want to add a crown, I would tape off the wall about 12-15” down from the ceiling and paint that section of wall the same color as your ceiling. This will create the illusion of trim, without any applied mouldings. This will also give a more contemporary and clean look to this trend.
In my opinion, this can only be done in closed rooms, or rooms that have natural breaks in the ceiling. I also probably wouldn’t want to see this on any vaulted ceilings. So, open-concept living/dining rooms are out for me.
What are your thoughts on this trend? Is it something you would be willing to try? If you like the idea but need a jumping off point, here are four color combos I put together to get you started:
