Cream, Brown, and Just The Right Amount of Orange: Kirk Douglas's '80s Living Room Predicted 2026's Most Popular Color Palette

Popular color palettes are cyclical. About every 20 years, we can expect to see a return of the shades from two decades ago. That's why, when we want truly innovative interior design inspiration, we tend to turn to the past. Today's source material is Kirk Douglas's living room in 1984.

An archival photo of the actor and producer's home is the embodiment of warm neutrals. The living room color palette combines cream walls with brown furnishings, and rounds it out with burnt orange accents (These $9 cushions from Amazon are a great option for recreating the look). The effect is earthy and inviting.

Interestingly, Douglas's choice of colors is more characteristic of '70s trends than the aesthetics of the '80s. According to the experts, these shades are right in line with the color palettes we expect to be most popular in 2026. Given that they were still stylish 15 years after they were first popularized, it's no surprise that this warm neutral color palette is once again en vogue.

Hannah Armstrong, Senior Furniture Buyer and interiors expert at Heal’s, explains, 'Towards the end of 2025, we have seen a notable shift in interiors styles. Whilst still a well-loved and opted for style, the focus is less on the classic and comfortable modern-neutral aesthetic and instead, leaning into more of an elevated retro style. Looking ahead to 2026, using our internal sales and customer search data, we can see that we are set for a 70s-inspired interior takeover, as we see notable and consistent sales increases in products featuring classic elements of the iconic style.'

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Hannah explains: 'We’ve seen a clear uptick in sales for warm, earthy-toned products, with big year-on-year sales increases for brown (+78%), shades of orange (77%), natural (59%) and green (14%) coloured items across different categories such as furniture, textiles and decor.'

She further explicates the 2026 interior design trend, stating: 'These colours are a clear winner for 2026 interiors, not bright enough to overwhelm and not bland enough to bore, these shades complement each other to create a warm and inviting ambience in almost any space. What is really great about these colours is that they work perfectly together, but also complement many other colours, shades and tones, so they can be drip-fed into most spaces without the need for a complete style overhaul.'

Kirk Douglas's living room proves that color palettes from the past are likely to come back into style. For 2026, we're looking back in time.