The Colors of Fall '26
Written by CS Senior Product Designer, Laura Gemperline
Autumn blows in on the last warm exhale of summer—heat and humidity give way to cooler days and crisp nights as we start thinking about how to hunker down for winter. Morning arrives wrapped in mist, and sunlight falls at a gentler angle.
The palette of the season is timeless, with warm beiges, earth tones, and soothing greens. Colors grounded in the quiet promise of change.
The harvesting of fruits and vegetables reflects the season with rich earthy tones of red (1584 Mesa Red), brown (STYX® 4500 Cacao, Acrovyn by Design® Metallics 18172 Mid Bronze), loam (1113 Dark Moss), and softened beiges (1329 Suede and 1632 Smoked Rippled Maple).
The smell of tilled earth accompanies the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot after they’ve burst from vivid green into bold shades of gold and orange. Preparing for a cold winter rest, this year’s plants will transform into next year’s compost. Even the garden’s surrender carries hope. What fades is not forgotten; it returns to the soil.
The fruits and vegetables of the season are heartier and can be stored for longer to ward off the chilly days ahead. Their range of colors is not limited to single tones.
We see gourds, apples, corn, and root vegetables spanning a spectrum of earth-based colors—timeless and comforting like your favorite warm blanket on brisk autumn nights. Beneath the stillness, next year’s abundance is already beginning, unseen but patiently alive.
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Laura is a Senior Product Designer at Construction Specialties, primarily supporting color and trend work within our New Product Delivery team. She is responsible for delivering powerful and moving color palettes, textures, patterns, collections, and designs that resonate with an evolving customer.
Laura also conducts research and drives ideation and development activities. She has an extensive history of designing products for the commercial interiors market, including utilizing various design tools and Voice of Customer research to bring products from concept to commercialization. With her passion for learning new things, she constantly seeks out new information that will help her develop products customers will love.