Guide
Decorating with patina blue
Etsy named Patina Blue its 2026 Colour of the Year and Washed Linen its texture. How blue cyanotypes, Iznik blues and blue-and-white prints fit the look, with rooms and pairings.
Etsy chose Patina Blue as its 2026 Colour of the Year and Washed Linen as its first Texture of the Year: a soft, slightly weathered blue and a relaxed, lived-in surface. Both point away from sterile rooms towards things that look used and loved.
Why old prints fit
Patina is the colour of age: oxidised copper, faded indigo, a blueprint left in the sun. Prints that come from historical processes already carry that quality. A cyanotype is Prussian blue made by light; Iznik tiles and blue-and-white porcelain have been read as “old blue” for centuries.
Three ways to use it
- One deep blue print on a pale wall. A single cyanotype such as Pasture Rose or Rosa Gallica Purpurea Velutina Parva gives a white or linen-coloured room a calm centre.
- Blue with warm wood and linen. Natural wood frames and washed-linen textiles keep blue from feeling cold.
- A row of three blues. Mix pale and dark grounds in one family, as in our Blue Garden set, or go Ottoman with Istanbul in Blue.
Rooms
Blue works especially well in bathrooms, bedrooms and studies, where a quiet colour is welcome. In a kitchen, pair it with terracotta or a warm wood shelf.
All our blue prints are digital downloads made in Tiraj, our own printmaking software, from public-domain museum images. Print them on white matte paper so the blue stays clear.
