Twelve Palettes, Twelve Iconic Women: The Collection I've Been Dying to Show You
I've been sitting on this one for a while, and I'm officially done being patient about it.
Today I'm unveiling the Iconic Women Collection: twelve curated paint palettes, each one built from nine Sherwin-Williams colors, and each one inspired by a woman whose presence changes the temperature of a room the moment she walks into it.
Beyonce. Rihanna. Diane Keaton. Meryl Streep. Quinta Brunson. Michelle Obama. Dolly Parton. Zendaya. Emma Stone. Michelle Yeoh. Cynthia Erivo. Anne Hathaway.
If you just felt something reading that list, this collection is for you.
Why I Built This
Here's the thing about color that nobody tells you: most people don't struggle to find colors they like. They struggle to find colors that feel like them. You can stand in the paint aisle holding a chip you love and still have no idea whether it belongs in your home, because a single color is not an identity. A palette is.
I've always believed homes should reflect the people who actually live in them, not a trend cycle and not a showroom. And when I thought about the women who inspire me, the ones whose style I could describe without looking at a single photo, I realized that's exactly what a great palette does. You know Dolly when you see her. You know Rihanna when you see her. Their aesthetics are so fully realized that they function like signatures.
So I asked myself a question I couldn't stop answering: What would these women look like as a home?
Every palette in this collection follows the same architecture I use in my client work. Nine colors. Two whites chosen specifically for the palette's undertones, because the wrong white will quietly ruin everything around it. A band of livable mid-tones that do the daily work. Deep grounding shades for weight. And one or two statement colors, because every room deserves a moment. Each guide also breaks the palette into ready-to-use 60/30/5/5 combinations, so you're not just buying pretty colors, you're buying the recipe.
Now let me introduce you to the twelve, one muse at a time…
Golden Hour
The muse. Beyoncé has spent more than two decades proving that reinvention and consistency are not opposites. The golden glow has always been hers, but think about the range around it: the chrome and silver of the Renaissance era, the denim and Americana of Cowboy Carter, the unapologetic reds, the dramatic blacks of a stage gone dark. Every era is distinct, and every era is unmistakably her. That's not luck. That's vision with discipline behind it, and it's the single most useful design lesson in this entire collection.
In your home. Run a warm neutral white across your main walls so the golds keep top billing. A quieter honeyed gold is your workhorse for a dining room or cabinetry, and the brighter statement gold is exactly that: one powder room, one island, one front door, chosen deliberately. A sleek silver gray brings the chrome moment to a bathroom or bedroom, a worn denim blue gives offices that lived-in calm, and one confident red earns a single lacquered door. Ground it all with smoky bronze and a dramatic black on accents and exits. This palette thrives in modern glam and transitional homes, anywhere brass hardware, velvet, and warm wood already live.
Diamonds & Leather
The muse. Rihanna built an empire on refusing to choose. Streetwear and couture. Edge and softness. She turned a beauty line into a cultural reset by insisting that luxury include everyone, and her personal style has always mixed military surplus energy with red carpet armor. The palette honors that range: cool and structured at its base, with one nude blush as the humanity and one red as the dare.
In your home. A dependable greige and a crisp cool white keep the envelope clean and gallery-bright. A warm nude blush softens bedrooms and reading corners so the scheme never goes cold. A muted military olive is built for a home office or den with leather and dark wood, and a smoky denim blue turns a bedroom into a broken-in jacket. Save the bold red for a single front door or one lacquered vintage piece, and let your two deep darks, a soft charcoal and a true leather black, handle trim, doors, and the moments that need full commitment. This is the palette for moody contemporary, modern industrial, and anyone whose style includes the word edit.
Annie Hall
The muse. Diane Keaton had been making the same argument for fifty years: borrow from the menswear rack, add conviction, and you will never be out of style. The bowler hats, the crisp white shirts, the camel coats, the head-to-toe black and white. She made tailoring feel personal instead of corporate, and she never once apologized for having a uniform.
In your home. A soft warm white on main walls keeps things inviting, with the crispest white you can find on every inch of trim. A khaki-toned beige is your everyday neutral for hallways and bedrooms, and a true camel turns a den or dining room into the coat itself. A pair of soft chalky blues are the oxford shirts of the scheme, perfect for bedrooms. Then commit: a charcoal suiting gray or a true black on interior doors, stair rails, or a library wall. This palette belongs in classic, modern-traditional, and tailored transitional homes, especially ones with good millwork that deserves to be outlined.
Cerulean
The muse. Meryl Streep is range itself, but this palette tips its hat to one unforgettable scene: the icy editor in The Devil Wears Prada explaining, in withering detail, that a casual blue sweater was never an accident. It is the greatest two minutes of color theory ever put on film, and as a designer I have never recovered. The palette is built like Meryl performs: layered, intelligent, controlled, and then suddenly, devastatingly bold.
In your home. A soft gray white and a diplomatic greige carry main living spaces with editorial polish. A champagne neutral warms a sitting room, a dusty blush brings refinement into bedrooms, and a mauve taupe is gorgeous on a moody bedroom wall or vintage dresser. A soft cerulean is your gentle blue for baths and bedrooms, and the deep cerulean statement deserves a dining room, a study, or full cabinetry. An inky blue-black finishes doors with intellect. Style-wise, think elevated traditional, Parisian apartment, and homes where the bookshelves are real.
Schoolhouse
The muse. Quinta Brunson took her Philadelphia roots, her love of teachers, and her impeccable comedic timing and built Abbott Elementary, a show with more warmth per square inch than almost anything on television. Her whole presence is joy with substance underneath, and as a Delaware Valley designer, the Philly of it all is personal to me. This palette is brick rowhomes, chalkboards, marigold sunshine, and the kind of optimism that gets things done.
In your home. Two warm vintage whites keep walls sunny and friendly. A buttery light yellow is lovely for kitchens and breakfast nooks, with the full marigold saved for a mudroom door, a kid's bookshelf, or one joyful accent. A playful coral is made for children's rooms and powder rooms, a brick terracotta brings warmth to a dining room or entry, and a deep chalkboard green turns a kitchen island or built-in into the thing guests ask about. A broken-in denim blue steadies an office, and a warm brown grounds it all. This is the dopamine decor palette: eclectic, vintage, family-friendly, and genuinely livable.
Becoming
The muse. Michelle Obama redefined what graciousness looks like at the highest level: polished without being precious, warm without being soft on substance. The sage in this palette is a direct nod to the White House Kitchen Garden she planted, and the deep plum and confident gold echo a personal style that always managed to be both approachable and unforgettable. The palette, like the memoir it's named for, is about building something dignified and hopeful.
In your home. A welcoming warm white and an approachable tan carry the home with grace. A gentle blush gives bedrooms softness, and a garden sage belongs in kitchens, sunrooms, and anywhere your plants live. A stately indigo makes a dining room or study, a rich aubergine brings depth to a powder room or library, and a saturated gold is one painted door or one dresser, full stop. A warm near-black grounds trim and accents. It suits transitional, classic American, and collected-traditional homes, especially ones built for hosting.
Rhinestones
The muse. Dolly Parton wrote some of the greatest songs in American music, built a business empire, funds childhood literacy at a staggering scale, and did all of it in rhinestones. People underestimate sweetness, and Dolly has spent sixty years letting them. This palette is her whole biography: butter blonde and unapologetic pink up front, faded workwear denim from 9 to 5, the blue haze of her beloved Smoky Mountains, and deep coffee brown holding it all down.
In your home. A warm porch-friendly white and a soft pearl white give you flexible walls. A golden buff adds guitar-wood warmth to living spaces, and a butter-blonde yellow makes a home office feel like it has good morale. A sweet soft pink is a dreamy bedroom; the hot pink is a powder room with a personality or one fearless front door. A faded denim suits laundry rooms and offices, a hazy blue-gray makes a bathroom feel like mountain mist, and a deep coffee brown grounds floors and furniture moments. This palette sings in cottage glam, vintage farmhouse, and any home that refuses to take itself too seriously while being run impeccably.
Euphoric
The muse. Zendaya might be the most fluent fashion communicator of her generation. Vintage Hollywood one night, futuristic armor the next, desert tones for one press tour and lilac for another, and every single look lands like it was inevitable. The lesson for your home is range with a throughline: the palette holds desert sands, bronze, a lavender whisper, and one deep green statement, and somehow it all reads as one voice.
In your home. A warm white and a cooler soft white give you a pairing that shifts beautifully room to room. Two sandy bronze-warmed neutrals build the foundation in living and dining spaces, with a smoky taupe adding quiet-luxury depth to a bedroom. The soft lilac is the surprise: try it on a bedroom ceiling. A burnished gold gilds a vintage piece or interior door, the deep green earns a study or full-height cabinetry, and a lacquered green-black on the front door ties the statement to the depth. Organic modern, desert modern, and quiet luxury homes, this one's yours.
City of Stars
The muse. Emma Stone has that rare vintage-modern quality, an old Hollywood face with completely current instincts, and this palette comes straight from La La Land's love letter to Los Angeles: the famous yellow dress, the twilight dance above the city, the planetarium hour when the sky goes from slate to midnight. Add her signature copper and you have the most romantic palette in the collection.
In your home. Two creamy golden-age whites glow like vintage plaster in every light. A golden tan holds the middle, a soft peachy blush gives bedrooms a filtered glow, and a misted soft green turns a sunroom into a garden scene. The cheerful yellow is sunshine on a banquette, a bathroom vanity, or a vintage dresser. A ginger copper makes a dining room cinematic, a dusky slate blue sets the dusk in an office, and a midnight navy delivers the late-night dining room finale. Best for vintage modern, Hollywood regency, and retro-leaning homes with at least one good place to dance.
Jaded
The muse. Michelle Yeoh spent decades doing her own stunts with total elegance, then won an Oscar and reminded everyone never to let anyone tell them they're past their prime. Her presence is discipline and grace in equal measure, and this palette is composed the same way: silk whites, layered jade, warm woven neutrals, and exactly one strike of lacquer red. Graceful until it absolutely is not.
In your home. Two soft silk whites keep main spaces calm, with a pale celadon drifting through bathrooms and bedrooms. A raw-silk neutral and a warm woven tan bring earthy warmth to living areas. A true jade is beautiful on a vanity or bedroom wall, and its deeper counterpart takes built-ins and accent walls into real depth. The lacquer red is reserved for one perfect door, and a deep ink black closes doors and trim with finality. This is the palette for japandi, zen modern, and organic minimalist homes where restraint is the point.
Defiant
The muse. Cynthia Erivo is a powerhouse in the most literal sense, a voice that defies physics, paired with one of the most fearless personal aesthetics in entertainment: sculptural fashion, bold metallic nails, monochrome looks worn like armor. And then there's the green. Playing Elphaba in Wicked gave the world its defining emerald moment, and this palette was built so that green could sing.
In your home. A cool white with the faintest green cast and a soft greige white keep the envelope gallery-crisp. A muted gray-green bridges into bedrooms with calm, two sculptural grays do the tailoring on walls and trim, and a champagne gold adds the metallic manicure moment to a powder room or accents. The emerald is the showpiece: an accent wall, a kitchen island, a dining room that gets applause. A near-black forest green and a true black handle doors and dramatic depth. Modern dramatic, art deco influenced, and bold minimalist homes, take your places.
Princess Diary
The muse. Anne Hathaway has lived the most famous makeover montage in modern film, and then, twenty years later, pulled off the rarest move in fashion: the real-life second act. Her recent style era, all polished tailoring, chocolate browns, and impeccable classics with one red-lip exclamation point, has been a masterclass in timelessness that still feels current. Princess training, it turns out, never expires.
In your home. A refined warm white and a soft greige whisper give you polished walls. A barely-there blush brings romance to bedrooms, an icy pale blue makes a calm nursery or bath, and a trench-coat beige anchors living spaces. A milk-chocolate brown delivers the rich, current warmth in a den, with an espresso brown-black taking built-ins and doors into depth. A classic true red is the red lip, ideally the front door, and an inky blue-black gives a dining room evening-gown drama. Timeless classic, modern French, and polished traditional homes will wear this beautifully for decades.
My Favorite, Because You Were Going to Ask
It's Golden Hour. It was always going to be Golden Hour.
Beyoncé is the blueprint for what this whole collection is about: an aesthetic so complete and so intentional that you can build a world from it. And designing her palette taught me something, because my first draft was all gold, top to bottom, a full tonal study in glow. It was beautiful. It was also only one era of her.
So I rebuilt it. The final version keeps exactly two golds, a honeyed support and one unapologetic statement, then opens the rest of the palette up: sleek silver, worn denim, a confident red, smoky bronze, and a dramatic black. It went from a pretty palette to a complete one, and that's the entire lesson of good color work. Restraint is not the absence of boldness. It's what makes boldness land.
If I were painting my own home from this collection tomorrow, Golden Hour's deep bronze den with that red on one lacquered door is where you'd find me.
How to Get Them
Every palette in the Iconic Women Collection is available now in my Etsy shop, Abode Above Colors. Each one is an instant digital download that includes all nine Sherwin-Williams color names and numbers, the role each color plays, room-by-room placement guidance, and those 60/30/5/5 combinations so you know exactly how much of each color to use and where.
One designer-to-friend note before you buy anything: always, always sample. Order the peel-and-stick samples or sample chips, put them on more than one wall, and look at them morning, noon, and night. Screens lie. Lighting tells the truth. Six years of color decisions have taught me that the ten dollars you spend on samples is the cheapest insurance in all of home design.
These women built worlds with their vision and their nerve. Your home deserves the same energy. Come find the palette that feels like you, and then send me photos, because I genuinely want to see what you do with them!
You can shop the full collection at Abode Above Colors on Etsy, and if you're local to the Delaware Valley and want the full-service version of this kind of color confidence, you know where to find me.
