This Gorgeous Color Is a Fall Classic — And It’s So Easy to Bring into Your Home

Fall is right around the corner — and with a new season comes a new “it” hue. After spending a summer obsessing over all things lime green, brat summer is over and aubergine autumn is just beginning. Yes, that’s right: This new “era” of the year will be all about … well, the color of an eggplant. Admittedly, getting design inspiration from food isn’t exactly anything new: It’s happened before with Tomato Girl Summer and pretty peaches. But what eggplant purple brings to the table — both literally and figuratively — is an added sense of elegance. 

“In our interiors, aubergine comes alive, shifting from near-black eggplants to rich berry tones, and even evolving into raisin-like shades that hint at chocolate brown,” says Tanner Morgan, principal of Morgan Madison Design. “This tonal movement keeps the spaces dynamic and layered, ensuring that every room feels as luxurious as it is approachable.”

Of course, there’s more to the ever-popular eggplant than meets the eye. To help boost your design knowledge — and stay up to date on the coolest colors — we’re breaking down everything you need to know about eggplant, including how to incorporate it into your home.

Similar to the vegetable, eggplant is a shade of purple, a color palette with a rich history. “In history, purple dates to the ancient Phoenicians, who lived by the Mediterranean Sea around 3,000 years ago,” explains Maya Crown, cofounder and CEO of Alkemis Paint. “The color was discovered by harvesting tiny sea snail mucus that created a natural purple hue, in the city of Tyre, which is now Lebanon, where my mom is from.” Like all of the other purples on the color spectrum, eggplant has a quality that Crown says is “unusual and fantastical.” However, it has a traditional (and dare we say moody?) edge, too.

Think of eggplant as a departure from the lavenders and lilacs of the purple family, which notoriously have strong blue undertones. While some designers have their own interpretation of the hue, many pros think of eggplant as a darker shade with reddish undertones. The result? “Rich, warm, and ever-inviting, this shade of deep purple effortlessly grounds a space, blending seamlessly with an array of palettes,” Morgan shares.

Beauty might lie in the eye of the beholder, but designers still have a lot of thoughts about the best colors to pair with eggplant. Here are a few winning combinations to spark inspiration.

According to Morgan, the best colors to pair with eggplant are the ones that can drum up its rich, moody quality. “We carefully curate this color to ensure it reflects the sophistication of its red undertones, steering clear of the regal coolness that blue tones can bring,” the designer says. Nutmeg? Cognac? Chocolate? It’s all fair game.

If you want to make eggplant stand out, you simply can’t go wrong with a neutral. A cream with warm undertones will make an aubergine paint shade pop all while playing up that rich, red-tinged quality.

Ready to dial up the drama? Try weaving some purple into an already-classic color combination. Designer Brooke Lang says she loves to pair eggplant with black and white. But while the trio creates a daring palette that commands attention, it can run the risk of appearing a little stark. That’s why Lang “[adds] in some gold tones for a bit of shine.”

Since purple and yellow are complementary colors, this combination is a surefire way to make a statement. As for which shade to choose from, you have plenty of options. A vibrant mustard will be well-suited for maximal-minded design lovers, while a softer butter yellow can give the eggplant more of a main character energy.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate eggplant into your home decor, but where to begin? Here are some highlights from the AT archives to find the very best ways to relish in your purple reign: