2025 Color of the Year Review
It wouldn’t be a new year without color experts’ predictions on which hues will influence fashion, interior design, and the retail landscape. While it seems that the Color of the Year (COTY) has always been with the us, Pantone introduced the concept with “Cerulean” in early 2000. Since that time, many consumer paint brands have started to release their own celebrated colors, or even full palettes.
According to Canyon Creek’s trainer, Kate Rhodes, color experts use external factors such as cultural moments and societal shifts, combined with consumer data and analysis, to predict the colors that we will want to include in our wardrobes, interior spaces, and will buy from our favorite brands. “Color experts at leading paint brands spend a lot of time dissecting data to report on emerging color trends–they are like the forecasters of the color world.”
Of course, color is also a deeply personal preference – even when two people say their favorite color is green, there is a big difference between a minty pastel and a dark, saturated forest tone. This is why Canyon Creek offers a Curated Collection of classic hues, the Pick Your Paint Select program of rising trends, and the Pick Your Paint option that gives you access to paints from Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore and Farrow & Ball. Learn how getting the right paint color is easy!
2025 Trending Colors
Knowing all that, let’s take a look at some of the industry’s predictions for the coming year.
Pantone – Mocha Mousse
This warm brown tone invites you to “create moments of luxury that may be intimate in scale but can extend a sense of indulgence throughout the day.” Pantone has created color palettes around Mocha Mousse that include creams, soft pinks, rich browns, and also brighter blues and greens. You can already find Mocha Mousse in products ranging from phone cases to wallpaper, fabric and furniture.
HGTV Home/Sherwin-Williams – Quietude
Through their partnership with HGTV, Sherwin-Williams offers Quietude. “A soft sage with a whisper of blue influence, Quietude is an emerging color for enduring design and soothes any space inside or out.”
On the Sherwin-Williams site you’ll find 4 different Capsules composed of 48 different colors. Each collection captures a different vibe, from peaceful neutrals to more saturated tones.
Benjamin Moore – Cinnamon Slate
The featured color in the 2025 palette, Cinnamon Slate is a neutral color with hints of plum, brown and grey. This chameleon color shifts throughout the day and evening with changing lighting conditions. The full palette ranges from rich tan, deep brown, blue green and sage into blush pink and neutral grey-whites.
Farrow & Ball – 11 New Colors
Rather than focus on a single color, Farrow & Ball has introduced nearly a dozen new shades. Fitting the Farrow & Ball aesthetic, these are warm, slightly muted shades of cream, pink, green, blue, and red, which are featured across all the COTY collections.
Behr Paints – Rumors
Behr takes a completely different approach, highlighting a deep, regal red as the primary color. The full palette expands into muted pinks, greens and yellows to support Rumors while also offering a range of dark, heavily saturated tones.
“Designating a Color of the Year offers consumers confidence during the color selection process and invites them to be inspired,” says Behr’s VP of Color and Creative Services, Erika Woelfel. “Color of the Year allows Behr Paint the opportunity to highlight a color that is poised to plan a leading role in interior and exterior projects in the coming year.“
Some of these colors will become classic favorites and others will be met with a shake of the head and a “not for me.” Either way, exploring these palettes is a great way for designers and consumers to open themselves up to new possibilities for wall colors, cabinets, furniture and more.
