Believe it or not, many companies have announced their 2025 Color of the Year! Since we love predicting these selections each year, we thought we’d start a post to keep track of each selection as they come out. This will be much easier to reference next year when we make our predictions instead of Googling around to find them all again. Will blue be big again like it was in 2024? Will any of our guesses even be remotely close? You can read below to follow along – and check back for updates as more COTY news rolls in.
And just like we did in our 2024 Color of the Year round-up, we’ll compare each company’s past picks. That way you can see what’s trending for 2025, as well as how their color forecasts have evolved over time. So far things are shaping up to be pretty deep, moody, and muted…
What is the 2025 Color of the Year?
There is not one definitive color of the year, because companies like Pantone, Benjamin Moore, and Sherwin-Williams each crown a color (or collection of colors) to represent the following year in design. Each company uses a different methodology, but the goal is for color experts to forecast a hue we will see a lot more of in the following year. Sometimes the color also represents a larger design trend (like a return to nature) or cultural mood (like hope, joy, etc) they see influencing everything from paint, decor, fashion, and more.
What Were Last Year’s Colors?
You can read our deep dive into the 2024 Colors of the Year to learn more. But as you can see from the snapshot below, 2024 was dominated by blues, warm neutrals, and a couple of punchy corals. The prevalence of blue was ascribed largely to people seeking soothing and calming colors for their homes. Even some of the bolder colors, like HGTV Home by Sherwin-William’s Persimmon (top left), was grouped into a trend they called “Renewed Comfort.”
Will 2025 deliver more comforting and calming colors? Or will the color forecasters see brighter, livelier hues in our future?
Who Has Announced 2025 Color Of The Year So Far
As of this update (Dec 7, 2024) almost ALL of the companies we watch have announced their 2025 Colors of the Year. We are waiting on Rustoleum, who has said they will announce their “Color Watch” report in January 2025. Here’s who has announced so far:
- Pantone: Mocha Mousse
- Benjamin Moore: Cinnamon Slate
- Sherwin-Williams: Grounded (1 of 9 colors picked)
- Behr: Rumors
- HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams: Quietude
- Glidden: Purple Basil
- Valspar: Encore
- Dunn-Edwards: Caramelized
- Dutch Boy: Mapped Blue
- Krylon: Hammered Black
- Minwax: Violet
- Graham & Brown: Elderton
- C2 Paint: Raku
- Stainmaster Paints: Truffle
So let’s dissect them each by company. Also… the brown theme that ended up happening is pretty wild.
Pantone’s 2025 Color of the Year
Even though Pantone isn’t a paint manufacturer, they’re responsible for starting the Color of the Year craze. Their selections are often bolder and brighter than other picks because they look beyond the world of paint and home decor. This year, however, Pantone’s 2025 selection of Mocha Mousse fits right within the trend of warm browns that the other companies had already announced (most notably Dunn-Edwards’ Caramalized). They say it nods towards “the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.”
You can see from the swatches above how Mocha Mousse – which they describe as simple, warming, and sophisticated – is somewhat muted compared to most Pantone Color of the Year choices, which tend to be more bold and colorful.
Benjamin Moore’s 2025 Color of the Year
Even though it was one of the last colors announced, Benjamin Moore’s 2025 pick (Cinnamon Slate) is representative of a lot of the hues we’re seeing in 2025. They describe it as a mix of “heathered plum” and “velvety brown,” which are two color families showing up a lot this year. Ben Moore did the same thing last year with Blue Nova, which fit nicely within several blue selections in the 2024 COTY roster.
Cinnamon Slate is also described as “quietly colorful,” which is how many of their selections over the years could be categorized.
Sherwin-Williams’ Color of the Year
Wait for it – there’s a twist. In honor of their 15th Color of the Year announcement, Sherwin-Williams threw everyone a curveball and picked a “Color Capsule of the Year” for 2025. The collection includes 9 colors but since they listed Grounded first, we’re unofficially calling it their main pick. It embodies the overall muted earthiness of the entire capsule. Even the bolder picks – like Chartreuse and Mauve Finery – are reserved and “usable,” as they call them.
The 9 colors in this capsule are well-curated, but we wish they had just picked 1 official selection and nominated all the other ones as honorable mentions. “Color of the year” is a singular term and most paint companies already announce multiple colors alongside their Color of the Year each year (see Benjamin Moore’s Color Trends Palette or HGTV Home’s Color Collection of The Year). So it feels kinda indecisive not to single out one hue. How can you say “our color of the year is actually 9 colors?” It just feels like… not really picking a horse to hitch your wagon to, you know?
Hopefully, Sherwin-Williams doesn’t “bend the rules” again next year and they’ll go back to choosing just one 2026 color. You might ask: “but John & Sherry, why do you care?” but for those of us who enjoy the “sport” of these COTY announcements, it muddies the discussion (who wants to react to 9 colors by one company?). Plus I’m reacting to having to put a freaking asterisk next to their 2025 pick for the foreseeable future. You know I like a clean looking graphic. Ha!
Behr’s 2025 Color of the Year
Behr went dark again this year with their 2025 Color of the Year pick: Rumors. Described as a “deep ruby red,” it’s got that rich, moody merlot hue we’ve seen popping up lately in interiors. Our friend Kim & Scott’s kitchen in 2023 comes to mind. Sherry also can’t help but wonder if whoever picked this color is a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. If you know, you know…
It’s interesting to see how dark and bold Behr has gone in the last two years (maybe a reaction to their 2023 pick?). Rumors and Cracked Pepper stand in sharp contract to their previous picks over the rest of the past decade, most of which could be described as more of a midtone or soft color.
HGTV Home’s 2025 Color of the Year
After perhaps one of the boldest picks last year, HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams has played it safer with their 2025 Color of the Year: Quietude. Their experts describe it as a “soothing and sweet” mint shade as well as a “softened sage.” It’s part of a trend they forecast of “quiet luxury” that favors calm, relaxing spaces that don’t shy away from color.
Compared to the colors they’ve selected in years before (2018 was their first), Quietude is arguably their safest and most crowd-pleasing pick so far. Personally, we’re suckers for a blue-green tone, especially if it has a subtle gray undertone or gentle muddiness. Quietude has a bit of that, but will still read as a bold color if it’s painted across an entire room.
Glidden’s 2025 Color of the Year
Purple Basil in Glidden’s 2025 Color of the Year. They introduced this deep eggplant hue by saying “purple isn’t just permitted, it’s encouraged.” Their experts say it encourages people to embrace deep colors unapologetically in the spirit of maximalism.
Glidden’s picks over the years tend to be colorful, but Purple Basil definitely takes a darker, moodier approach than most of their selections. In their announcement, they push back at that “timid voice” that often drives people to neutral colors.
Valspar’s 2025 Color the Year
This is the second year Valspar has selected a singular color (previously they’d picked several). And with their 2025 Color of the Year Encore, it’s also their second blue. They’re 2 for 2! In selecting this saturated cobalt-meets-navy blue, Valspar declared that “blue is making a comeback.” Although, again, it was already here according to most 2024 picks. Still, we agree with their note that strong classic blues like this embody constancy and confidence in a way that the softer blue-greens of last year might not have.
Dunn-Edwards’ Color of the Year 2025
Caramelized is Dunn-Edwards Paints’ 2025 Color of the Year. They crown this terracotta hue the “ultimate new neutral” because it pairs well with everything from vintage to contemporary styles. I think it’s a stretch to call this earthy, clay color a “non-metallic gold” color like I predicted, but it is nice to see a warm color in the mix this year.
Last year, Dunn-Edwards was just one of many blues picked for 2024. But you can see that they frequently pick warm, reddish hues as well.
Dutch Boy’s Color of the Year 2025
Dutch Boy describes their 2025 Color of the Year pick, Mapped Blue, as a “timeless” foundational paint color that will help your room stay on-trend. That’s a good description since there’s always a pick similar to this each year. In fact, blues like this dominated the 2024 selections for many of the smaller paint brands (Dutch Boy is available at Menard’s). So it’s a solid safe pick and a classic and widely appealing color for lots of homes.
Minwax’s 2025 Color of the Year
With its fifth Color of the Year selection, Minwax is going bolder and brighter with its 2025 pick: Violet. They call this “stain color of the year” choice everything from eclectic & whimsical to individual & experimental, seeming to acknowledge it’s not-your-average stain color. As you can see from their past choices below, they’ve been going for more saturated colors recently.
While “violet” is the name of a specific Minwax stain color, they are also making a statement that this deep eggplant color is trending overall – including paints, wallpapers, and more. So even if you prefer to stick to traditional brown and tan wood tones, they are inviting you to embrace this hue in other ways.
Graham & Brown’s 2025 Color of the Year
Graham & Brown picked a deep brown called Elderton as their 2025 Color of the Year. It’s named for the color of an elder tree and was selected as a timeless neutral that pairs with their wallpaper “Design of the Year” which also features ancient trees and shrubs. As with their selection last year (a muted green called “Viridis”) this UK-based wall covering company tries to thematically and aesthetically pair their two selection. This year’s Elderton also isn’t too far off from other 2025 picks like Behr’s Rumors, Stainmaster’s Truffle, and C2’s Raku (seen below).
C2 Paint’s 2025 Color of the Year
Not too far off from Behr’s pick this year is C2 Paint’s 2025 Color of the Year: Raku. Named for a Japanese ceramics technique, C2 Paint describes their pick as a chameleon color that shifts between burgundy and “oxidized sanguine,” featuring brown and purple undertones. It definitely fits with the dark, moody colors that seem to be trending for 2025. It’s a sharp turn from last year’s pick, “Thermal,” which was a bright, punchy blue.
Stainmaster Paint’s 2025 Color of the Year
Who knew Stainmaster wasn’t just carpet and flooring? We only learned that they were also a paint company from their first COTY pick in 2024 (which was another moody saturated color). And with this near-black selection, Truffle, they seem to be banking on the dark room trend continuing. They explain their 2025 Color of the Year as being versatile to work everything from pastels to brights, while “elevating the style of any space.”
We recently spotted Stainmaster Paint’s new display in Lowe’s (they still have last year’s color tagged as “Color of the Year”). They only offer 40 colors in total, so they’ve got a very limited palette to choose from each year!
What Are Our 2025 Color Guesses?
As usual, we shared our guesses for the 2025 Color of the Year on Instagram Stories (click the COTY highlight to view). These are not scientific or based on any deep research (we usually spend about a minute coming up with our guesses off the cuff while hitting record). They’ve become a tradition and it’s a fun way for us to test our instincts psychic powers. The color representations below are approximate (our descriptions in the Instagram video provide a lot more context). And for fun, you can see bubbles of the COTY picks that came close:
Our guesses were a bit bolder than past years, although I’ve noticed I have a habit of picking some dark, neutral – like black or chocolate brown. It has served me well as at least one brand tends to pick one each year. This year my guess of “black” has been pretty close to Stainmaster’s Truffle and Kryon’s Hammered Black. And it’s hard to claim victory on any of the Sherwin-Williams colors (since they chose 9!!!) but we did get a few more close hits – like Mauve Finery (for Sherry) and Bosc Pear and Clove (for me).
More Paint Colors We Love
You can check out more of our favorite go-to paint colors by touring our homes in the menu at the top of our blog. We’ve also written these detailed deep-dive posts about our favorite paint colors:
