2025 in Colour
Source: Lived In 365 Limited, Rabbit Hole Studios
I love the fanfare that surrounds the release of Pantone’s colour of the year. On the face of it, it’s all a bit frivolous and you could say that relatively few people really take any notice and embrace that year’s colour in their own homes, but if we think back to Miranda Priestley’s famous Cerulean sweater speech from The Devil Wears Prada, it could have more influence than we realise.
This year, Pantone have gone with Mocha Mousse, a “warming brown hue imbued with richness” and suggestions of “chocolate and coffee” and really, no surprise there. Earthy browns, reds and caramels have been everywhere over the last 18 months or so, in fact they were one of my own trend picks last year (not to boast of course).
Colour theory can be complicated but for me, this shift towards these deep, enveloping tones simply reflects our desire to create home as sanctuary. The last year of world news has been a lot.
Image: Pantone
Warmer, enveloping colours are very much the order of the day, and most of the other colour taste makers in the interiors world have stuck to this theme for 2025.
Benjamin Moore, for example, have gone for Cinnamon Slate, a “mix of heathered plum and velvety brown” for this year, yes more brown, but this time with more of a mauve hint to it. If that’s still too much brown for you Behr went for Rumours, a deep “engaging” ruby red that packs a bit more of a punch in the colour stakes but still has that theme of warmth and cocooning.
Reds continue to be really popular both on the catwalk and in interiors thanks in part to the unexpected red theory, the idea that a small pop of red in the room can lift any scheme ,something we subscribed to with a small section of tiling and with the lighting in the colourful kitchen below.
Image: Lived In 365
There’s nothing more boring, however, than all of the brands giving us the same answer. So I would say that the other theme that emerges from looking at the colour choices for the year ahead is still one of muted colour but with more of a focus on pastel shades of green and blue as well as dusky pinks.
Beyond colour choice, colour drenching remains a big theme for the year but is also joined by the potentially more interesting double drenching, in which all of the surfaces in a room are painted in two or more related colours. In the scheme below we used Studio Green to the ceiling and upper part of the walls and Treron (both by Farrow & Ball) to the lower walls, woodwork and fitted furniture for a dramatic but cosy scheme for a lounge with limited natural light.
Source: Lived In 365 Limited, Rabbit Hole Studios
I am always slightly loathe to talk about trends, partly because we should be driven by what appeals to us more than to the masses and also because I don’t subscribe to throwing things out wholesale as fads move on. In reality I have found that colour choices move far more slowly than the brands and magazines would have us believe and whilst some changes stick, others pass by with little fanfare. And with that I mention that Dulux’s choice for this year is True Joy, a bright yellow that fills a room with “optimism and joy”. Call me cynical but I’m not sure we’re all ready for that level of hope just yet.