Forward:  Notice I speak more on the macro trend level- that’s kind of my lane these days. How I specify color is more for the everyday, middle class person who is repainting or choosing colors for a renovation or new build.  I love trends. I love researching trends and getting in the mind of the human.   I did a lot of that in my corporate career with the paint companies.  But today I’m more the voice of the Gen Pop. :)

 

What are paint color trends for 2025?

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MACRO TRENDS

 

Macro trends generally have somewhere between 7 to 10 year shelf life. It’s major color families or color combos that move across architectural products to product design, automotive, etc., I’ve now been in the paint business over 26 years (always on the color side w/ both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams) and have seen color trends warm and cool and warm again. 

 

I used to do the trends forecast at High point market in the 00’s (pre smart phone) and remember talking about the incoming cool front that would temper all the Mediterranean ocres, golds, and reds that we were seeing on textiles, walls and decor.  Oh those red dining rooms. It was the first glimmer of gray’s well-staid time in the design world.  And here we are today, painting all the those gray walls white dove again.

 

I've probably done 150 color consults this year alone- just picking paint- and the amount of times I heard, NO MORE GRAY ( in caps lock I might add) from clients will make your head spin.  SO the biggest macro trend for paint colors are below.  If I could coin one word to describe the now of paint color trends in homes it would be Monochromatic with rooms that are the pop.  I call them the rooms that are like a pillow with a pop of color:  The office, powder room or dining room. Im not a fan of accent walls —especially in open concept homes- so painting the fireplace mantle, the banister and the island are unexpected areas to add fun accent colors and maintain a flow in the home. Warm, light, inviting are the adjectives I get from my clients most often.

 

Here’s some examples from my Etsy shop where I sell big Painted Color Boards of these colors for people to test at home. 

 

1. Warm whites like BM Ballet White, White Dove or White Down paired with a saturated color drenched dining room like Van Deusen Blue OR one of the beautiful colors of the year you love.  

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View Color Board

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1341062400/benjamin-moore-creamy-white-paint?etsrc=sdt

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2. Warm greiges like BM Fog Mist or Natural Cream as the main flow color paired with a darker greige kitchen cabinet color like Revere Pewter or Pashmina.  Lots of this. I love doing darker cabinets for walls in kitchens.  It sets off white quartz countertops and eliminates competing whites in a kitchen.   Brushed gold hardware still going strong. 

Also  midtone warm wood stain cabinets trending up. The moody gray greens are  holding in what I would consider the middle of the trend cycle like BM Knoxville Gray, Oil Cloth, or Greyhound. Must admit I am smitten with an earthy deep green black like BM Deep River in a Mister's office.  Sexy and stately.

 

View Color Board​

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1276550852/benjamin-moore-warm-neutral-paint?etsrc=sdt

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3. Tone on Tone - walls & trim same color, layering sheens. Monochromatic color schemes quiet the walls down and allow you to play with color in art, textiles and those ancillary rooms.  I love doing the powder room and island in same color.  It pulls the the whole house palette together mindfully.

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View Color Board

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzMANUzOrdc/?igsh=MXJ6em93YXl2OTZwOQ%3D%3D

 

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4. Get your bulbs right! One of my "preaches" on consults.  I like a clean white 3500 kelvin bulb to make a newly painted off-white home perform at its best. Not yellow, not blue, white light is vital.

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View Light Bulb Video

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBgedkeJmd9/?igsh=dzJwajdoMnAxMHh5

 

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MICRO TRENDS

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These quicker to fade color trends like paint company's colors of the year.  When I was with Akko Nobel and Sherwin Williams I was privy to how these trend palettes were built.  There’s quite a lot of energy and thought that go into them. Because these Big coatings companies make paint across all industries from furniture and architectural to automotive & industrial and even dyes and pigments for fashion , they have unique global view of trends.  They compare notes globally with their color teams across divisions & cross reference to see what colors or color families are trending.  Layer in research from CMG (color marketing group) or other color forecasting groups who analyze art, tech,  and the zeitgeist of humans (and possibly non-human in the very near future)  and you got yourself a trends palette.  Note that not all those colors are necessarily made to go on walls, they may signal textiles, finishes or other elements of design as a marker of the psychology of a planet.

 

BM color of the year cinnamon slate Well, the Purps are back! This one’s a yummy warm plum full of smokiness and introspection. Purples do that.  Make you think.  They are all crown chakra, wise and can make a room feel a little like it has hidden secrets.  This quite possibly the conversation had around the table when selecting this as color of the year…… how to capture in a color The consciousness of a planet.  

 

I did a color drench project with my Bestie for her “womb room” and chose Benjamin Moore Deep Purple. So delicious it almost stopped my heart.  When you drench in deep and moodies the need for a window and well placed mirror is tangible along with a fandalier or beautiful light fixture that scatters light onto the ceiling. This breaks up visual weight and lends to its soul-searching vibe. So get ready to decorate otherwise you might feel you’re in a medieval dungeon.   Think of it as 2025’s escape room with the jewelry.  Everyone might need one of these next year! 

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View Color Drench Project

  https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_YW8U3pP8E/?igsh=ZzlxazIzNTMzOXVw

 

View Cinnamon Slate

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJu7uJ4pxTJ/?igsh=cWE0dXJyOXRhN3Iw

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Color drenching I think this Definitely has a shelf life.  I give it a few more years before everyone starts painting over it with white dove. 

 

Pantone color of the year - Mocha Mousse​

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YES PLEASE!

You’ll start hearing words like mauve, pinky beige, blushey brown. And dare I say peach.  

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Side tangent if I may...

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I was so excited when Pantone announced peach as their  2024 color of the year. Ive been lobbying for peach for 10 years! But I have to be careful saying that word to clients because they have “PeachTSD” from grandma‘s dining room in the70s. But without a doubt, it is my favorite color family. Inviting, happy, hi vibe and always up for a joy ride and a gummy.  What goes on walls today is a “grown-up blush.” Light and airy with disappearing warm pink undertone. 

Pairs well with deep emerald green, blue blacks (indigo) like BM Polo Blue or even a mid-tone taupe like BM Stonehearth or Shale. Not bubblegum Not peach, just right.  

 

And for the blushy beige paint color fan, I love Farrow and Ball dead salmon. Ground it with a deep bronze like Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain, throw in some ever-present white boucle’ to bring some cozy and you got yourself a trend palette win. 

 

My favorite grown up blushes: Benjamin Moore Pinky Swear or Peau de soie paired with BM salamander on cabinets. Love to do it in laundry rooms. A room that always gets kicked to the curb. Throw some zippy wallpaper on the ceiling and make it a room you want to be in.   

 

Overall, the whiting out of all the cool grays has some staying power. Modern farmhouse, though I see it moving down the opposite side of the trend scale has re-affirmed white as a design staple.  Here are a few more off-white’s that are like reliable friends to me.  

 

Benjamin Moore Cloud cover, seapearl, Dove wing, glacier white(on the trend pallete) and silver satin.  But as a professional Color consultant, I must advise that you can’t just pick a color in isolation and know how it’s going to look. Paint colors always must be viewed in pairs to understand how the undertone of that color will read. So put wall color beside trim color and your golden. Picking paint is a whole thing.  And I love every minute of it!

 

Lisa J