Believe it or not, some companies have already started announcing their 2025 Color of the Year! And since we love tracking and predicting these picks every year, we thought we’d create a post to track each pick as it comes out (it’ll be much easier to refer back to next year when we make our predictions than to Google them all). Will blue make a comeback like it did in 2024? Are any of our guesses even remotely close? Read on below to catch up — and check back for updates as more COTY news comes out.
As we did in our 2024 Colors of the Year report, we’ll compare each company’s past picks. That way, you can see what’s trending in 2025, as well as how their color forecasts will evolve over time.
What is the color of the year 2025?
There’s no single color of the year, as companies like Pantone, Benjamin Moore, and Sherwin-Williams each crown a color (or color family) to represent the coming year in design. Each company uses a different methodology, but the goal is for color experts to predict what hue we’ll see more of in the coming year. Sometimes, the color also represents a larger design trend (like a return to nature) or a cultural mood (like hope, joy, etc.) that they see influencing everything from paint and decor to fashion and more.
What were the colors of last year?
You can read our in-depth look at the colors of the year for 2024 to learn more. But as you can see from the image below, 2024 was dominated by blue, warm neutrals, and some strong corals. The rise of blue was largely attributed to people looking for calming, relaxing colors for their homes. Even some of the bolder colors, like HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams’ Persimmon (top left), were grouped into a trend they called “refreshing comfort.”
Will we see more soothing, calming colors in 2025? Or will color experts see brighter, more vibrant colors in the future?
Who has announced the color of the year 2025 so far?
As of this writing (late August 2024), we’ve seen 2025 COTY announcements from the following companies:
Last year, we counted 15 companies announcing new products, so there are plenty more to come. But while we wait for the others (including the big one: Pantone), let’s take a look at what we know so far.
Behr Color of the Year 2025
Behr has chosen a dark hue again this year: Rumors, its 2025 color of the year. Described as a “deep ruby red,” it has the rich, moody merlot hue we’ve been seeing pop up in interiors lately. Our friend Kim and Scott’s kitchen in 2023 comes to mind. Sherri can’t help but wonder if the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City chose this hue. If you know, you know…
It’s interesting to see how bold and dark Behr has gone in the past couple of years (perhaps a reaction to their 2023 pick?). Rumors and Cracked Pepper stand in sharp contrast to their previous picks over the rest of the past decade, most of which could be described as more of a mid-tone or soft shade.
HGTV Home Color of the Year 2025
After being one of last year’s boldest picks, HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams decided to play it safe with its 2025 Color of the Year: Serenity. The company’s experts describe it as a “soothing, soothing” mint hue with a “soft sage” feel. It’s part of a trend they predict will be “quiet luxury,” which favors calm, relaxing spaces that don’t shy away from color.
Compared to the colors they’ve chosen in previous years (2018 was their first), Quietude is undoubtedly their safest and most crowd-pleasing choice yet. Personally, we prefer blues and greens, especially if they have a muted gray or a nice muddy hue. Quietude has a bit of that, but it would still look like a bold color if painted over an entire room.
Valspar Colors of the Year 2025
This is the second year Valspar has chosen a single color (it has previously chosen several). And with Encore, the 2025 Color of the Year, it’s also the second blue it’s chosen. It’s chosen two out of two! In choosing this saturated cobalt blue-meets-dark blue hue, Valspar declared that “blue is back.” Even though it was already present according to most of the 2024 picks, we agree with their observation that strong, classic blues like this embody stability and confidence in a way that the soft blues and greens of yesteryear might not have.
Color of the Year 2025 by Minwax
With their fifth Color of the Year pick, Minwax is going for a bolder, brighter hue for 2025: Violet. They call this “color of the year” pick everything from eclectic and whimsical to individual and experimental, and they seem to acknowledge that it’s not your average color of the year. And as you can see from their previous picks below, they’ve been going for more saturated colors lately.
While “Violet” is the name of a specific dye color from Minwax, they also advertise this deep eggplant hue as being popular in general—including paints, wallpaper, and more. So even if you prefer to stick with traditional browns and tans for wood, they invite you to embrace this color in other ways.
Color of the Year 2025 by Stainmaster Paint
Who would have thought Stainmaster wasn’t just about carpets and flooring? We only learned that they’re a paint company with their first pick for 2024 (which was another saturated hue). And with this near-black pick, Truffle, it looks like they’re counting on the dark room trend to continue. They describe their 2025 Color of the Year as being so versatile that it works with everything from pastels to brights, while “elevating the style of any space.”
We recently spotted Stainmaster Paint’s new offering at Lowe’s (they still have the color that was chosen last year as their “Color of the Year”). They only offer 40 colors in total, so they have a very limited selection to choose from each year!
Color of the year 2025 for Dutch boys
Dutch Boy describes its color of the year for 2025, Mapped Blue, as a “timeless” staple that will help your room stay on trend. That’s a good description because there’s always a similar pick for this every year. In fact, blues like this dominated the 2024 picks for several smaller paint brands (Dutch Boy is available at Menard’s). So it’s a solid, safe pick that’s a classic and broadly appealing color for many homes.
What announcements can we expect?
Pantone started this trend for color of the year, so its choice is usually the biggest news. It’s also one of the last colors to be released (usually in December). Here are some other big releases to look forward to:
Pantone typically makes its selection in early to mid-December, Benjamin Moore is scheduled to announce on October 15, 2024, Sherwin-Williams is scheduled to announce in mid-December, Glidden is scheduled to announce in August, and Graham & Brown is scheduled to announce on September 6, 2024.
What are our color predictions for 2025?
We recently shared our guesses for the color of the year 2025 on Instagram Stories (click on the COTY tag to view it). These guesses are not scientific and are not based on any deep research (we usually spend about a minute coming up with our guesses on the fly while pressing the button). They’ve become a tradition and a fun way for us to test our instinctive psychic powers. The color representations below are approximate (our descriptions in the Instagram video provide much more context):
Our guesses were a bit more aggressive than in years past, though I’ve noticed that I tend to pick a few dark, neutral colors like black or chocolate brown. This habit has served me well, as at least one brand tends to pick a color every year. This year, my guess for “black” isn’t far off from Stainmaster’s Truffle, which is a bit lighter than what I described.
More paint colors we love
You can see more of our favorite paint colors by taking a tour of our homes in the menu at the top of our blog. We’ve also written these in-depth, detailed posts about our favorite paint colors:
