Each year major paint and design brands announce a color of the year, a single shade they predict will define interior design trends for the coming months. While the announcement can feel like a marketing event, the selection process involves extensive research into social trends, economic conditions, and cultural shifts. Designers and builders who understand the reasoning behind these selections can use the information to make informed decisions about color palettes for residential projects. The four major paint brands each approach the selection differently, which produces a range of distinct yet complementary recommendations. Understanding color schemes for interior design provides a foundation for applying these annual trends without letting a single color dictate the entire room.
How Color of the Year Selections Are Made
The color of the year selection process takes twelve to twenty-four months and involves color experts, trend forecasters, and designers from multiple countries. Pantone, Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, and Behr each run independent processes, which is why their selections rarely match. The divergence itself is informative. Each brand surveys a different cross-section of the design world and weighs factors such as fashion runway trends, automotive color data, political climate, social movements, and consumer behavior. The selection panels range from five to thirty members depending on the organization, and the final choice often requires multiple rounds of voting to reach a consensus.
Pantone’s process gathers a panel of color specialists from around the world who meet twice a year to review submissions. The panel narrows hundreds of suggestions down through multiple rounds of discussion and voting. For 2025, Pantone selected Mocha Mousse, a warm brown neutral described as capturing a global mood of connection, comfort, and harmony. Benjamin Moore’s 2025 pick, Aegean Teal, leans toward blue-green tranquility. Sherwin-Williams chose a warm clay tone called Malted Milk, and Behr selected Rumors, a deep plum shade. Having four different selections from four major brands does not create confusion. It offers four distinct entry points into the same overarching trend toward warm, grounded, comforting colors. Builders tracking these trends can reference how builders can use Pantone color of the year trends in residential projects to translate runway-to-wall color predictions into practical material and finish specifications.
The Psychology Behind Annual Color Choices
Color psychology plays a central role in the selection of each color of the year. Designers pick colors that respond to the collective emotional state of the public. During economic uncertainty, colors tend toward warm, grounding earth tones. During periods of optimism, brighter and more saturated colors appear. The 2025 selections across multiple brands show a clear turn toward comfort and stability. Mocha Mousse, Aegean Teal, Malted Milk, and Rumors all belong to warm, mid-saturation color families that create a sense of refuge. This marks a shift from the brighter, more energetic colors popular in the early 2020s. Industry publications have tracked this pattern, including analysis from construction material specifiers tracking Pantone color trends that shows how annual color selections correlate with broader economic cycles and consumer confidence metrics.
The demand for colors that support mental well-being has influenced paint manufacturers to expand their neutral and earth-tone offerings. Greens, browns, warm grays, and muted blues have grown as a percentage of total paint sales in the residential sector over the past five years. Paint companies now offer three to four times more neutral earth-tone options than they did a decade ago. Designers report that clients increasingly request colors that make them feel grounded rather than energized when they walk into a room.
Applying the Color of the Year in Residential Projects
Using a color of the year in a home does not mean painting an entire room in that exact shade. Design professionals recommend using the color of the year as an accent or a starting point for a broader palette. A deep plum like Behr’s Rumors works well on an accent wall, in a powder room, or on kitchen island cabinetry. A warm brown like Mocha Mousse reads as a sophisticated neutral that can cover all walls in a living room or bedroom.
| Color of the Year 2025 | Brand | Best Application | Room Types |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mocha Mousse | Pantone | Full walls, large surfaces | Living room, bedroom, office |
| Aegean Teal | Benjamin Moore | Accent wall, bathroom | Bathroom, powder room, study |
| Malted Milk | Sherwin-Williams | Full walls, exterior | Living room, entryway, siding |
| Rumors | Behr | Accent wall, cabinetry | Kitchen island, dining room, entry |
Builders and homeowners who want specific guidance can study how home builders can use Aegean Teal as a Benjamin Moore color of the year in residential projects, which provides room-by-room application strategies for this specific blue-green shade.
Accent Applications for Bold Colors
Bolder color of the year selections, such as deep plums or saturated teals, work best as accents rather than full-room colors. An accent wall behind a bed or sofa creates a center of visual interest without overwhelming the space. Cabinet islands, bathroom vanities, and interior doors offer smaller surfaces where a bold color makes a statement without the commitment of full walls. Trim and ceiling details in a bold color add unexpected interest to an otherwise neutral room. The 60-30-10 rule applies here. Sixty percent of the room in a dominant neutral, thirty percent in a secondary color, and ten percent in an accent color derived from the color of the year.
Non-Drywall Surface Applications
For builders working with non-traditional wall surfaces, the principles extend beyond drywall. A look at polished concrete color selection shows how integral color, dyes, and stains offer different methods for applying trend colors to concrete floors, countertops, and architectural surfaces. Each method produces a different final appearance, so the choice between integral color and a topical stain matters for matching the color of the year precisely. Concrete surfaces accept color differently than drywall or wood, requiring specialized products and application techniques.
Neutral Colors as Full-Room Applications
When the color of the year falls into the neutral family, as many recent selections have, it can serve as a whole-room color. Warm browns, muted clays, and soft grays work across all four walls of a living room, bedroom, or home office. These colors perform well in open floor plans because they do not compete with adjacent spaces. A whole-room neutral should be tested in the specific room to verify how it reads under that room’s particular light conditions. Behr’s 2025 Rumors selection has generated discussion about how deep colors function in various lighting scenarios. A detailed breakdown from Family Handyman on Behr’s 2025 color of the year examines how Rumors performs on different wall types and in rooms with varying natural light exposure, providing practical data points for homeowners who want to use this shade beyond accent applications.
Coordinating Color of the Year Palettes Across Trades
A color of the year influences more than wall paint. Flooring, cabinetry, countertops, tile, and fabric selections should coordinate with the chosen palette. Builders and general contractors face the challenge of ensuring that the color direction chosen by the homeowner or designer stays consistent across multiple subcontractors and material suppliers. A project with inconsistent color application across trades produces a disjointed final result.
Specifying the color of the year for a project requires communication across trades. The painter needs the exact product code. The cabinet maker needs to know whether the color will appear on painted cabinets. The tile supplier should receive color samples to coordinate grout and trim. A project that lacks this coordination can end up with a color that looks different on the wall than it does on the cabinetry because different materials absorb paint differently. The same Behr Rumors that reads as a warm plum on drywall can appear almost black on MDF cabinet doors if the primer and topcoat application differ. Consistent coordination is a project management skill that applies beyond color selection. For example, employee retention strategies that keep striping crews returning year after year show how clear communication and consistent specifications improve outcomes across all trades on a job site.
The color of the year provides a useful benchmark for tracking design trends, but it should never override the practical considerations of a specific space. Room function, lighting, existing furnishings, and personal preference matter more than an annual color prediction. Homeowners and builders who treat the color of the year as inspiration rather than instruction achieve better long-term satisfaction with their color choices. For those ready to apply these ideas, working with Behr Rumors and applying the 2025 color of the year in residential design provides specific guidance on integrating this year’s plum trend into flooring, cabinetry, and accent wall applications.