After a decade and a half of annual Color of the Year announcements, Sherwin-Williams has decided to celebrate color in a new way, combing its collections to curate the Sherwin-Williams 2025 Color Capsule of the Year. This expertly selected assortment of hues encapsulates the world of color at its most classic and its most cutting-edge, so that anyone can use it to tell a uniquely beautiful and authentic color story.
Telling a New Story with Multiple Colors of the Year
Knowing that a color celebration this significant could not be confined to a single hue, our Colormix Trendsight Team broadened their selections. They took inspiration from our 2025 Colormix Forecast, Capsules, to create a complete palette of unique and usable colors from the Forecast, our Designer Color Collection, some of our brightest whites, and even our historical hues.
“We really wanted to think about the whole concept of Color of the Year in a new way,” says Color Marketing Manager Emily Kantz. “This being our 15th year, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to refresh our approach. When we were originally working through the forecasting process, a handful of colors were pulled aside as key colors for 2025. These key colors paired nicely with each other, and thus the Color Capsule of the Year was born.”
SW Color Capsule of the Year: The Hues
The 2025 Color Capsule of the Year is made up of nine expertly picked colors, including bright whites (Sunbleached SW 9585 and White Snow SW 9541) and deep designer favorites (Rain Cloud SW 9639 and Clove SW 9605) from our Designer Color Collection; two hues from our 2025 Colormix® Forecast, Grounded SW 6089 (197-C6) and Bosc Pear SW 6390 (139-C6); the modern-classic Chartreuse SW 0073; and touches of softness with Malabar SW 9110 (205-C2) and Mauve Finery SW 6282 (190-C2).
“With so much information at our fingertips, we are looking for moments to connect with something real,” says Amanda Lowery, Architectural Services Account Executive. “Acknowledging the impact design has on our physical and mental well-being opens the door for unique and authentic spaces designed for each individual—spaces where we can be our true self.”
This is the essence of what Sherwin-Williams color trend experts hoped to create by selecting an entire palette to represent the key directions for 2025: a collection of colors chosen for how well they work together—as a complete palette or in carefully picked pairings — and how well they can adapt to virtually any combination, design style, or aesthetic and tell any designer or homeowner’s unique color story.
Emily Kantz adds that “There was a vintage vibe that we kept leaning towards when we were looking at the palette. Nostalgia is having a big impact on design. People are craving those authentic pieces of the past in their homes, so this palette pulled influences from those iconic design styles.”
“When we developed this palette, we were considering styles like Art Deco Regency, Japandi, Mediterranean, and modern vintage,” says Director of Color Marketing Sue Wadden. “Each of these aesthetics has its own characteristics, but our Color Capsule of the Year can be curated to stand out with any design style. We wanted a modern, fresh take on color, with a balanced and usable assortment of shades.”
The resulting palette is a mix of brightness and subtlety, freshness and familiarity. Maggie O’Hare, Sherwin-Williams' Global CMF & Trend Manager for Industrial Wood Coatings, sees this mix of whites and neutrals, with a pop of stormy blue, jolt of yellow-green, and whisper of mauve as “incredibly classic,” creating a strong statement and amplifying the palette’s universality.
“What I love about this Color Capsule is that everything I’m seeing has a bit of warmth to it,” Vern Yip tells host Sue Wadden on Colormixology. “When you have a bit of warmth, it really does allow you to introduce all the other things that you love.”
