Mocha Mousse is the Colour of the Year for 2025, having made a strong impact on the fashion and interior worlds.
Pantone has been announced Mocha Mousse as the Colour of the Year for 2025.
Rich, chocolatey hues have already made quite the impression throughout the fashion world, such as trends like chocolate-glazed donut nails and brown leather jackets.
The luscious shade has now been poured into home decor with Mocha Mousse, a delectable brown hue that exudes richness and evokes comfort and warmth, much like a steaming cup of hot chocolate.
With the crowning of the hottest new hue, Dulux has shared some inspiration to help bring the look into your space.
Davina Harper, Dulux Colour Specialist, said it wasn’t surprising that a soft shade of comforting brown had been chosen as Pantone’s Colour of the Year for 2025.
“We’ve seen warm browns of every shade coming through for a while now, with nostalgic design influences from the 1970s featuring strongly at international design fairs such as Milan Design Week,” said Harper.
She added that brown represented a connection to nature, safety, and certainty and was elegant, down-to-earth and relaxed. Pantone has described the shade as symbolising thoughtful indulgence, harmonious comfort and feelings of contentment – something many have strived for after the turbulent years of COVID and the recent economic and political uncertainty.
“Cosy and calm interiors with a connection to nature and appreciation of quality craftsmanship and classic design are something we are seeing a lot of now, with this colour fitting right into this ethos.”
Harper described the emotional impact and versatility of Mocha Mousse as inviting and grounded, early and natural. She said that it created a cosy and relaxed atmosphere, paired with natural stone and timber shades often seen in Kiwi homes.
“Dulux Ponsonby features in our 2024 Solstice colour palette – a toasty palette of rich browns, clay and warm neutrals designed to evoke a comforting, familiar and inviting feeling to make you feel safe and at home.”
She added that this colour has also been matched with soft and warm white tones, such as Cardrona, blush tones like Opito Bay, and warm neutral shades like Punaromia Quarter. It also worked well when paired with muted warm yellows like Dulux Paekākāriki and accents of blue such as Dulux Blue Pools.
According to Harper, there were many interesting ways to bring a colour like Mocha Mousse into a room without having to paint a whole room, such as painting it along the edge of a door frame, adding it to the inside of a wall arch or shelving, wrapping around two adjoining walls (the modern version of a feature wall) or painting a piece of furniture and choosing this colour for ornaments, cushions, artwork, and bed linen were other ways to embrace the shade without too much expense or effort.
Harper said that browns would continue to dominate the design world, especially as the trend shifts from cooler whites and greys.
“As well as the mid-tone browns like Dulux Ponsonby, we’ll see a move towards darker browns with warm red and pink undertones such as Dulux Boggyburn, as well as the growing popularity of mushroom shades such as Dulux Kaikorai Valley. We predict brown won’t go anywhere for a while.”
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