It's official - brown is back (if it ever really went away, that is). As color forecasting season descends on the design world and our favorite paint brands announce the shade they predict will define our next circle around the sun, some overt trends start to emerge. Currently in the lead? Warm browns.
It's hard to pin down a single shade that will dominate our decorating habits for the next 12 months, but 2025 is shaping up to be a year of earthy tones. It comes after Graham & Brown just announced its color of the year for 2025, Elderton, which joins a healthy assortment of other dark, moody hues recently announced by other paint brands.
This grounding reliable hue represents everything we love about brown and its hearty qualities. It's a color that will always have a place in our homes, but its growing popularity feels pleasantly welcome after a year where light blues, dreamy pinks, and pops of primary shades took center stage. While brighter colors offer a fun and playful way to decorate with color, our return to earth tones is a testament to their timelessness, versatility, and reliability. And, you guessed it, Elderon embodies just that.
What is Graham & Brown's Color of the Year 2025?
As they do every year, Graham & Brown has launched its chosen shade alongside a Wallpaper of the Year. For 2025, both picks celebrate the brand's cultural roots and British heritage. "This year's wallpaper and color trend is all about taking time to create a one-off bespoke space and finding beauty in the art of hand-craftmanship," says Graham & Brown's Head of Design, Maryanne Cartwright.
The wallpaper of choice is a repeated labyrinthine landscape called "Rivington Folly Dusk" which depicts ancient columns and archways interwoven with dense trees, while Elderton, a neutral-toned brown, takes its name from the Elder Tree. It makes the perfect color partner for the intricate wallpaper, highlighting the complexity of the line drawings, adding depth to the design, and making for a sophisticated and elegant space.
"The inviting and stable color creates a welcoming partnership between all of nature's shades, from sage to terracotta," says Graham & Brown's Head Stylist and Trend Specialist, Paula Taylor. "When choosing our Colour of the Year 2025, we wanted to mimic the natural elements with a grounding shade. Elderton is a chameleon color that can be sophisticated yet cozy depending on the mood of the space it is in. It will add drama to contemporary colors by creating a theatrical backdrop, allowing them to shine through."
It's also a shade that won't age, unlike more colorful shades that come and go. Inspired by the minimaluxe trend, and the idea that less is more, Graham & Brown's wallpaper and color pairing encourages us to return to stability with earthy paint colors and invest in timeless interiors that promise to endure for years to come.
Price: $70
Quantity: 1 Gallon
How should you decorate with Graham & Brown's shade, "Elderton"?
A true brown like Elderton makes a great foundation for a more nuanced brown color palette, and thanks to its versatility, it can be used in virtually any space. To really let the color sing, try color drenching, drawing the paint up onto the ceiling for a warming enveloping room, or sweeten the space by pairing with a delicate neutral like Graham & Brown's Honey Pot.
While contrasting with a bright white might seem like a fresh, contemporary paint idea, it's one that Livingetc's Editor, Hugh Metcalf, advises against. "That type of harsher contrast will make the application of this color feel dated," he says. "The modern approach is definitely based around color drenching, using the same color for painting the ceilings and walls."
If you're intimidated by the thought of saturating your space with an all-over color as dark as brown, there are still plenty of ways to highlight this moody color in your home. "If you want some lighter elements in your design, my advice would be to swap out white for a more mid-tone beige so that contrast is a little softer," suggests Hugh. "And instead of doing walls in Elderton and a lighter ceiling, flip the script like the design above by Heju Studio. The painted ceiling is the new accent wall, and this is a great way to bring the color to your space without color drenching."
With so many colors that go with brown, the decorating opportunities are literally endless, but sticking with warmer tones will make Elderton feel the most luxurious. However you decide to embrace this year's color of the year from Graham & Brown, you can be confident that this rich brown will be just as relevant in our homes tomorrow as it will in ten year's time.
