Dulux Colour Awards 2025

Dulux Colour Awards 2025

Dulux Colour Awards 2025

It’s that time of year when trend forecasters release their findings on how we will be living in the future. They pinpoint with incredible accuracy how we will be working, where and how we will be spending our leisure time, the clothes we will want to wear and even what our homes will look and feel like. Architects, furniture and product designers, interior decorators and many commercial companies rely on this information to inform how they can best serve their customers in the near future. Australian paint brand Dulux is a leader in this field, and each year their Colour Forecast delivers invaluable information on not just which colours will be popular for interiors, but also some intriguing findings on how the impact of our social and economic climate has led to these insights.

Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux’s highly respected Colour and Communications Manager, says “During times of instability, such as the current cost of living crisis and ongoing overseas conflicts, reduced consumer sentiment tends to see colour trends shift less dramatically. However, colour can be a powerful antidote to lift spirits and provide a sense of comfort and warmth, which is evident with this year’s colour palettes”. So, let’s look at the three beautiful 2025 Dulux trends, and see how we can incorporate them into our unique Australian and New Zealand homes. 

THE STILL PALETTE

This beautifully gentle palette is driven by our need to appreciate things in the slow lane. The colours have a calming effect that can create a nourishing and comforting environment. Textiles are selected for their natural colours and properties in wool, shearling, cotton and linen that can be integrated alongside traditional materials such as stone and ceramic.

Warm, natural looking timber floors are perfect for this trend, such as the Urban Oak Design in Venice. These warm floors are ideally complemented with rugs featuring texture and linework like the Saffron in Natural. Softly draped curtains in natural looking linens in warm hues like the Austere sheers in Dew or Macadamia would add a touch of understated luxury that is in alignment with the Still palette.

THE RECOLLECT PALETTE

This palette is designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia, reflection and sophistication in our rapidly changing world. It’s a moodier curation for those seeking comfort and security, with furniture and décor elements spanning from the 50’s – 90’s integrated in an eclectic personalised style that embraces a connection to heritage with a clash of modern glamour. Recollect features purple, rich burgundies and wine colours which are predicted to be a strong colour direction for 2025.

A beautiful flooring idea for this trend is the Carpet Court Latitude carpet in the deep burgundy hue ‘Eternal’. For a hard-flooring option, a rich dark floorboard such as the Florence Plus laminate in ‘Potter Oak’ would perfectly embody the heritage aspect of this trend. The look could be further layered with a quality rug such as the 100% New Zealand wool Silvio rug in Earth. To capture deeper hues of this trend in window furnishings, try the Bali sheers in either ‘Copper’ or ‘Moss’. Blockout blinds in a lighter hue such as the Modern range in ‘Whisper’ could provide light relief to the darker, brown-based tonal schemes seen in this trend.

THE EMERGE PALETTE

Finally, we have the joyful Emerge palette, a collection of uplifting soft and mid-tone hues. Emerge has a feel-good energy evoking a sense of cautious optimism and embodies an expressive style that celebrates connection and ignites joy. Dulux’s Andrea Lucena-Orr says, “The palette is a balanced curation of warm muted hues including biscuit yellow, warm, orange-based pinks, greyed off lilacs and a hint of brown and 
light grey blue.” 

Round rugs are the perfect way to instantly create a sense of this palette at home. The Bondi oval rug in White or the Bubble Rug in Pink or Silver will add that whimsical touch. Floorboards in a lovely light oak colour will provide a perfect bright base for the playful hues – the Ashbury Oak water resistant hybrid floor in ‘Cottesloe Oak’ combines the beauty of natural wood with all the practical benefits of engineered flooring. For window furnishings to suit this trend, try the Seattle sheer curtains in Blush.

Well, that is certainly the inspiration I need for some future room changes and tweaks that I am planning – and I can’t wait to see these beautiful schemes start to appear in the future.

Image credit: Dulux Colour Awards Imagery

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