4 Interior Colour Trends to Ditch in 2025

If you’ve been following me, you’ll know that my POV as a designer is to choose timeless finishes so you can hop off the trend-mill and love your house forever. Here are some tired trends I’m happy to help kick to the curb going into 2025.

Allow me to be a tiny bit smug here, because as you know, I’ve never endorsed these looks in the first place. I don’t gush over a trend one season and declare it out the next. That’s because I have a clear perspective on what IS and what is NOT timeless.

Here’s a beautiful kitchen that incorporates the black and white trend beautifully and in a design that’s timeless.

A timeless use of black by @basic_projects

Let’s take a closer look at some interior colour trends you should skip in 2025.

1. Ditch the Black Hardware and Faucets

I have been cautioning about going overboard on harsh black hardware and faucets this entire 8 year span of the black and white trend. I often feel like a broken record on this one. But when a trend washes in like a Tsunami, what else can you do? Finally, I can feel a tide change. Black hardware and faucets are looking dated end of story.

It’s a trendy look that was never going to cross into the realm of timeless because it’s simply not pretty. In a high contrast white bathroom or kitchen in particular, the eye just bounces around to all the black bits and there’s nothing pretty about that. And since every contractor has made black their default finish, it’s looking sad and builder grade.

Instead of black hardware and faucets, do this:

Stick with timeless silver finishes for plumbing fixtures, such as chrome and polished nickel. They look much softer in a timeless white or cream bathroom. Cabinet hardware will also have more longevity in soft silver or brass finishes. 

A timeless black moment in the countertop with soft mixed metals by Jean Stoffer Design

2. Don’t Install Grey Floors

If you already have grey wood-look floors, don’t worry! There are many ways to work with them and layer a space up to be warm and inviting. Like I did here. 

But if you’re investing in new floors, know that, while stores have stockpiles of grey wood-look floors, they’re trying to liquidate them fast. Because if you install them in your home now, you’ll instantly date it over 10 years. Floors are a big expense. That’s why choosing a timeless wood colour for your floors is a better investment overall.

Instead of grey flooring, choose this:

Install wood-look floors that will never look dated. And which ones are those? They are the warm, natural wood tones from light to medium brown. Choose floors in this colour range you won’t need to update your floors until they are worn out.

Read more: When NOT to replace your hardwood floors

Josh Young Design

Here’s a timeless natural wood floor above. Notice too that the bright white walls look great because, not only is their ample natural light, but he’s an incredible decorator and he’s styled and layered the room beautifully. Also notice that all this black decor looks perfect because he knows how to manage contrast, placement and how everything flows visually (aka visual rhythm). 

3. Don’t Add Black Railings

In 2025 we just need to stop with harsh black accents in our homes. Some of the worst examples I see, besides all the hardware and plumbing in black, are modern linear black railings both inside and out. If you’re considering “updating” your staircase with a black railing, keep reading to consider whether it’s right for your house. 

Avoid these linear black panel railings.

Instead of black railings, do this: 

For a timeless use of black on a railing, you have few pretty options.  

Slim black metal spindles can be a timeless way to incorporate black, whether the handrail is black or wood.

Stagg Design

Diddo for painting just the handrail black. It’s practical and classic. Usually, painting the newels black as well hits the tipping point of too much black. Stair treads can be black as long as the risers and skirts are white. Here’s a pretty example:

Sage Design

4. Don’t Paint your Walls a Stark White

Even though I’ve always been all about a timeless white or cream kitchen or bathroom for their timelessness, I have never had the urge to create a top to bottom stark white box.

Painting walls white or off white is beginning to be seen for what it is, a stark unfinished look. Unless you have a modern house with tonnes of natural light flooding in, white walls are never the best choice.

Instead of stark white paint colours, choose this:

In the grey trend and moving into the white trend, I was delighted to help create fresher looks with paler wall colours. They are good backdrop neutrals for supporting fresher colour. And I love to decorate with colour! But I always recommended the palest neutrals to get this look rather than a stark white paint colour.

And BTW, in many of the designer white rooms we all swooned over, the walls were those very pale neutrals, not a bright or stark white. It’s just that filters and photo processing blows images out and everyone assumes the look is the brightest, starkest white. But what they are really looking for is the LIGHT in those images.

Here’s what else you need to know. There isn’t a paint colour that CREATES light. As a matter of fact, white walls look dingier in low light rooms.

Young Lucy in my previous “white” dining room with Taupe Greige walls

The stark white walls trend has started to unravel recently. That’s because it’s uncommon to know how to incorporate the necessary colour and interest into decorating that help make these too-white walls work.  That’s why I focus on teaching people how to decorate everyday. You can learn with me in an online course or you can join hundreds of like-minded decorators inside my new True Colour Insider Community!

Colour trends in 2025 and beyond

Decorating with black in a way that’s timeless (and not trendy) is all about restraint, placement and proportion. Oh, and you need to be deliberate with contrast. Working with white is all about nuance and knowing how to create interest.

Remember, when a new neutral feels like its trending, you need to practice restraint. Don’t choose the SAME neutral for ALL your finishes and it’ll help keep your home projects timeless. 

Let’s go forward into 2025 as wise and experienced decorators with a few more tricks in our bags than choosing all “black and white” 🫶

Join my True Colour Insider Community for ongoing learning and connection with friends who love learning and decorating just like you!

Because your house doesn’t have to be a boring box. . . together we can help create a home that brings you joy every day. 💛

Become the GO-TO COLOUR EXPERT in your area, register here for my last True Colour Expert training.

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Related posts:

5 Must-Have Design Details for a Timeless Home

The Best Warm Whites for Walls are Not what You Think

How Maria Saved Me from a Trendy Black Kitchen