Repainting your space is one of the easiest ways to spruce up its style. Even those who don’t consider themselves great at DIY can typically manage to breathe new life into a living room for the low price of a few cans of paint. Switching up your wall color is also a wiser way to participate in trends — versus incorporating them through more permanent, costly features (like tile or new flooring) that are harder to switch out. So what are the new paint trends that will breathe fresh life into your space for 2025? We spoke exclusively with Sarah Bilotta, House Digest’s in-house design expert and board member for the Journal of Design History to find out.
Unlike extensive remodeling, repainting doesn’t have to cost much, or take longer than a day or two. If you are reconsidering painting your living room white, or want to make a change to your bedroom, but don’t know where to start — Bilotta has some exciting suggestions. The best part is her advice is as practical as it is lovely. These are painting trends that seem like they will stick around for a while, so you won’t have to start all over in 2026. Here’s what you need to know to paint your home like a pro.
Read more: Painting Tips That Even HGTV Stars Swear By
Paint Your Trim A Different Color Than The Rest Of The Room Or Vice Versa
blue room with white trim – Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images
Neutrals seem to have taken over design in recent years, especially for interior paint colors. Most living spaces have crisp white walls with matching white trim. While many believe this offers a great blank canvas to build the rest of the room’s decor around, Bilotta thinks it’s actually a bit bland. Going forward, the idea is to use the paint as a point of visual interest, instead of just a backdrop. “One paint trend that is likely to be big in 2025 is contrasting trim,” she says. “The era of white everything is over, and classic pairings of dark trim with light, airy walls (or vice versa) are coming back into fashion.”
Trim is any of the decorative wooden panels in the room. Think of things like door frames, baseboards, crown molding, and the like. When they are a different color than the rest of your room, it makes them stand out as decorative items, instead of having them blend in behind the scenes as something purely functional. No matter what trim painting technique you use, you don’t have to go too bold with them if you prefer a more subtle look. White baseboards against brown walls still look nice, as does white trim against a bright blue — it’s just not as boring as white on white.
Natural Wood Trim Is Back In A Big Way
living room with natural wood trim – Fio Creative/Shutterstock
One of the biggest painting trends of the year is actually to not paint your trim at all. “One traditional variant on contrasting trim is also seeing a resurgence among younger designers: the use of natural wood trim,” Bilotta says. “We thought we would see the end of natural wood trim in the ’90s, but it seems to be working its way back into trendy design lexicons, vis-à-vis modern farmhouse decor, and also fits in with the pared-down Scandinavian-inspired contemporary aesthetic.” Whatever style you choose to incorporate a smartly stained wooden trim into, Bilotta is certain of one thing: No matter how often these natural wood trims fall out of favor, they find their way back in just as quickly.
These days, Bilotta says that the catalyst for stained trim gaining popularity is people becoming bored with the minimalist, all-white aesthetic of light trim and walls that dominated design for so long. Now plenty of people are looking for something in the complete opposite direction. They prefer more vibrant and dynamic designs, which the natural grain of wood often offers. Plus anyone who is more eco-conscious also has a growing appreciation for wood in its unaltered, natural form.
Consider Painting Your Decor To Match Your Walls
salmon color drenched room – B & Q / YouTube
Color drenching is when you use one color of paint on multiple surfaces within a single space. This can mean painting the walls, ceiling, trim, and sometimes even furniture, in different shades of the same color. According to Bilotta, it was quite popular in 2024, and it’s not going anywhere in 2025, either — but with a twist. “Another painting technique I’ve recently seen successfully paired with the concept of color drenching is painting decor to match your walls,” Bilotta shares. “I have seen gorgeous feature walls in color-drenched rooms where the picture frames are painted to match the wall, and as long as it’s well done, it has a spectacular impact.”
The reason for this is that the complementary shades of the same color throughout the space create a great connection between all the different design pieces. It can also add depth and a sense of purpose, making the room feel more complete. When you add the same color to the decor as well, it brings everything closer together. Inviting picture frames, clocks, and the like to join in the color, as well, just further cements the connection.
Consider A Cohesive Paint Palette Throughout The Home
sage green living room – Followtheflow/Shutterstock
An emerging trend that Bilotta can’t get enough of is using the same color in different areas of the home. Instead of striking out with different bold hues in each space, or sticking to bland neutrals, consider a third option that’s a little bit of both. “It’s not a new trend per se, but an idea that run-of-the-mill homeowners have yet to fully embrace,” she says. “I think it’s a compelling happy medium that will satisfy both those who want a pop of color and those who would rather keep things serene.”
She uses shades of green to make her case. Imagine different hues of color around your home: soft sage in the living and dining rooms, sage with white paneling in the bathroom, and a darker pine green for the master bedroom. “I think it’s human nature to want to make each room unique and to go wild with different paint colors and design schemes — but high-end designers are sticking with ‘themes,'” she shares. This way, there is plenty of color around your home, but it all flows nicely together. Instead of a patchwork of different designs, you have a single, cohesive one that still adds plenty of personality to the space.
Find Inspiration For Your Wall Colors In The Undertones Of Your Room’s Fixed Features
brown living room with dark fireplace – Sheremetio/Shutterstock
Sometimes you pick a paint color because it’s one of your favorites. In other cases, you might rely on a trending color because you don’t trust your own taste. But Bilotta has been choosing a third inspiration option for years — and you are likely to see a lot more of it in 2025. In fact, it’s how many designers choose the perfect shade of paint. Choose the shade based on features already present in the space. “For example, if your marble fire surround has gray veins, painting the wall gray,” she outlines, encouraging readers to branch out in their color inspiration. “If your pine floors have deep brown knots, you may try using a similar brown tone somewhere else in the room (A chair rail? An accent wall?).”
The key here, Bilotta says, is not to be afraid of darker shades when picking out colors. You might worry that a deep, rich paint will overwhelm the space or make it feel smaller. But she insists that if the color is already in the room, the paint will only enhance the look, not make it worse. “It can be scary to apply dark colors to large amounts of space, but if you can source an existing deep tone from your room’s color palette, you know the result will be cohesive,” she advises.
Reach For Stencils For A Touch Of Personality
trees painted as a stencil on the wall – Marnie Marrone/Shutterstock
People are reaching far into the past for the best painting trends to take into 2025. In fact, Bilotta reveals that when DIYing really started to take off in the ’70s, women enjoyed buying patterns in books to stencil onto their walls. This year, we will see more of the same coming back into style. “Stencils have remained popular, especially in children’s rooms, for adding a little bit of kitschy charm,” she says. “But, now, with the resurgence in popularity of wallpaper, some DIYers are instead creating full-wall patterns using stencils or roller brushes.”
Bilotta suggests that TikTok is one of the best places to look for stencil inspiration. A few of her personal favorites include @ourhouse46_ because of the floral nursery she created, as well as @sharee.designs to learn about how to make your designs look a bit more textured. Bilotta passes along that one of the tips for adding wall stencil art with texture is how you can add interest by “mixing a texturing agent like Westpac Ready-Tex into your paint and applying it selectively over your wall.” She notes, “This texturing technique is a subtle way to add dimension to a wall without committing to a dramatic color combination.”
Double Drenching Creates Bold Depth In Most Spaces
double drenched room in blue – Little Green Paint Company
2025 is all about using color in fun, unexpected ways. One of the newest takes on this is a little something called double drenching. “This involves painting your walls, trim, doors, and ceiling all in two slightly off-set solid colors, like navy blue and royal blue or eggplant and orchid,” Bilotta says. This contrast in hues can add an unexpected boldness to something that might typically blend straight into the background. Suddenly, your bedroom door is a design piece in and of itself.
Like most designs, double drenching is still relatively high up on the design world ladder. It has yet to trickle all the way down to, say, your favorite HGTV show or the open house you might attend. “We’re beginning to see this trend in luxury design magazines, especially applied to dramatic, large rooms like sitting rooms, salons, entryways, and stairways,” she says. However, she’s not sure how long it might take to catch on for everyone. “It makes sense that designers in the luxury space are beginning to push the boundaries of even this statement-making design choice,” Bilotta advises. “Whether double drenching will appeal to the average homebuyer of 2025, however, stands to be seen.”
You Can Paint Much More Than The Walls In The Bathroom
Young woman painting her bathroom tiles in a white matte color – Marioguti/Getty Images
If your shower is white and you don’t want to keep it that way, you don’t actually have to go through the trouble of completely redoing the tiles. “TikTok is full of influencers who have (with varying levels of success) applied paint to one finicky part of the house: shower tiles,” she says. “By painting shower tiles, it’s possible to get rid of the traditional white or cream shower walls that put every imperfection and dirty spot on display.” She notes that full-bodied, darker colors seem to be the preference for most attempting the trend — which makes sense. Painting tiles requires a little less commitment, so why not have fun with more dramatic hues?
Something to keep in mind if you try this, however, is that you can’t just use any old paint. Whether you are updating your faucet, tub, or tiling, our expert is quick to point out that you need to select an epoxy paint if you are going to paint anything that is likely to get wet. “Tile paint has been around for a long time,” she says. “But the formula for these paints has been improved in recent years, making it stronger and more water-resistant.” Be sure to have a thorough read of the label before prepping and applying, so you don’t end up with paint that bubbles or peels in a couple months.
Read the original article on House Digest.
