Color of the Year 2025
The Color of the Year express a global mood and an attitude, reflecting collective desire in the form of a single, distinct hue.
For 2025, the Pantone Color Institute selects PANTONE 17-1230 Mocha Mousse, a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nurtures us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort.
Grounded Elegance: Exploring Mocha Mousse—Pantone Color of the Year 2025
As landscape architects, we understand that color is more than just an aesthetic choice; it can direct how we experience spaces and influence our interactions with the environment. With the announcement of Mocha Mousse as Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2025, we have an exciting opportunity to explore how this rich, earthy hue can inspire our designs and enhance our outdoor spaces.
Our office has seen a movement away from stark black/white or the ‘gray’ approach and feel that this color digs into the inviting warm earth tone that evokes feelings of comfort and connection to our earth. This nuanced shade combines the richness of deep chocolate with softer, creamy undertones, creating a versatile color that resonates with nature. It embodies a sense of grounding and stability while encouraging a connection to the natural world around us.
How would we recommend using this color in the Landscape? Here are a few outdoor examples of Mocha Mousse that integrate a lovely nature into the outdoor experience.
Thermal Oak
Using decking, and we mean real wood… you can start to see the texture and resonance of Mocha Mousse. See below for a color swatch of Thermal Oak from Carbon Smart—lower your carbon footprint by installing this wood from local fallen trees, milled and thermally finished!
Amphora Brown
Images from Bover
Outdoor furniture palettes is another way to incorporate this rich tone—see below for Bover’s Amphora light. Not only do we adore the shape, but the color grounds this light to the landscape.
Heuchera Villosa “Brownies”
Image from Tuingoed Foltz
And finally—plants! One would think you would definitely not want to see the brown of Mocha Mousse in your plants…. BUT… a cultivar of Heuchera villosa (a fall-blooming heuchera) just was released called ‘Brownie,’ and it has lovely mocha mouse tones on the underside of its large textural leaves, creating an interesting addition to the landscape!
In all, we are excited to experience this earthiness opportunity Mocha Mousse provides us for 2025!
Intreegue Design is a licensed landscape architecture firm operating in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Napa Valley, California. We offer the added value of having expert horticulturists, forest conservation planners, Chesapeake Bay Landscape Design professionals and ISA-certified arborists in house.
Learn more about working with Intreegue and our Design Process.
