Sherwin-Williams Reveals Its Least Popular Paint Color for 2025

KEY POINTS

• Sherwin-Williams has announced Radiant Lilac as its least popular paint color for 2025, highlighting it as the brand's least-tinted shade of the year.
• Despite its low sales, Radiant Lilac is described as a bold hue, with the brand encouraging homeowners to consider it for their spaces.
• The selection of Radiant Lilac reflects Sherwin-Williams' initiative to highlight underused colors and inspire more adventurous choices in home décor.

Not every paint color is a winner—at least, not at first. Some, like Radiant Lilac from Sherwin-Williams, haven't gotten much love at all—in fact, it's the brand's least-tinted color. Radiant Lilac is now being christened The Loneliest Color of 2025, an initiative that shines a light on this bold, beautiful hue, giving it some fresh momentum—and even a partnership with an all-star athlete.

So why hasn't Radiant Lilac been a fan favorite? For one thing, it's part of the brand's historic collection, so it may not be top-of-mind for those hunting for something that feels fresh and new. "Purple can [also] be a complex color," Sue Wadden, the brand's director of color marketing, tells Martha Stewart. "Not everybody has the confidence to go that way."

Regardless, Radiant Lilac is getting buzz at an opportune moment when purple seems to be on the rise in the interior design world. People are color drenching their bedrooms in deep aubergine, or adding a pale lavender to trim and shelves.

So while Sherwin-Williams' Lilac hue is certainly bold even among other purples, there are still plenty of approachable, fun ways to use it. "Try an adjacent room, like maybe a foyer or powder room—a secondary space," says Wadden. "That way you can look at it and love it, but you don't have to live with it every day. I find that's a really successful way to bring color in."

The cherry on top of Radiant Lilac's second wind is a partnership with professional women's basketball player Paige Bueckers. She unveiled the color last night at her first hometown game of her professional career in Minneapolis, sporting a custom Radiant Lilac outfit designed by Dapper Dan. Dan, a legendary couturier from Harlem, previously collaborated with Sherwin-Williams on its Loneliest Color last year, Kingdom Gold.

Ultimately, the idea is to shine light on the beautiful colors that already exist in the brand's catalogue, rather than feeding into the ever-changing trend cycle. "Really it’s about celebrating the unexpected—the things we’re not looking for," says Wadden. "it's just such a unique point of view."