Color Guide: How to Work With Green
With as many green hues as leaves in a forest, it's easy to find one that grows on you
Samantha Schoech
October 15, 2012
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design. I just completed my first remodel, turning my crumbling 1941 kitchen into a beauty of grays, whites and natural wood. If I could, I'd sleep on the countertop. That's how much I love it.
You can also read my parenting blog on Baby Center http://blogs.babycenter.com/author/sschoech/
Houzz Contributor. I am a former magazine editor specializing in travel and design.... More
We learn in kindergarten that blue and yellow make green. If only it were that simple. Green comes in nearly infinite hues, shades and values (lightness or darkness). There are yellow-greens and blue-greens and gray-greens. There are warm greens and cool greens, light greens and dark greens. Jade, emerald, grass, sea, leaf, viridian ... even the names are infinite.
In other words, before going with green, it helps to decide what we are talking about. Bluish mint is a long way from sage. And kelly green and hunter green barely even get along.
What green you choose will help determine the mood of a room. A bright apple green looks fresh and spring like. A dark mossy green can be somber and elegant. Chartreuse is modern and fresh; sage is subdued and traditional.
There are a few rules that apply to most greens. Like most colors, they all look good with a crisp white. Greens are almost universally positive. They make us think of nature, fresh starts, spring and youth. Green is not a particularly sexy color, but it is an uplifting one. The Germanic roots of the word mean "to grow."
As these photos show, green can be used almost anywhere, with almost every style. You just need to know what you're going for.
In other words, before going with green, it helps to decide what we are talking about. Bluish mint is a long way from sage. And kelly green and hunter green barely even get along.
What green you choose will help determine the mood of a room. A bright apple green looks fresh and spring like. A dark mossy green can be somber and elegant. Chartreuse is modern and fresh; sage is subdued and traditional.
There are a few rules that apply to most greens. Like most colors, they all look good with a crisp white. Greens are almost universally positive. They make us think of nature, fresh starts, spring and youth. Green is not a particularly sexy color, but it is an uplifting one. The Germanic roots of the word mean "to grow."
As these photos show, green can be used almost anywhere, with almost every style. You just need to know what you're going for.
Apple Green
Think of a perfect Granny Smith. This green is bright and cheerful and warm.
An interior design professional can help you pick the perfect hue for your home
Think of a perfect Granny Smith. This green is bright and cheerful and warm.
An interior design professional can help you pick the perfect hue for your home
Apple green evokes spring and freshness and new shoots. And on a high-gloss floor, it looks like a meadow.
Green doesn't have to be on the wall. Use it as an accent on furniture, trim, doors and stairs. I love this surprising, cheery green staircase.
Another example of green as an accent color. I love the green window; the color makes the window a focal point, but it's not overpowering.
A bright apple green works perfectly well in a traditional setting. This chinoiserie wallpaper is both era appropriate and modern.
Here's a much yellower version of apple. Think Golden Delicious or pears. It's bright and modern and, yes, almost chartreuse.
Somewhere between chartreuse and apple green lies this lovely, cheery color. I can almost feel the spring rain on my face.
Olive Green
Olive is a dark yellowish green. It's warm and elegant and earthy. This one is both very dark and very yellow — like a forest moss.
Olive is a dark yellowish green. It's warm and elegant and earthy. This one is both very dark and very yellow — like a forest moss.
This is a medium dusky olive. Not quite as yellow as some but still warm.
A bright, very yellow olive green has a modern edge to it. It's not as staid as its darker cousins. It might even be a little cheeky.
Sage Green
Sage greens are muted greens with gray undertones. They are soft and subdued and can be either warm or cool. They are also very, very popular and when misused can be as boring as beige.
Sage greens are muted greens with gray undertones. They are soft and subdued and can be either warm or cool. They are also very, very popular and when misused can be as boring as beige.
A warm sage green goes well with earth tones, like browns and ochers. It’s muted and calming.
Purple throw pillows provide complementary pops of color in a green color scheme
Purple throw pillows provide complementary pops of color in a green color scheme
This medium cool sage around an earthy bathtub has a barely-there feeling.
A very pale cool sage is a more vibrant color than the darker version. This is a traditional space, but the color pops in an understated way.
Mint Green
Mint green is creamy and cool and very close to turquoise. It can have a 1950s feel to it, as it does in this bathroom.
Mint green is creamy and cool and very close to turquoise. It can have a 1950s feel to it, as it does in this bathroom.
It can be very light and dreamy but still a little icy, no?
Different tones of mint green layered together. The feel is as crisp and cool as a mouthful of Listerine.
Mint-green accessories in an all-white room. Very shabby chic.
Another shabby chic mint green with white and pink. It has a French country feel.
Kelly(ish) Green
I love this glossy kelly-green mantel. It's so unexpected and playful without being silly.
I love this glossy kelly-green mantel. It's so unexpected and playful without being silly.
A flat, cool kelly green gives this kitchen so much punch. And it looks great with the blue of a similar tone. It's modern and inviting.
Navy blue and kelly green. It's a pretty, preppy combo that will always be in style.
This green nightstand is perhaps more avocado than kelly, but it’s still nice and bright. And it looks great with natural wood and blue.
Celadon Green
The color refers to a specific type of traditional Korean pottery. It's a very pale spring green often seen as a glaze on tile.
The color refers to a specific type of traditional Korean pottery. It's a very pale spring green often seen as a glaze on tile.
More celadon tile. It’s warm and clean looking.
Green Outside
A shot of bright lime is just what this subdued, earthy color palette needed. Perfect.
A shot of bright lime is just what this subdued, earthy color palette needed. Perfect.
Hunter-green trim on a natural shingle-style house. It's cozy cottage without being overly cute or feminine.
Shades of olive and avocado give this architecturally basic house a lot of oomph.
A bright chartreuse wall pops in this garden but also looks like a natural part of the landscape.
A bright, medium true green hue.
A tad grayer but still bright and cheery.
Apple green.
Benjamin Moore
Whoa. Imagine this as a window trim.
A dark, warm olive green.
A much lighter olive.
A gray olive, still with lots of yellow.
This dark hue sits between olive and sage.
A dark brown sage.
Benjamin Moore
A little lighter and a little yellower.
A warm sage.
Benjamin Moore
A cool grayish sage.
Benjamin Moore
Yellower and greener but still gray.
Benjamin Moore
A very cool sage or a dark celadon.
Benjamin Moore
A yellow-celadon.
Benjamin Moore
A true kelly green.
Darker and bluer than true kelly green, but close.
Bright mint green.
A blue-gray mint.
Dave Fox is a design/build remodeling firm with a customer focused process, an incredible staff and a close knit... Read More
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@Nicole Syelidis I like where you're going with "deep" but instead of red, consider eggplant. Maybe a marine blue?
Thanks for including my photo!!