Create Enviable Interiors With Green Design Schemes
Borrow from nature's playbook for your interior decorating with the color thought to boost balance and youthfulness
Sage green, forest green, lime green, jade green and more — with thousands of shades of this wonderful color, it's little surprise that green comes just after blue as a favorite color. Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, says that "green is the most abundant hue in nature — the eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum." This makes it a terrific color for interiors, as we are comfortable with it from seeing it around us in nature.
Emerald was named a top trendy color overall for 2013; here you'll learn some other reasons to include green in your home.
Emerald was named a top trendy color overall for 2013; here you'll learn some other reasons to include green in your home.
In Aztec culture green was considered to be royal, because it was the color of the quetzal bird's plumes favored by the Aztec chieftains. In Hindu culture emerald green is used to align the heart chakra, or energy point, allowing feelings of love to flow freely from a person’s core.
A research team led by University of Munich psychologist Stephanie Lichtenfeld in 2011 reported that a glimpse of green appears to encourage "the type of pure, open (mental) processing required to do well on creativity tasks. ... Green facilitates creativity performance but has no influence on analytical performance."
So if you want to get your creative juices flowing, you might introduce a shot of green into your work area.
So if you want to get your creative juices flowing, you might introduce a shot of green into your work area.
"Green strikes the eye in such a way as to require no adjustment whatever and is, therefore, restful," says color expert Angela Wright. "Being in the center of the spectrum, it is the color of balance. When the world about us contains plenty of green, this indicates the presence of water and little danger of famine, so we are reassured by green on a primitive level."
The association of green with growth and freshness, and its ability to facilitate creativity, makes it perfect for cooking up amazing meals in a kitchen.
The association of green with growth and freshness, and its ability to facilitate creativity, makes it perfect for cooking up amazing meals in a kitchen.
Oscar Wilde once wrote, "He had that curious love of green, which in individuals is always the sign of a subtle artistic temperament, and in nations is said to denote a laxity, if not a decadence of morals." Maybe that is why Andy Warhol — so the story goes — wore only green underpants.
If reading is your guilty pleasure, a creativity-inducing green space could be the perfect spot for curling up. I love how this forest-green fitted bookshelf unit is lifted by the subtle sage-green sofa.
If reading is your guilty pleasure, a creativity-inducing green space could be the perfect spot for curling up. I love how this forest-green fitted bookshelf unit is lifted by the subtle sage-green sofa.
Green represents the wood element in feng shui and is excellent for improving health and balancing family life. It can also help reinvigorate us and reduce fatigue, according to a study done by psychologist Donald A. Laird.
This soft green makes for an excellent setting for an end-of-day soak. The neutral tones look elegant here with a splash of red — green's complement on the color wheel.
This soft green makes for an excellent setting for an end-of-day soak. The neutral tones look elegant here with a splash of red — green's complement on the color wheel.
Modern night-vision goggles use a green tint for good reason: It's the color that the human eye is most sensitive to.
Used here green seems to tie the interior to the backdrop of the garden beyond and is a welcome splash of color in an otherwise monochromatic scheme.
Used here green seems to tie the interior to the backdrop of the garden beyond and is a welcome splash of color in an otherwise monochromatic scheme.
Of course, green is also synonymous with ecology, so if a green-colored interior is not for you, consider putting those green thumbs to work. Bring the outside in by introducing a living wall or an evergreen plant display to create balance and bring you closer to nature.
More: Houzz guides to green paint picks and color palettes
More: Houzz guides to green paint picks and color palettes
This room has a spring green with a complementary pink in a similar tint and saturation to create a refreshing and playful look.