It feels both comforting and uplifting, and although I haven’t painted a room sage since 1999 (when I fell for Silver Sage from RH…remember that pale, soft sage?), green from the landscape outside my windows lifts the mood like little else. Similar to other design classics, the color seems to drift in and out of style (1970s avocado, anyone?). Sage greens along with olive and pine can bring the outdoors in for a natural, organic, earthy elegant mood. Serene & Soothing Sage Aesthetic + Green Paint Colors highlights the possibilities and suggests potential color stories to become backdrops or accents in your home.
Serene Sage Aesthetic + Green Paint Colors
Sage Greens With an Elegant French Feel
Good gracious, I would never leave this breathtaking bath (from an amazing Newport estate that has hardly changed since 1974!) dressed in earth angel dreamy greens. The trim offers a touch of contrast to calm green walls.
Which paint color would give you a similar look?
Benjamin Moore Sherwood Green
To get this look, focus on natural, leafy greens that aren’t too cool and aren’t too warm. While the color seems delicious to me, it isn’t as bright as say, an apple green. Sherwood Green has a light reflectance value (LRV) of 43.09. While this paint swatch of it (below) may appear a bit darker than the green paneled walls in the image above, bear in mind a color will get washed out with natural light.
Sherwood Green is described as “A spirited medium green with just a dash of gray.” If you like that flavor but want a slightly yellow-green, here’s a contender:
Farrow & Ball Cooking Apple Green 32
Cooking Apple Green is a Farrow & Ball classic they call “a fresh iconic green…which always feels charmingly familiar and, like all greens, creates the feeling of health and vigour. It has a rich, traditional look in darker situations, but often feels much fresher and brighter in well lit rooms and when contrasted with a bright white.”
And can you even imagine creating a moment like this with a minty sage and a warm limestone at your entrance like the one in Provence above?
These gorgeous greens would be amazing on a front door.
When I think of European Country and French farmhouse green accent colors on shutters, I think of those marvelous pastel greens. Here’s a pretty one:
Warm & Natural Sage Greens to Soothe
When you’re after a grayer green suggestive of stone, you may like BM Silver Sage.
BM Silver Sage 506
This dining room’s paneled wall and fireplace remind me of Silver Sage and…
BM Saybrook Sage
While I don’t know the exact shade of sage on paneling and fireplace surround in the elegant dining area above, it seems reminiscent of Benjamin Moore Saybrook Sage. And notice how the adjacent mural is a much cooler green-blue. Such an interesting and unexpected pairing.
The unexpected and even a bit of tension are often the goal in timeless design. Rather than match safely, there’s an aliveness when colors don’t “match.” Such combinations suggest evolution over time.
Here is that yummy Saybrook Sage (combined with a warm buttercream) on a beautiful Victorian house exterior:
I could eat it right up. And notice how the warm sage siding is paired with a cooler pine green on window frames and the door.
Earthy Green Paint Colors Perfect in Casual Settings
Notice all of the tone on tone happening in this sitting room! An emerald green sofa with an earthy paint for walls.
BM Cedar Mountains 706
So often, we automatically think of shades of white to paint paneling, applied moldings, and doors. However, a gorgeous sage can make a lively statement:
Here’s another possibility to liven up beadboard or wainscot with green…Farrow & Ball Whirlybird.
Farrow & Ball Whirlybird
“For “an upbeat space, try this lively green. A lighter version of Breakfast Room Green, Whirlybird is inspired by the papery winged seeds beloved by many playful young gardeners and nature lovers. It looks particularly lively in morning light and is complemented by Beverly and James White.” – FARROW & BALL
Popular BENJAMIN MOORE Sage Paints
Even when you decide you’ll paint a room or a piece of furniture an earthy green, it can be tricky to know where to begin.
A smart place to start is to look to those tried and true green paint colors that have become popular:
Pin this graphic above so you’ll have it for future reference!
Gloucester Sage HC-100 for Exterior Trim
What a beautiful combination on a house with BM Harbour Gray and Gloucester Sage!
Need a Green Patterned Wallpaper Idea?
Instead of simply suggesting nature or the outdoors with green pigment, you can also do it with pattern and texture.
Here’s a closer look at the various greens in the tree pattern:
Add green underfoot! Since I’m a huge fan of hydrangea everything, this pretty rug in the sage colorway caught my eye:
Another green wallpaper to check out is this Canopy pattern from Rifle Paper Co.
Isn’t that green glorious with the soft browns?
Earthy Greens You May Overlook
Not all beautiful green paints have “green” in their name.
Benjamin Moore Fieldstone
On that mood board above is this soothing shade of green that has become quite popular for kitchens and beyond.
It works beautifully with white in Shaker style kitchens or even French-inspired homes like Mary Ann’s former remodeled cottage in Newport:
What a subtle green that can appear grey or even seafoam depending on the lighting:
BM Flora on a Front Door
What a beautiful use of Flora on this luxurious home:
Duxbury Gray
Here’s one of those colors that reads green but doesn’t have green in the paint color name.
Farrow & Ball Green Smoke No. 47
When Charlotte (Vivi et Margot) painted her glorious French farmhouse kitchen cabinets this deep green – we were smitten!
Paint Color: Farrow & Ball Green Smoke
Here’s how F&B describes it:
“A smoky green blue, this colour was popular in interiors during the late 19th century. It has an irresistibly inviting deepness and weathered familiarity when used in exterior situations, while evoking calm and serenity when used inside.”
Deep greens are often used in Northwoods style cabins and lodge style interiors. However, you could use this for a moody effect in a room that has both traditional and modern elements.
Psychologically speaking, green suggests: masculinity, conservatism and wealth.
Just look at how elegant the hue can be on a front door!
Sage Accents & Art
I can imagine this inspiring a whole design scheme for a room:
From the artist: “Bay Laurels are elegant and understated trees, quietly holding that spicy-sweet leaf that flavors so much of our cooking. This bay laurel was painted in gouache on a summer day when the warm light danced on the leaves. The loose brushstrokes are playful and easy like summer afternoons.”
I love the cool tones incorporated in the work above. For warmer tones, consider this beautiful fine art:
From the artist: “This piece is a light-hearted painting of a field of wildflowers. The wild and free movement of the flowers remind the viewer of a warm summer day just on the verge of fall. This traditional landscape painting uses layers of different earthy hues to create texture and depth as the wispy grasses recede into the distance.”
Calm Green Patterned Tile
Here’s a tile that would be beautiful in a laundry or mud room:
More Green Paint Colors & Autumn Inspiration
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Acid Green Aesthetic
I encountered this sophisticated green painted bench below in Paris in the fall:
This looks so comfy and timeless:
The Magic of Green With Copper
When you’re after a natural green for a kitchen, don’t forget how wonderfully it pairs with terracotta and copper tones.
In another kitchen with Green Smoke, it harmonizes beautifully with the brick floor:
Tone on Tone Green Color Story
While I don’t often see this repetition in American kitchens, European homeowners and English country design seem to embrace it.
It’s also helpful to see brass paired with the green!
Love the rusticity of scaffold boards used for above countertop? Watch this video where you’ll see them with the gorgeous green.
Tone on tone greens can read classic and preppy, yes? And isn’t a mix of greens interesting like the peely apple green French bistro chairs and Tarrytown Green woodwork…
Fall Inspiration With Eucalyptus Green
See this story about French greens for ideas for lighter tones.
Discover more inspiring interior design HERE and lovely paint colors HERE. Easiest way to see if a paint color will work? Order samples with Samplize and have them delivered straight to your door.
Eat & Wear Your Greens
Snagged these jeans and highly recommend Paige:
Are you more of BLUE lover? Collect paint color ideas in THIS.
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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