If there’s one question that I get asked more than any other question it is about paint color! Sometimes choosing colors can be tricky and if there is one shade that has completely taken the design world by storm it’s green! So today I’ve rounded up the best green paint colors to use in your home!
Some of you may not know but green is my favorite color so when I began seeing kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms done up in this sultry color my green lovin heart skipped a beat.
Using green paint in your home can not only be bold and make a huge statement but it can also be relaxing and refreshing depending on the shade. You can paint an entire room green or simply add a green accent wall or statement-making piece to the space. Either way, you can’t go wrong!
Dark Green has the power to make elements like brass and natural wood tones stand out which is the main reason we have chose to use it as the lower cabinet color in our kitchen renovation.
enough chit chat, let’s get down to paint!
If you’re interested I recently wrote another post on The Best White Paint Colors To Use In Your Home!
Best Dark Green Paint Colors
Benjamin Moore Salamander: This green-black moody hue is so gorgeous and is a go-to for many designers. I love how Shea from Studio Mcgee used it in this space.
Benjamin Moore Backwoods: For a more toned down dark green this shade is perfect for those of you that want green but aren’t sure about going super dark. I love how Angela from Building walnut farm used it in this laundry room. If you are worried you won’t like the entire wall painted green then try a half wall like she did, mixing in white to give it that extra pop.
Benjamin Moore Essex Green: So far this is one of the top contenders for our kitchen cabinets, I love the deep hue and the way it is so true to live greenery. Plus I think it will look amazing with our bright white walls. This bedroom by Angela Rose Home is absolutely stunning, using green paint for an accent wall was the perfect choice for this bedroom.
Dunn Edwards Black Spruce: This one may be called black spruce but it is anything but! This dark kitchen by Studio Mcgee that showcases black spruce on the upper and lower cabinets works so well because of the bright white countertops that break things up. When going full-on dark be sure to add in light to balance things out.
Benjamin Moore Chimichurri: It may have a funky name but this one is one of my all time favorites! Seen here in this amazing office kitchen by Katie Hackworth and her husband who left no detail unfinished, I mean how many of you would love for this to be yours?
Clark + Kensington Pine Grove: This beautiful green can take on more of a blue hue depending on the light. I’ve always been in love with this reading room in Pine Grove by Chris Loves Julia, the dark and moody room is the perfect place to curl up with a good book.
Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green: This perfect mixture of black and green is perfect for exteriors such as this one by Misfit House.
Benjamin Moore Tate Olive: We couldn’t have a green paint roundup without including this gorgeous olive hue. I love this for a boys bedroom or a bathroom like this one on the Promontory Project it adds a certain masculine vibe that I can’t get enough of.
If you’d like to try green out in your own home, I recommend buying a minimum of 3 samples, then all paint colors should be tested by painting a poster board (a piece of one) and moving the board around to different areas of your home. You’ll quickly notice that as the lighting changes throughout the day you may notice the color-changing as well.
This is a great way to decide on a paint color without spending the money plus the time and effort that it takes to paint an entire area only to realize you don’t like it later.
My Favorite Paint Tools + Products
Assuming you’re here because you are fixing to dive into a painting project or will be soon. If there is one thing I dislike about designing a home it is painting… The task can be downright hard depending on the size of the job and for the longest time, I avoided painting like the plague… Luckily over the years, I have found products that I love because they help me cheat the backbreaking paint system and you’re in luck because today I am going to share some of those with you below!
Frog Tape: The days of blue painters tape have come and gone… Today homeowners everywhere are reaching for Frog tape and rightfully sp, this stuff is amazing and the things you can do with it go so much further than just taping off your walls prepping for paint. If you haven’t tried this stuff out yet next time you are planning a paint job give it a try, I think you’ll love it.
Wagner Multi-Room Powered Roller: Before you scoff at this one hear me out… Yes, it can be a little bit nerve-racking figuring contraptions like this out the first time you try it but other than just feeling weird about not dipping your roller, this thing is an absolute Godsend! The amount of time you save from not bending over every few mins adding more paint to the roller makes painting so much faster and I think you’ll love it as much as we do!
Graco TrueCoat 360 VSP Airless Paint Sprayer: If you plan on doing projects like painting cabinets, doors or anything else in your home this is a great tool to add to your arsenal! It sprays unthinned paint so there is literally no guesswork and completely changes the amount of time it takes to paint just about anything, making your projects much faster. We started out with a super small handheld and have graduated to this bad boy and it is a beast! It also comes in a more expensive battery-powered version which we hope to upgrade to at some point.
Tarp: One day I decided I didn’t want to tape off or lay a tarp down before I painted… It didn’t end well, to say the least. There are lots of small drops of paint on the carpet in my daughter’s bedroom. They are mostly hidden down in the carpet and aren’t noticeable unless you go hunting for them but I know they’re there. If I had just taken the extra time to do it right that never would’ve happened so do yourself a solid and make sure you get plenty of these tarps to cover the flooring in your space.
Handy Paint Pail With Strap + Brush Magnet: When you have to climb a ladder to cut in around the ceiling and you don’t want to lug the paint can up there and risk dropping it or worse it causing you to fall this Handy paint pail will save you the hassle. We’ve had ours for years and I love it! You simply buy these clear liners that go inside which makes clean up as easy as throwing the liner away and the magnet that holds your brush is such a huge plus!
Purdy Paint Brush: Last but not least is the granddaddy of all brushes in my opinion… The Purdy! If you don’t have one get one, the quality is seriously unmatched and they come in many different sizes and shapes. The thing I love about them is the fact that we can rinse them out and use them over and over again. Plus the bristle quality is just flat out amazing when compared to other brushes.
Okay, so I have to know, which one are you most likely to try?
You can save this for later by pinning the image below.
What contrasting white would you use with BM Forest green?
I would keep it a true white with minimal undertones like BM simply white or even Behr ultra pure white which is one of my favorites!!!
Hi, what white paint colour would you recommend for a dark bedroom with a dark green accent wall. I’ve read certain whites aren’t good for dark rooms.
Hi Vanessa
I would just make sure that you choose a very clean white like Behr Ultra Pure White which has the highest LRV (light reflectance value) and is truly the cleanest white on the market. There are no undertones so I have found this paint color truly looks great almost anywhere.
Benjamin Moore salamander color or Dunn Edwards spruce black on my basement brick office walls I can’t choose I love both colors. Also keeping the ceiling white.. any thoughts on which would look better on brick?
Those are two great choices but if I personally had to choose one it would probably be BM salamander. If I were you, just to be safe I’d buy two small sample pots and paint some poster board in each color then move it around the area so you can see what the colors look like in different lighting and different times of the day. I know it’s a pain but you can truly never tell if a paint color will look good until you’ve seen it in the space. Is the basement well lit? Those are both pretty dark colors and if there aren’t many windows the colors may end up being too dark for your liking but again I think testing the samples on poster board will help you through all of that. 🙂 Good luck, be sure to send some photos in once you’re finished, I’d love it see how it turns out!
Building off the earlier post, we are planning to paint our basement dark green. We have very little natural light but a good number of recess lights. We also have built in white shelves and white baseboards. Thoughts on a color that will read as a dark rich green in a basement? BTW, we have a navy couch, gold/yellow chair (Room and Board Vance velvet) and some turquoise kids furniture to contend with.
Cate your basement sounds like its going to be amazing! It’s hard to use dark colors in dark spaces but I think it can be done you will just have to be careful which color you use. I personally would get samples in colors a few shades lighter than you’re ideal end result because if the space is already dark even the lighter colors will look really dark. Here are a few colors that I love and I think would go well with your sofa and gold tones.
Salamander, Essex green and Backwoods all from Benjamin Moore (these are my favorites) would be great jumping-off points for your samples. Try those out and if they end up being too dark I would try the trick I mentioned earlier and go a few shades lighter on the paint cards. Getting samples is super important and I recommend painting a poster board for each sample then moving it around the space at different times of the day and night to ensure you love it before you paint your entire basement.
I have an outdated kitchen from the 1990’s. The vinyl floor and countertops are the same dark greens you show here (Green/Black, Pinegrove). Basically, it’s a green/black (not the hunter green so many people used). The cabinets are light oak. It’s a large kitchen, but on the north side of the house so it doesn’t get a ton of light. I can’t afford to replace the flooring (runs all the way into the laundry, mudroom and pantry), or the counters, so I want to work around it. I want to put in white wainscoting, but need to know what color to put on top half of the wall. Or if I should paint the wainscoting another color and paint the walls white (which is what it is now). And, whether I should paint the cabinets? What colors would you recommend to go with a green black that’s not too dark? I’ve thought of a light green, gray, yellow, lavender or blue. Thoughts?
Amy, without looking at the space it’s hard to say for sure but if it were mine I would probably do everything possible to bring some light into the space and I’d start by painting the cabinets white with black hardware. The wainscotting could remain white and you could either paint the wall white as well or bring the green-up above the wainscotting. You could even do a nice simple wallpaper above the wainscotting. If you’re feeling adventurous I have seen many people paint their vinyl flooring so that could be an option as well. You are welcome to email me some photos of the space, I’d be happy to take a look. ashley@projectallendesigns.com
I’ve been feverishly trying to find for the exterior of my home, juuuust the right shade of olive, not too green, not too brown. after numerous trial sample applications, i’m happy to finally say that i’ve decided on Benjamin Moore’s Tate Olive. I really love this shade, and I love how it came out for your bathroom vanity! 🙂
So glad you were able to find a paint color that works perfectly for your space! The vanity is actually from a studio Mcgee design but it is so good! I love that its not too dark, not too light. Just the perfect shade of olive green!
Thank you for this post! I am a huge fan of green, especially the deep hues you’d find on a rainy day in a forest, and am so excited to see these colors becoming more prominent.
I’m toying with the idea of a 3-color ombré accent wall in my bedroom with Salamander or Essex Green for the bottom third and lightening as I go up. My other walls are a subtle gray with blue undertones. Any thoughts on what would be good companion colors for the ombré wall that would simulate that rainy forest afternoon vibe? I’m torn between picking colors from the same swatch (all shades of green) or introducing complementary colors instead. I love your eye and would appreciate any advice you have!
Katy
Thank you for your kind words! I love dark green too and think your ombre wall idea is really cool! As for me if I were doing something like that I would definitely pick colors from the same swatch to keep things looking cohesive for the greens and I would paint the other walls white (Sherwin Williams Alabaster and Behr ultra pure white are my favorites)just to keep them from distracting from the accent wall. Would love to see what it looks like once you’re finished.
Thanks for posting all of these! Going to Home Depot now to get a sample of each. Going to be painting all our master bath cabinets a dark green and I can’t wait.
You’re so welcome Brittney. I would love to hear about which one you ended up going with!
Thank you, Brittney, best of luck on your bathroom!
We have Ben Moore’s Paris Rain in our living/dining combo, and I’d love to do an accent wall that coordinates. Since Paris Rain is a grey that has a slight green tint to it, which of these do you think would work best as an accent? I love the salamander, but I’m just not sure. Thanks!
Hi courtney,
It is hard to say for sure without seeing the paris rain on your walls, in your home, with your lighting but I think Salamander would be a great option and the good thing is, it’s only paint and you can always paint over it if you end up hating it. I say go for it! I would love to see how it turns out 🙂
Thanks for this post. I love green and live in a 1901 historic home with original dark woodwork. My cherry kitchen cabinets are dark as well. The countertops are dark charcoal gray granite and the island is white granite with flecks of charcoal gray. Appliances are stainless steel. The room has windows facing north and west and it has ample lighting. I want to try a dark, rich green. I love the look of Benjamin Moore Backwoods and Salamander. The adjoining rooms are Revere Pewter. Can you comment on which green colors I should sample first?
I would say pick out your favorites from this list or even a favorite you’ve seen somewhere else and start there first. If a color appears too dark or the tone isn’t right you’ll be able to move on from there knowing which direction you should go depending on how those colors look in your home with your specific lighting situation.
Ashley,
We want to paint our metal roofs on our outbuildings on our farm. I looked at SW colors and can’t find one I like. I really like the BM Backwoods. What other dark greens would you use? We don’t want a yellow or blue green. Something right in the middle would be perfect
You can also try locally grown by magnolia home @ ace hardware or Essex Green by Benjamin moore would be perfect as well.
My daughter ( 12 yr old) wants a dark green room. The room size is 12/10 and have ordered a black velvet bed, brass pendant lights, black side tables, mirrored desk and brass mirror. I am torn between Benjamin Moore’s Kelly green and Salamander, though leaning towards the Salamander green. Wondering if I should just paint one wall green and leave the rest white or paint all of it green. Also which white compliments well. The brass in the room are Mirror, 2 pendant lights and hanging planters.
That sounds gorgeous Raji! You can always just start with one wall and see how that looks, then if the room can handle it and you like it go ahead and paint the rest. Green and brass look absolutely stunning together so I think you will love the combo.
Hi Ashley, this is such a fabulous portfolio of greens. Which of the darker greens do you think would go well with Revere Pewter as that’s the color I have in the hallway and the living room and I would like to add a dark green accent wall!
Hello Nadia, the main thing I would keep in mind would be the tones of the paint color you have vs the tones of the paint color you like because you don’t want them to clash. Revere pewter has a warmer tone so I would recommend something with more of a muddy green tone like Sherwin Williams Secret Garden. Definitely try out a large swatch so you can see what the color will look like in your home throughout the day/night. Magnolia Home Locally Grown @ Ace Hardware is also one of my new favorites that may also look good in your space.
I love all the greens Ashley. So hard to decide. I have a false ceiling in my kitchen with a very large skylight. I want to paint it a dark green and keep the cabinets a light white. Which of the dark greens do you like for the ceiling color.
My favorite dark green is essex green by Benjamin Moore as well as the color Locally Grown by Magnolia Home @ Ace Hardware. I would try a test area on the actual ceiling to make sure you are going to like it before you pull the trigger, it could make it feel more closed in depending on how low the false ceiling is,
Hi! Any chance you know where that bed frame is from?? I have the picture saved as inspo for my bedroom but can’t find a metal frame like that anywhere. It’s perfect!
That particular bed is an older style from Ikea but Wayfair and overstock both carry several metal bed options. Walmart also has a good one I purchased for our daughters room a few years ago.
Having this information is quite beneficial. I appreciate you taking the time to share this exciting and educational information with us.
Hello! I’ve loved looking through this post! Our interior is being painted right now in SW Greek Villa with SW Pure White as trim and also the upper kitchen cabinets. Lower kitchen cabinets are currently blue and I want to paint them green. I think I need a warm green to go with Greek Villa – but I also want it dark and foresty too. Any suggestions? I thought I would like SW Jasper and SW Greenblack but after getting samples I think these might be too cool. Suggestions on a warm dark green, or some that would coordinate well with SW Greek Villa? Thank you!
Reading all these comments about paint colors and I had recently painted up stairs bath anew gray. Looks great I love it. However I decided to paint my living room same. Only looks good certain time of day. And is too dark. I want that gray/beige look that’s light and neutral. But this didn’t work suggestions on a good neutral griege
Thank you for the inspiration to go bold. I am planning to use BM salamander on 4 ft high wall to wall built in this is a reading/conversation room. The room gets Ca central coast south and west facing light. I am stuck on selecting a paint color for the walls. Suggestions?
My walls are a light blue color would I still need to tuse the poster board or would it be okay to put the samples on the wall?
Hi Ashley,
I would go ahead and use the poster board unless you want to put at least 2-3 coats of the samples. The poster board makes it easier to move the paint swatch around your home to see how the paint appears in different rooms depending on the lighting it can definitely change from room to room. Also, the likelihood of the light blue making whatever you put over the top appear different is high unless you put on multiple coats. Hope this helps!