The sage green paint colours that decorating experts recommend
Sage green is a smokey, greyish, soft hue which is often favoured in interiors. Like any shade of green, it is a useful vehicle for bringing the outside in. Less electric than its lime-green cousin, and not as arresting as an arsenic shade, it's a great neutral backdrop on which to layer textiles and pattern–perhaps this is why so many interior designers are drawn to the colour when designing calm, warm spaces.
A kaleidoscope of subtly different shades fall under the sage green umbrella. There are the bluer hues favoured by Charlotte Boundy, who has painted her kitchen cupboards in ‘Brunswick Green’ by Edward Bulmer Natural Paints, to the more yellow-tinged greens that Brandon Schubert prefers. Brandon recommends ‘Edith’s Eye’ from Little Greene. ‘It’s a bit more acidic and biting than your traditional sage green, but with a hint of zingy yellow. It’s a great foil for warmer tones like orange, yellow and red', he says.
We've rounded up some of the best sage green paint to use around the house. From woodwork to walls, these are the colours to know.
Sage green paint ideas
Mark Anthony Fox1/10Brunswick Green by Edward Bulmer Natural Paints
‘I love Edward Bulmer’s ‘Brunswick Green’, says the interior designer Charlotte Boundy. ‘It’s the prettiest of greens and works beautifully alongside Lilac Pink in my kitchen overlooking the south facing garden. It helps to bring a little of the outside in, and moves from sage to an almost teal blue at different parts of the day'.
- Blue Gray by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"618942870a583de660124c4a","index":1,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Paul Massey2/10Blue Gray by Farrow & Ball
Despite it's name, Farrow & Ball's ‘Blue Grey’ is actually more of a soft, greyish green, and perfect for bathing walls and woodwork. Brandon Schubert did just that in the kitchen of his flat. The colour adorns the walls, woodwork and cabinets in the kitchen, and makes for a sophisticated yet warm space. ‘It’s a friendly colour, that has a warmth to it without feeling dark or enveloping’, says Brandon. ‘It also changes beautifully in the light as the day progresses, from a cool blue to a very warm yellow green.'
- Ball Green by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"654b68c5b9bd8017882097f4","index":2,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Paul Massey3/10Ball Green by Farrow & Ball
‘This is my favourite of all greens,' says the interior designer Henriette Von Stockhausen. ‘It’s so versatile. It’s almost a neutral and a chameleon as it works with almost any colour–it adapts, that’s exactly why I used it in this country house, as a more muted neutral backrest to bounce off all the other colour coming from the furniture and artwork.'
- Tracery by Little Greene</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"6189384deef9bf701c65f082","index":3,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Paul Massey4/10Tracery by Little Greene
The open-plan living room of a Berkshire house by Nicola Harding is painted in Tracery by Little Greene–chosen for ‘drawing the garden and wider landscape into the house, and softening the lines between the two,' she says. ‘A trick I like to use is putting a darker colour on the woodwork than on the walls. Ones’ eye stops at the lightest thing we see, so if you paint a window frame in a darker colour, your eye as drawn beyond it, to the view.' In this space, she has chosen Normandy Grey by Little Greene for the woodwork and the window frames.
- Green Smoke by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"621506acd7d42135a38117e9","index":4,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
5/10Green Smoke by Farrow & Ball
One of the darker shades of sage, ‘Green Smoke’ by Farrow & Ball has a sense of warming depth to it. In this bathroom designed by Olivine Design, the colour is soothing and nicely complements a CP Hart bath in Paint & Paper Library’s ‘Beetlenut’.
- Breakfast Room Green by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"64e51bf9521d48c0b1995562","index":5,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Christopher Horwood6/10Breakfast Room Green by Farrow & Ball
The artist Natasha Mann has used her Edwardian home as a canvas for her hand-painted designs. ‘I chose breakfast room green by Farrow and Ball to complement the colours in the border panels that I painted. I love the depth of the colour and even though the room is lacking in natural light it does not feel too dark’, she says.
- Calke Green by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"663b6bd430feeb075912513d","index":6,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Astrid Templier7/10Calke Green by Farrow & Ball
A richer shade of sage, Pandora Taylor has painted the woodwork and shelves in this sitting room in ‘Calke Green’ by Farrow & Ball. The shelves add a burst of colour while maintaining the tonal bluey-green of the rest of the room.
- Lichen by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"6582bb72aef04a52e15d6799","index":7,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Mark Anthony Fox8/10Lichen by Farrow & Ball
When it came to the palette of this former vicarage outside Bath, Anna Haines kept it simple. ‘The owners really felt the bones of the house and didn’t want to upset the flow with any sudden, pronounced colour,’ she says. But, like a good designer, she gradually steered them towards stronger, earthier tones. In the spare room, Woodwork in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Lichen’ frames a custom version of Tess Newall’s ‘Herbarium’ wallpaper. Charles Burger’s ‘Sauvageonne’ toile in daim from Turnell & Gigon was used to cover the antique French armchair.
- Cooking Apple Green by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"6582bb79ee741ee951624a61","index":8,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
Mark Anthony Fox9/10Cooking Apple Green by Farrow & Ball
In the pantry of the same house, Anna has used Cooking Apple Green by Farrow & Ball - an appropriate choice given the room's function. The colour is set off by ‘Jelly & Cake’ wallpaper in pink from Thornback & Peel.
- Pigeon by Farrow & Ball</a>","brand":{"name":""},"id":"618945108373470f8394e170","index":9,"contentType":"photo","offers":[],"component":"gallery_slide_component"}" data-testid="GallerySlideWrapper">
James Merril10/10Pigeon by Farrow & Ball
‘My favourite green is Farrow & Ball’s Pigeon (a grey-green or blue-green depending on the light) because it’s brilliant for giving a room a feeling of age and ‘settled-ness’’, says the interior designer Joanna Plant. ‘It makes a very good background for pictures; it’s a strong colour but without being overwhelming’, she adds.
