Trending in Interior Design: The Color Green

The Pantone Color Institute comes out with a color every year that embodies creativity based on trends in various creative industries, including entertainment, fashion, travel, and other culturally relevant fields. This year, the institute formulated a brand new color called Veri Peri, a soothing periwinkle tone that encompasses "the qualities of the blues, yet at the same time possessing a violet-red undertone." The result is a color that naturally incorporates itself into a Wes Anderson set or a beautiful world of pastels a la Gustaf Westman.

While the color's softness and playfulness certainly have a place in a post-pandemic home, there is another color that has made its way to the hearts of the people—green; and we are talking about every hue here, ranging from a muted sage tone to a rich hunter green shade. Whether we see this color enter the home space as a floor to ceiling wall paint job (Pro-tip: Farrow and Ball & Backdrop have quite the selections!), a ceramic bowl in the kitchen, or a large piece of furniture; the color is simply taking over! Its popularity, however, really comes as no surprise. After all, we did spend the better part of two years indoors. Throughout that time, white walls went from being a must-have in people's interior design checklist to becoming more or less a blank canvas to paint over with any other color. For many city people who had little to no contact with nature throughout that time, green was a no-brainer. Beyond just painting walls, adding a green hue to our existing home decor can evoke a sense of calm, balance, and growth—literally everything we need to feel like our home is our sanctuary.

So while Very Peri gets the formal title as Pantone's Color of the Year, here are three shades of green that we suspect will continue to transcend into pop-culture favorites in the months to come. We are banking our very green money on it.

Sage Green

Sage green has been all the rage with most major paint companies, like Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore, who called it their Color of the Year. The tone is soft and dusty, with a gray undertone that makes it moody and inviting. It strikes such a perfect balance—it's neutral enough to work with existing color schemes but it’s also a beautiful color that can “wow” as the main attraction. Think of it as a color that can be incorporated into your home as a simple, low-stakes linen duvet, or can easily become a more profound commitment such as a sofa— the result is a timeless look nevertheless.

Avocado Green

Slightly darker than sage and leaning a tad bit more yellow, avocado green was a massive color trend back in the 1970s and to this day still gets a bad wrap for being an "ugly color." Still, while it was paired with bright, and competing, orange and yellow hues back then, the color is starting to get a second wind. This time it remains the main attraction while the warmer colors are being pared back, making appearances as mere accents instead of competing for the limelight. Avocado green now gets accessorized with neutrals and specks of warm color accents such as terracotta and orange. The result is more of a "mature meets retro" style than a color-blocking, pop art nod.

Emerald Green

No other shade of green can feel as regal as emerald green, especially when paired with equally luxurious textiles, such as velvets in upholstery and silk drapings. When topped off with finishes such as lacquer and brass, emerald green stands out classically. In recent years, cabinetry in kitchens and bathrooms has explicitly gone through transformations, going from white to rich emerald green tones. We do not see the trend dying down anytime soon.

Bringing nature indoors, subtly.

From soft and peaceful light tones of green to the elegant and moody darker shades of the hue, the effects that green has in the home is like bringing nature indoors, resulting in an organic-feeling space that is both calming and nurturing.