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Design Dilemma: Green With Envy

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Modern design always seems to involve white walls. Well, we’re sick of white walls! There’s a whole spectrum of color out there just aching to be splashed across boring white interiors. So while recently we looked at orange, this week, we’re thinking GREEN! It’s a color with a huge range of emotional tones. It can feel elegant, soothing, playful —- even aggressive.

Above, a case in point is a green study that manages to feel as crisp as a piece of freshly-picked romaine lettuce. It’s chic and stimulating. Wallpaper is the surprising element here. The geometric print seems perfect in minimal surroundings. Below, we see wallpaper used again in a green dining room. What’s really cool about this room: it manages to feel utterly modern but retro at the same time. We especially love the large-scale photograph over the floral print.

Are you green with envy yet? How about this green living room utilizing green chinoiserie cherry blossom wallpaper? (Who knew that wallpaper was making such a huge comeback?) This room is one take on the current color trend of mixing green and orange. It feels funky, but the green is delicate enough to recede the way a neutral might.

Below, two more green living rooms. This one, without wallpaper, providing a sort of shabby chic vibe.

And this olive green below, suggesting cool elegance.

And what about green bedrooms? Check out below:

The above chartreuse bedroom feels warm, vibrant, happy, but not so bright that you can’t get to sleep. And another bedroom, this one for a child in crayon green:

Okay, so what makes these green rooms so appealing?

• Liberal doses of white make green feel vibrant, fresh and youthful rather than drab. Most of these rooms use white in furniture, floors, carpet, trim or linens as a counterpoint.
• Patterned wallpaper can be a great way of keeping green from feeling oppressive. So maybe one large uninterrupted expanse of green would feel like too much. Somehow, adding a pattern, as in the first three photos lightens things up.
• Embrace green’s connection to nature by adding other natural textures and materials to a room. Whether the natural texture is a rattan chair, a cowhide rug, or a driftwood sculpture, a little dose of nature in a green room can make everything feel complete.

Images: Mel Yates via Desire to Inspire; Desire to Inspire; Decorpad: Light Locations; Decorpad