Dark green is not only my favorite color, but it’s having a moment right now in interior design. The good news? It’s timeless, too! Dark green was also very popular in the early 1900s. In fact, I even found dark green under layers of paint in my own 1914 home!
Below, you’ll find my top 5 colors, including the one I chose for my primary bathroom…
BM Vintage Vogue
Benjamin Moore Vintage Vogue is a dark, smoky sage green. It’s so dark and has such balanced warm and cool tones that Benjamin Moore even suggests it can be used in the place of black or brown. Because it’s so versatile, its color shifts in different light as well. I like to call these “mood ring colors” and they’re my favorite to use throughout my home. I love when a paint color can serve double or triple duty by morphing throughout the day into all sorts of beautiful shades. Vintage Vogue is very dark and in my opinion does best in rooms with lots of natural light. Otherwise, it may look more like black. Unfortunately, it was too dark for my shadier bathroom.
BM Peale Green
Benjamin Moore Peale Green is described as an earthy, classic forest green. If you want a vibrant color that is undoubtedly green no matter the quality of light in the room, this one’s for you. It’s vibrant without being garish, which is something I always look for in a color. I love rich but desaturated colors. Otherwise, your home can end up looking like a crayon box. Which is fine if that’s what you’re going for! But it’s just not my style. That being said, Peale Green was a little too light for the primary bathroom. I was looking for a dark green, whereas Peale Green is more of a medium shade.
BM Black Forest Green
Benjamin Moore Black Forest Green is everything. Once in high school when I was trying to explain my favorite color to someone, I googled dark green paint colors and scrolled through swatches until I found Black Forest Green. From then on, this is the picture I showed people when they asked. It is a super dark blackened green with just enough blue in it to feel cozy but not lean teal. Just looking at this color lowers my blood pressure, I think. I absolutely imagine it as being in the Black Forest of Germany at night and looking up into the tree canopies. As Benjamin Moore says, this color “permeates any space with a sense of reassurance.” However, just like Vintage Vogue, this super dark green needs a lot of light to shine or else it will appear black, so sadly it was just not a good fit for my bathroom.
BM Colonial Verdigris
Benjamin Moore Colonial Verdigris is such a winner. It’s super vibrant but has just enough gray in it to mellow it out. And it’s part of BM’s Williamsburg color collection, which are historic colors popular in early American history. BM says Colonial Verdigris “takes its color cue from the patina of aged verdigris paint. A prominent shutter and door color after the Revolution, it is deep and decorative, suggesting Old World elegance.” If you have an old home, especially a colonial, this color is literally made for you. But it’s so versatile that I think it could work beautifully in more modern homes as well. This color was just slightly too vibrant for my purposes—it’s energizing, whereas I wanted the primary bathroom to feel relaxing.
BM Backwoods — my pick!
Benjamin Moore Backwoods ended up being my perfect shade. It’s saturated but muted. It is an undeniable true green in all shades of light, but it has just enough black in it to never appear vibrant. It’s always cozy and relaxing, no matter the weather or time of day. Benjamin Moore describes Backwoods as “a blackened shade of forest green that bares a hint of welcoming warmth.” I couldn’t agree more. It absolutely makes the primary bathroom.
For more details on my primary bathroom renovation, check out The Green Bathroom Makeover.
For more of my favorite Benjamin Moore green paint colors, check out My Top 5 Green Exterior Paint Colors.
