Sage green – how to use this timeless color in any room of your home

Invite the outdoors in with calming sage green. This near-neutral shade is easy to work into existing schemes or use as the basis for a whole new look. As our interior experts explain, this cool color is a soothing choice if you're looking to redecorate, or just freshen up your space with on-trend accents and accessories. 

Greens are dominating interior paint color trends in 2023 and none more so than the soft, easy-to-live-with shade of sage green. As we look to improve well-being through Biophilic design, sage green is predicted by experts to be one of the most popular interior design trends over the next few years.

If you're just looking to dip a toe into the trend, sage green pairs perfectly with a wide variety of accent colors, different materials, and furniture choices as well as plants, and foliage - so there really is a sage green solution for every room of the house.

Why is sage green so popular? 

The term 'sage green aesthetic' brings in over 18,000 searches on average a month across the US and the UK and interior and color experts reckon the shade's natural hue is an enduring part of its popularity.

Lifestyle expert at Contura, Catharina Bjorkman, shares her theory: "Sage green conjures up feelings of being in nature. When used in the home, it provides a sense of bringing the outdoors in. As being immersed in nature is good for our mental health and wellbeing, when added to a room, sage green provides a soothing palette."

The popularity of sage green lies largely in the versatility of all the ways you can add it to your home. "Sage green is the perfect addition to any design style, especially natural, boho, minimalistic, and Scandinavian designs" explains Corban De La Vega, at Decor Matters. "Such a calm and earthy color, it creates a serene and neutral aesthetic. The color can be used on the walls, in the bedroom as blankets, in the kitchen as greenery, or in the bathroom as tiles, and the list goes on. Sage green is unbelievably versatile."

Sage green room decor ideas 

1. Enliven walls with a splash of color

The most obvious way to welcome sage green into any room is by redecorating. Sage green is favored as the best living room color and the best bedroom color, to prove its versatility as a shade that can add personality without overpowering in any space. Choosing this calming, chalky green paint will help create the perfect tranquil backdrop that can be the basis for both a chilled living room scheme, a tranquil bathroom setting, and a serene bedroom space.

To create a seamless transition from indoors to outside sage green is also ideal on the walls in a room that has a strong connection with nature. A garden room is an ideal space to indulge in lighter sage green to help bring the outdoors inside. The soothing tone on the walls has the same effect of nature on the soul and therefore creates the ideal room for rest and relaxation. 

Rooms flooded with natural light, such as garden rooms or east-facing rooms, allow sage green to feel more enlivened and vibrant without overwhelming the space. 

2. Consider sage green kitchen cabinets

Choose sage green if you want a chic-but-neutral kitchen that offers color without overwhelming your space. When considering the paint color in your kitchen, sage green as a color welcomes a refreshing feel for a space that feels inviting. The soft shade is an especially great choice for painted Shaker-style units. 

"Choosing a color like green for your kitchen cabinets might sound like a bold statement, but paired with open or floating shelves – which are also strong kitchen trends for this year – it helps keep your kitchen light and bright," Matt Rotherham of Gemini Worktops told us. 

“If you don’t want to add this splash of color throughout the whole kitchen design, explore using one color for your lower cupboards and a different one for wall cabinets," suggests Andy Briggs, interior designer at Optiplan Kitchens. 'This is a great way to utilize both neutral and brighter colors within one space."

Food for thought: green is a much more forgiving shade, making it much easier to clean your kitchen too, as opposed to a bright white that highlights any little food mark or spill!

3. Embrace botanical accessories

To add an accent look for accessories that have ferns, palms, roses, or butterflies and insects on them – these decor elements work well with sage green as they elevate its natural, outdoorsy feel. Think of it as a subtle way to welcome the best garden plants into your indoor decorating scheme. From the fabric for blinds and curtains - to introduce nature through window treatments - to scatter cushions, elements of nature-inspired patterned soft furnishings instantly lift a scheme.

“Sage green accessories are an excellent choice, harnessing the calming energy inherent in green but anchored with an earthiness and depth not always present in more vivid greens. It’s botanical, helping to bring the outside in," color and paint expert Annie Sloan tells us. 

"If you only want a touch of sage green in your home, pick out green glassware accessories and group them together for impact, then add a few stems of foliage."

4. Add warming accents

To add a warm quality to the silvery tones of sage green to avoid it feeling too cold, choose natural materials such as gold, burnished brass and copper to counterbalance the temperature of the overall color scheme. "Choose warm metallic accent accessories like mirrors and light switches in brass and copper," Annie advises. 

In a living room or bedroom, this design principle can also be applied to your choice of furniture, as this example above shows with brass-framed tables. The use of metallic finishes offers a glam edge to any color scheme helping to make a home look more expensive on a budget.

5. Combine elements of nature

Earthy tones work well together, contrasting and complimenting in equal measure, as interior designer Jennifer Kay of the Mini Interior Design Company explains, "For color scheme inspiration, simply think of nature and all of the wonderful colors we find amongst greenery in gardens." Pairing sage green with neutral shades and natural furnishings crafted from wood, slate, clay, and stone will enhance the natural look. 

To add further notes of sage green embrace the biophilic design trend – one of the top bedroom trends for 2023, which focuses on green foliage rather than floral prints, with lots of breathing space.

6. Pair with soft textures

Use this calming shade to create a restful retreat for any room, using simple design aspects. "Sage green has elements of nature and calmness and encourages connecting with your environment. It adds a softness to any room" explains Corban. "People are focused on creating an environment that is zen-like, spa-like, or feels like a vacation within a home." 

To achieve this Japandi-style aesthetic, layer the look by introducing tactile accessories to add depth and comfort. Tactile materials play a key role in helping to create a sense of relaxation. 

Enhance soft sage green walls and furnishing by using tactile textures in the room, like sheepskin and knits, for soft furnishings such as cushions, throws, and rugs. 

7. Highlight architectural details

For those looking for a creative way to use on-trend sage green why not paint feature walls or highlight architectural details to add depth to your decorating scheme? From a statement color on ceilings to the perfect framing shade for a doorway, there are plenty of creative ways to use sage green in any room to add a touch of on-trend color without overpowering the space. 

Don't forget also that thoughtful tricks when decorating with color are an easy way to make a room look bigger with paint.

8. Add expressive blocks of color

Update your kitchen color scheme without having to repaint walls and kitchen cabinets by adding a splash of color to a kitchen island. Adding a hint of an accent color is a great way to embrace an on-trend tone without having to fully commit to overhauling an entire room. 

"The right tones of color are great for providing contrast or character to a space," says William Durrant, owner of Herringbone. "For example make your island stand out by adding a different color, whether that be a darker or lighter color to the main kitchen cabinets. By doing so you create a space that looks considered and beautiful but having a two-toned kitchen also makes your personality stand out and provides a sense of fun."

The same could also apply in a bathroom, where it might be a freestanding bathtub that provides the perfect place for a splash of accent color.

9. Ground sage green walls with wooden floors

Look for flooring trends that compliment the gentle green tone. As soft shades of green prove hugely popular for walls, softer shades of lighter wood are a popular style choice for floors to soften a color scheme.

"Green perfectly lends itself to wood flooring for an earthy, natural, and simplistic look that brings the outside in. For sage greens, pair with light oak flooring to really bring a sense of freshness and light to your space" advises Johanna Constantinou, at Tapi.

Most popular sage green paint colors

What colors go with sage green?

If you're looking to incorporate sage green into your home, but don't want to drastically re-paint your entire living space, it's worth noting that there are plenty of colors you could pair with the fresh gray-green shade. From bolder reds to more muted whites and greys, there is a myriad of colors you could pair with sage green because it's so versatile. 

Incorporating sage green into your home could mean you paint an entire room, or just opt for a feature wall. "How you use bold shades depends on how confident you are with color and the level in which you want to incorporate it into your home," advises Rosie Ward, creative director of interior design studio Ward & Co. "If you're looking for more subtle pops of color, an 'accent' wall behind joinery works really well, as does the use of sage green furnishings."

"As a muted green, it goes wonderfully with brights, pastels, and other colors of a similar tone such as burgundy or burnt orange" interiors expert Jennifer Kay told us.

1. Navy blue

Shades of blue are often the perfect compliment to green hues, due to the close relationship on the color wheel meaning the two palettes have similar undertones. 

But rather than matching the watery tones, we are seeing striking contrasts making the most impact when it comes to pairing with sage green. Namely sophisticated shades of navy, which create a striking contrast to the soft neutral tones of the gray-green.

"More earthy than a leaf green with a delicate silvery tone reminiscent of frosted sage, it works well in so many settings but it’s especially lovely when teamed with dark navy and duck egg blues or deeper, fresher greens" explains Helen.  

2. Pink

Sage green is also the perfect backdrop for both warm and cool pink colors. Go bold with hot-pink (another on-trend shade) or cool with blush pink. Sage green will cool down warmer pink shades for a fresher look. 

"A saturated sage green can look soft and whimsical when paired with pastel pinks" explains Helen. "Why not add in accents of brushed brass and velvet for a touch of glam." This look is especially effective for a bedroom or living room scheme, where it's easy to add a hit of accent color by adding textiles. A super-easy way to combine the two is via your bedding or scatter cushions, where a soft blush pink goes perfectly with the sage green. 

3. Brilliant white

As with most other colors, sage green pairs perfectly with crisp white color accents –creating an overall calm and muted look. In a room that’s predominantly white or cream, it also adds a touch of warmth. An easy way to combine white and sage green is to have one soft green signature wall, with the remaining walls painted white. 

For a decorative way to introduce a splash of sage green, you could incorporate a feature wall that celebrates nature – inspired by this Woodland Wallpaper By James Wiens at Wallsauce.com. Or, in kitchens, you could have your cupboards sage green and your walls white, or the other way around. 

4. Pale gray

With shades of gray taking over as the new neutral in our homes, it's often the case that pale gray takes the place of brilliant white, offering a softer shade for walls which can feel less clinical than stark white. 

In the same vein as pairing with white, sage green and pale gray can also look stylish when paired together, as the green will lift the gray and add some vibrancy to your space. 

In a kitchen color scheme, team sage green cabinetry with light gray walls to provide a warm, contrast. In a living room apply the same principles, pair sage green sofas with pale gray walls for a complementary neutral scheme.

5. Fiery red

When it comes to complementary colors, a saturated red is the best pairing for sage green if you're feeling brave. Red and purple, as warmer colors, can work nicely against the cooler tones of sage green. You could pair the two via accessories, or you might want to pair a sage green wall with a red, brickwork, or tiled floor. 

However, it's advised to avoid two bold wall colors, so steer away from combining sage green and red on your walls. Instead, we recommend incorporating the two shades in a more subtle way, via flooring, furniture, soft furnishings, accessories, or bedding. 

6. Golden yellow

For more vibrant decor, consider pairing sage green with some similarly fresh, but brighter, spring and summer colors, such as yellow. This is the perfect option for those who want to elevate the decor with feel-good citrus shades.

We love the option of yellow furniture in a sage green room – such as a living room or a bedroom. Or, you could try yellow bedding in a green room, as a way to test out whether you like the combination. 

Amy Wilson, interior designer at 247 Curtains suggests: “For a mood-boosting take on green interiors, try introducing joyful tones through yellow curtains to give your home a hit of dopamine. Using both these colors in tandem creates a happy home which replicates the brighter seasons of spring and summer all year round.”

“Yellow doesn’t have to be in your face, there are so many tones to choose from to create a peaceful space that's both bright and light. For example, if your home is covered in trendy sage, try pairing it with sorbet lemons shades ”

7. Burnt orange

Given the affiliation with nature, it's no surprise that sage green pairs so perfectly with rich shades of terracotta, burnt orange, and rust shades that all feel derived straight from the earth to add richness and depth to the soft base shade.

"Sage Green is a light and cool silvery green that works well with earthy clay tones," says Erika Woelfel, Behr’s VP of Color and Creative Services. Pairing a sage green with a warmer color (like terracotta, burnt orange, coral, or mustard) can also lift the color to really help it pop." 

8. Forest green

To create a more cohesive color palette try layering different tonal depths of the same color. A very on-trend green pairing is that of forest green and sage green, to deliver a light and dark variation on decorating with green. 

 “To use contrasting colors of the same shade, play with a mix of tones from the same color mix," suggests Paula Taylor, head stylist at Graham & Brown. "For example, try forest green paint with sage green for a layered look and added warmth to a living room."

Whether using sage green on the walls and choosing forest green for statement furniture pieces, a key sofa trend for 2023 incidentally, or using the look in reverse the two-tone effect is ideal for creating an entirely nature-inspired scheme.