Best Ways to Use the Neutral Green Color of 2015
http://www.decor-ideas.org 12/08/2014 02:13 Decor Ideas
Paint and stain manufacturer Benjamin Moore recently announced its color trends for 2015, including a Color of the Year for 2015: Guilford Green. The hue was chosen by a team of color experts who traveled through Europe to explore and document things of interest they discovered — from interesting textiles and artwork to, of course, paint colors. Several themes emerged, which led them to select the winning color stories and Guilford Green as the lead hue.
One in a series: Keep an eye out for more coverage of companies’ featured colors for 2015.
Guilford Green is a soft green that has a touch of gray and brown in it, which gives it a soothing neutral quality. According to Ellen O’Neill, creative director at Benjamin Moore, the hue represents “fresh energy and growth” and can serve as either “the hero or the highlight in any room.” Additionally it can work with a wide variety of design styles, from clean and contemporary to richly traditional.
Because it has a slight grayish-brown undertone, Guilford Green plays nicely with a variety of wood tones. It neither fades away nor competes with warm woods, making it an excellent choice if you have wood floors and a roomful of wood furniture and furnishings.
When paired with white, Guilford Green looks super fresh and crisp. For those who favor modern interiors, I’d suggest working with a palette similar to this one shown here, or you can use Guilford Green as a neutral base for other, more vibrant colors, such as bolder shades of greens or blues.
If you’ve been on the hunt for an alternative to beige, Guilford Green is an excellent option to consider. It’s a fresh neutral that wouldn’t look out of place in a transitional or traditional living room.
Think about layering Guilford Green with similar shades — those slightly lighter and darker — to help break up the monolithic look you can sometimes get when all the walls are painted the same color. This is especially smart in an open-plan home in which you want the entire space to feel cohesive.
I like the choice of Guilford Green for the cabinets in this laundry room. Many laundry rooms have limited natural light, or none at all, so it’s smart to keep the color palette light. But light doesn’t have to mean white, and Guilford Green adds a nice splash of color without making the space feel dark or dreary.
As a neutral, Guilford Green works with a variety of other hues, from warm to cool, but I’m really drawn to this pretty pairing of it with the warm white on the trim. For a similar soothing palette, try Guilford Green with Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White.
The color adds a little zing to this minimally decorated space. I think this room would feel too cold and stark if the walls were pure white. Guilford Green offers just enough color to add warmth and life to this room, without being too aggressive with color.
If you prefer to be surrounded by more dramatic colors, a hue like Guilford Green could work as a contrasting highlight to the bolder colors you favor. Here it’s used as a ceiling color. I like how it picks up the bits of green of the plants as well as in the landscaping just outside the windows.
Guilford Green has actually long served as one of my go-to exterior house colors. It’s a less-expected neutral alternative to tan and gray, but it’s still mellow enough to use in large doses — as the main siding color. Because of its neutral quality, you can easily pair it with a more vibrant trim or front door color.
More: How to Use Marsala, Pantone’s 2015 Color of the Year
Tell us: Are you keen on Guilford Green?
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