Sell me on a sage green paint, please.

[Brittany1116]

Thinking of painting a bedroom. Trim is white, carpet light beige. Two pieces furniture cherry wood, one piece cream that may or may not be refinished. Sage sounded good; BM's October Mist is standing out as I begin to look. Oh, bedroom has overhead fan light and a LARGE window that faces south.  

[saraha]

My kitchen is safe with white trim and I LOVE it.

[Ellie]

Most of my downstairs is painted "Silver Sage," by Restoration Hardare. I used it in my previous house, as well. I love it. I haven't seen October Mist, so I can't comment specifically on that, but I big pink puffy heart Silver Sage.

[prairiewindmomma]

Silver sage is pretty. I really liked Comfort Grey, which read as Sage when we had cherry floors in a previous home. If I had to pick a sage green today, I would look at SW Acacia Haze, SW Pewter Green, SW Evergreen Fog, and the current color of my bathroom—Benjamin Moore Lush. 
 

Watch how the color moves through the day. Depending on the light exposure, sage green can be quite moody and pull weird undertones. Even a north facing room versus a south facing exposure can look completely different.

[Ottakee]

Sherwin Williams Clary Sage.  I loved it in my old house and will use it in the new one when it is time to paint again.

 

 

[stephanier.1765]

The entire main part of my house is sage but it has been for the last 15 or so years. At least now it's in style. LOL I have plans to paint it again soon and will probably choose a lighter shade of that color.

[Kassia]

Our living room is sage and we really like it.  We hardly ever go in there, but I'm very happy with the color.  We had a decorator from Sherwin Williams help us with paint colors and she chose colors we never would have chosen on our own, but we love them.  

[PeterPan]

My best tip with paint is to buy a sample size and paint it on white posterboard from the dollar tree. Then take the sample to every wall in the room at various times of day to see what it looks like and what the effect is. 

When we were building our house years ago, I thought I wanted sage. It was very trendy and this decorator soul told me to use it. I went with my gut on what *I* liked and have been very thankful. Colors have ways they make people feel, so you should use colors that make you feel good. That sage would be a lot for me, but I like things light/bright. If you look at hotel decor, that's the direction things are going also.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ER3C6yDKk

I have a guest bedroom with cherry bed and side tables, dark floor, and an antique wood dresser. The walls are a funky tan/gold the paint person I was using picked out. I don't super love the color, but it works great and creates a nice cave like effect that visitors find restful. To me that's the goal of a bedroom color, something that makes you feel rested or reflective. I went with violet (not purple) for my master, because the undertones are considered to help one be reflective. The way the light hits it in the morning does that for me. If sage does it for you and makes you feel good, go for it. 🙂

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by PeterPan

[wintermom]

I just painted a couple of walls of my kitchen "Urban Nature," which is a light version of sage. I really like it. I find it a calming colour. 

If you need to be sold on a colour, I'd not paint. In a personal space like a bedroom, it's probably best to really love a colour and not be strongly influenced by others. Just my thought. The nice thing about paint, though, is that you can just repaint if you don't like it. The time and money isn't that huge for most people.

Good luck finding a colour you love!

[Brittany1116]

4 hours ago, Ottakee said:

Sherwin Williams Clary Sage.  I loved it in my old house and will use it in the new one when it is time to paint again.

 

 

This is one of two chips I picked up in my first walk through of the paint depot. I like it a lot but think it's a hair dark when in the room.

52 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

The entire main part of my house is sage but it has been for the last 15 or so years. At least now it's in style. LOL I have plans to paint it again soon and will probably choose a lighter shade of that color.

25 years ago my parents' entire house AND their van were sage green. It made me gag. LoL Now it's the most intuitive move for me for this particular room. 

14 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I just painted a couple of walls of my kitchen "Urban Nature," which is a light version of sage. I really like it. I find it a calming colour. 

If you need to be sold on a colour, I'd not paint. In a personal space like a bedroom, it's probably best to really love a colour and not be strongly influenced by others. Just my thought. The nice thing about paint, though, is that you can just repaint if you don't like it. The time and money isn't that huge for most people.

Good luck finding a colour you love!

Thanks. I actually specifically want sage for sure, I just need help finding the right sage. 

[wintermom]

1 minute ago, Brittany1116 said:

Thanks. I actually specifically want sage for sure, I just need help finding the right sage. 

I asked my sil, who does interior decorating and specializes in paint, recommended the Urban Nature (Sherwin-Williams). It was lighter than the Sage I would have picked, but I bought a test jar of it and painted it on a couple areas of my kitchen. Then I went to Home Depot to colour match, as Sherwin-Williams paint is really pricy if you aren't a contractor. I'm really pleased with how the full walls turned out!

[Ali in OR]

I would absolutely get help from other people. I'm terrible with paint colors. I once wanted a sage green for dd's bedroom and ended up with mint (think Crest toothpaste). Ugh.

[livetoread]

I had a terrible time settling on a sage I liked that wasn't too muddy and dark for my two rooms which face northwest and don't get much direct light. I finally ended up with BM (but in a Sherwin Williams paint) Fernwood Green at 50%, and I love it. It makes me feel happy when I pass those rooms - very serene and peaceful. 

[livetoread]

1 hour ago, Ali in OR said:

I would absolutely get help from other people. I'm terrible with paint colors. I once wanted a sage green for dd's bedroom and ended up with mint (think Crest toothpaste). Ugh.

Me too! I ended up painting at least a couple of walls several times. Greens are hard.

[Jann in TX]

I am not a green-lover.  I never would have imagined that one day I would paint any wall in my home green on purpose!

Well-- enter our current home.  All of our previous homes had various shades of burgundy, naturals(golds/cinnamon) and blues with whitewashed or light colored wood (at times a nice pecan stain).  Current home came decked in a very light  creamy yellow terra-cotta (almost a beige) walls with similar colored tile (EVERYWHERE) and very dark wood and dark leather furniture.  Huge kitchen island and all counter tops in dark rusty-green-brown granite. 

Enter the Green.

My personal/faithful choice of colors just did not work in this house.  The kitchen is open to our main living area... the opposite wall is main wall of living and is next to a floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace. That wall/room was screaming for color-- way too monotone!  I was extremely hesitant, but I marched down to SW and brought home a few gallons of Evergreen Fog--a sage/grey (last years color of the year).  The first strokes looked horrible-- but once the whole wall was completed-- WOW-- it was beautiful and so calming-- the color changes in light-- it is not 'dark' at all in daylight.  I even put in in our downstairs 1/2 bath-- with white wood doors/trim and a white fixtures the color looks stunning.  I was happily surprised!

I wish I would have taken official before/after photos-- in the one with DH and GS notice how wall/fireplace sort of blend with rug/tile...

Edited August 30, 2023 by Jann in TX

[Kassia]

@Jann in TXI love that green!  Yours is darker than ours and I prefer yours.  Like you, I never would have dreamed I'd have green paint but we do and like it very much. But I like yours better!  😛

[Corraleno]

A tip regarding SW paint: they have frequent sales and if you have a project coming up but aren't exactly sure of the color yet, you can buy untinted paint while it's on sale and then bring it back to be tinted (for free) when you've picked a color. The next sale is for 30% off from Sept 1-11: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/special-offers

I bought untinted paint on sale when I did my bedroom a few years ago. I wanted SW Sea Salt, but it's a really tricky green-gray that morphs all over the place in different light, and the full strength version just looked like a muddy gray in an east-facing bedroom, so I experimented with samples at different tints, and then got the gallons tinted when I decided on the strength I wanted. 

[Brittany1116]

7 hours ago, Corraleno said:

A tip regarding SW paint: they have frequent sales and if you have a project coming up but aren't exactly sure of the color yet, you can buy untinted paint while it's on sale and then bring it back to be tinted (for free) when you've picked a color. The next sale is for 30% off from Sept 1-11: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/special-offers

I bought untinted paint on sale when I did my bedroom a few years ago. I wanted SW Sea Salt, but it's a really tricky green-gray that morphs all over the place in different light, and the full strength version just looked like a muddy gray in an east-facing bedroom, so I experimented with samples at different tints, and then got the gallons tinted when I decided on the strength I wanted. 

Genius. Thanks