While there are so many shades and variations of green that it makes the color itself hard to quantify, green stereotypically represents life, growth, nature, and freshness. On a less squeaky-clean notem, green is also associated with money, ambition, and jealousy. Particularly in design, green is considered an ultimate color for refreshment and relaxation. We’re going to look at various colors that go with green in this article and discuss why those combinations work so well.

Green + Mushroom Brown

Think of a forest floor or a meadow trail, and you’ll immediately understand why green and mushroom brown (a soft, tender pale brown with a tinge of grey) make an obviously natural color palette. Mushroom sets the tone for the space without playing too hard in either direction, and green – just the smallest pop or two, sometimes – brings with it the zest and the cheer and the aesthetic interest.

Green + Red + Yellow

Of course, red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors, but blue is often swapped out and replaced by green in a color palette because green feels softer somehow. Less structured, more organic. Less dominant and cool, more flowy and accommodating. This insect in the Miho unexpected things collection exemplifies the importance of green’s being paired with the warmer primary colors duo to create something fresh and true.

Green + Aqua

Similar to how parents feel about wanting to spend time with their children, green seems to enjoy being paired with the pleasant blue-green that is aqua. The colors are natural, of course, but they tend to lean their separate ways, one toward land and the other toward sea; their combination brings them together. These Uashmama paper items display the color pairing beautifully, enhanced even more with a greyish yellow.

To keep the green and aqua color palette from feeling too vacation-y or laissez faire, it’s useful to add in a grounding neutral that matches the colors in saturation and tonality. Taupe works well for this, as does grey or even cream.

Green + Black + Tan

There’s a reason that green is sometimes associated with wealth, as the color of the US (and other countries’) currency. Dark green in particular, when paired with black and tan with chic foliate print and classic geometric pattern, creates a successful-looking space that seems to have all the answers. Don’t we all want to be on the side with the successful answers?

Green + Slate Blue

If your space needs to feel professional, pragmatic, and/or efficient, slate blue is definitely a hue to consider seriously. However, to keep things from swinging too far that way, a touch of relaxing, soothing green will go a long way. Green’s healing power and generous nature work well with the quiet, no-nonsense vibe of slate blue.

Green + Yellow + Blue

Analogous colors green, yellow, and blue make a beautiful color combination. Colors that go with green often have something in common with the hue to be effective, and this combo is no different: they are neighbors on the color wheel. Of course, you’ll want to keep them at similar saturation levels; neon green would pair quite differently with these two colors in the photo than the forest green we see here.

Green + Modern Red

A traditional, softer green such as sage or celery benefits from grouping with a bold, eye-popping hue. Modern red adds an instant aesthetic zing to these greens, while the green provides a visual foundation of color and warmth that helps keep the red from feeling overbearing. Of course, the combination might veer a little too close to the holiday palette, so be sure to choose a green that leans more toward fresh spring green than to true green.

Green + Charcoal

A retro dark yellow-green combined with a sleek contemporary charcoal grey seems to be the ultimate color palette in which two worlds collide…and form a fascinatingly beautiful setting. Both deep tones, the green and charcoal here create a romantic and cozy space that feels as tolerant as it does intimate.

Green + Grey + Blue

Mint green, which edges on the bluer side of things, isn’t far off from powder blue anyway. Throw some soft grey into the mix, and you have a refreshing, relaxing, and completely neutral-feeling space. This is a lovely color combination to keep in mind when designing any space that is meant to serve as a retreat of some sort.

Green + Brown

Kelly green is a vibrant green that’s slightly darker and truer than spring green but not quite GREEN green. As such, at such brightness and confidence, it’s the perfect color partner of medium brown. In nature these two hues are found together all the time, so it makes sense that their visual balance is satisfying and delightful in interior design as well. A rule of thumb to follow when working with green is this: colors that go with green are generally found with green in nature already.

Green + Fuchsia

Drab, retro olive green is a perfect foil against fuchsia, and this Akno live edge counter illustrates this contrast to perfection. With an organic, muddy green hue like olive, we see the yellow undertones and inherently need some sort of balance. This is where the sharp electricity of fuchsia comes into play beautifully, and the best parts of both colors of this pairing are emphasized.

Incorporating interesting patterns and/or lines in the more neutral color of a combination (in this case, the olive green) puts the color on a more even playing field, visually speaking. This is a good decorating tip to remember – use the colors in appropriate proportion, but you can add or subtract visual intensity to either color by manipulating its stylistic or geometric presence in the space.