Home Decor, Tips and Ideas to Update Forest Green

Forest green, a colour that desperately wants to be modern and amazing, yet in most cases looks dated and drab. However, it’s great if you’re going for the early 90’s look where you may as well pair it with burgundy and harvest yellow and call it a day!

So, what do you do if you are STUCK with a forest green product that is too expensive to replace? You read about these GREAT solutions to help you neutralize your ‘green thing’.

Using NEUTRALS to Camouflage Forest Green

If you put opposites with each other, they will appear more powerful. So, if you put anything overly yellow, orange, pink or purple (or neutrals with those undertones in them) alongside forest green – they will both POP. The key is to neutralize, neutralize, neutralize!

In the above photo, notice how the warm woods make the green pop considerably more (which is good, as it was planned this way).

So, while you can’t actually change the colour of your green thing, you can change the perception of it by surrounding it with neutral colours.

Use the following items in neutral colours to alter the look of forest green:

• Furniture – couches, chairs and ottomans
• Linens (towels, bedding, toss cushions, shower curtains)
• Draperies
• Rugs
• Accent tiles
• Accessories and artwork

And, of course, PAINT COLOUR! Check out the before and after photos of this glorious green mudroom! 

To read about some of the best paint colours to pair with forest green check out this post The Best Paint Colours to Update Forest Green

Go With It! Update Forest Green with ITSELF!

Now I don’t mean that you need to go all Lucky Charms on me while you plaster shamrocks to your wall and drink green beer. By ‘going with it’, you will be ’embracing’ green and choose to have it as part of your palette (in an updated style). You do this by choosing accents that are green, but more ‘modern and updated versions’, such as a green/gray blend or a green/blue blend.

Updating Forest Green with Artwork

Artwork is a great way to update a room with less than modern features…

1. River Birch Art 2. About Hope 3. Dream Forest 4. Hydrangea Field 5. Bloom Graphic Art 6. Himara Print 7. Floral Botanical Study 8. Mountain Tops 9. Herbs 4 piece

Updating Forest Green in Your Bathroom

It’s ALL about the accents. Focus on neutral colours for your accent pieces (specifically white, gray and greige) or look at updating your green with a more modern pattern!

1. Brecken – Ikat 2. Hotel Cotton 3. The Twillery – Sunset (green) 4. The Twillery – Sunset (blue) 5. The Twillery – Malory 6. Frederica 7. Prattsburgh 8. Octopus  9. Shoreline Trellis

Updating Forest Green in Your Living Room or Bedroom

Do you have forest green carpet or green furniture that is too comfy to replace? Add toss cushions, throws, artwork or decorative accessories that have different versions of green in them. You can try a more vibrant plant green or go into the more sage, blue-green end of things. Be sure to mix n’ match some neutrals in there to modernize your room without complicating things with colour.

1. Breuer Throw Pillow 2. Swan Valley Blooms 3. Connor Toss Cushion 4. Goodwin by Darby Home 5. Charlie Lumbar Pillow 6. Digby Iris Cushion 7. Antonia Geometric square 8. Greer Throw Pillow 9. Belmont Toss Cushion

Update Forest Green with Accent or Floor Tile

Well, THIS is a blog post unto itself, well actually, 2 blog posts…

The Best ACCENT Tiles to Update Forest Green Countertops

Forest Green Countertops: The Best FLOOR Tiles to Update Them

Whatever you choose to help your forest green feel more at home, make sure you infuse the rest of the room with plenty of neutrals and no other ‘major’ accents. Your room will stay calm and relaxing and your forest green cool and collected.

Colours to Avoid With Forest Green…

You’ll want to avoid colours such as these (whether it’s on your walls or on any other major item in the room) as the undertones will clash with forest green, making it appear stronger…

• Yellow and yellow undertones. However, if you LOVE forest green then you will love yellow as it certainly will make green ‘pop’
• Red. Ho ho ho. Nuff said
• Pink and purple. The ’80s called, they want their colour palette back
• Greens that have a lot of muddy yellows in them (or olive)
• Navy blue, burgundy, harvest yellow. Unless you WANT your home to look like it’s fresh out of the ’90s

And of course, if you have a knack for decorating there are MANY ways to make colours like soft pink, fuschia and camel look STUNNING with forest green. The right combination of colour, texture, pattern and finish can take any outdated paint colour and make it uber trendy. However, with the ‘average homeowner’ in mind, it’s best to keep things simple and straightforward and leave the trickier combinations to the pros.

What NOT to do…

• DO NOT pair your forest green with a strong wood like oak. So, if you have an oak mantle in your living room with green carpet – paint the mantle white. If you have oak cabinets with your green countertops – consider painting your cabinets a neutral colour or re-stain them a darker tone
• DO NOT add too many additional accent colours in the space. Remember, colours such as red, orange and yellow will only make your forest green appear more powerful.  I realize that many pieces of artwork, upholstery and accents have these colours in them and that is totally fine, just make sure they don’t become a dominant accent in the space
• DON’T OVERDO IT. When I say ‘go with it’, I don’t mean to literally plaster your walls and furniture with forest green. You just need to add some thoughtful ‘modern’ green accents in with your neutral pieces (greige, gray, charcoal, white) keeping them at a maximum of 20% of the overall colour palette – it just doesn’t take much to help your forest green feel more at home!

Need help?

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Read More

Partner post to ‘How to Update Forest Green with Paint Colour’

Partner post to ‘Forest Green Countertops: The Best Floor Tiles to Update and Coordinate’

   Interior Decorating, Design, Home Staging, E-Design and Online Color Consultations     Design Blog     Based in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island