Green bedroom ideas – from soft sage to luxe emerald for a dreamy bedroom scheme
Olive, sage or emerald? Which soothing green bedroom idea will you be drifting off to sleep with?
If green bedroom ideas are at the top of your wish list right now, you're far from alone: we're right there with you!
Every bit as stylish as it is versatile, green is a hue that lends itself perfectly to any bedroom colour scheme.
Better still? Calming and comforting, using green – whether as the main backdrop or as a dreamy accent colour – in your boudoir is counted among the top bedroom design tips for better sleep.
Green bedroom ideas to try now
Inspired by nature, green is ideal for one of the most relaxing rooms in the house.
'Close your eyes and imagine sleeping in a forest or wildflower meadow under a canopy of stars. This is the feeling that green evokes in a bedroom,' says Marianne Shillingford, creative director at Dulux.
'Green lies right in the centre of the visual spectrum and so it provides balance and tranquillity in a world of colour. Especially if you have a small bedroom or live in a city, green provides us with a vital microdose of nature when we wake up and fall sleep.'
With that in mind, then, here are just a few of our very favourite green bedroom ideas...
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1. Venture onto the dark side
if you're worrying about how green will work with your small bedroom ideas, it's a good idea to go bolder – and darker – than you'd expect.
'Although pale colours will help to make small rooms look larger, it’s the mood you want to create in a room that is probably more important than the colour,' says Marianne.
'Dark colours in small grown-up bedrooms can look stunning and create an atmosphere that’s perfect for enhancing intimacy, feeling cosy and restful sleep. Decide how you want to feel in your bedroom and work from there.'
Sophie Smith at Zhoosh Paints agrees, adding that 'deeper, warmer greens like racing green emerald and olive create an intimate space, a gentle and comforting feeling that aids sleep and settles the soul'.
Intrigued? Some beautiful rich greens to take a look at would be Dulux Heritage Mallard Green from Homebase and Forest Bathing Eggshell from Zhoosh.
2. Try a bold headboard
If you love the idea of incorporating some green bedroom ideas into your sleep space, but aren't quite ready to do away with your neutral bedroom ideas, why not try a maximalist headboard instead?
'A headboard is another great way to inject a touch of green colour without painting and will create a feature wall look on its own; particularly if it’s patterned or in a bright tone of green,' says Adam Black, co-founder at Button & Sprung.
'An upholstered headboard is a straightforward way of creating a bit of ‘wow’ on your wall - and no DIY is required!'
3. Go big with botanicals
Create a rich green bedroom scheme by taking a lush botanical print as your starting point: just use a bold leafy wallpaper or busy bedlinen as your hero pattern, taking different shades from within the design and repeating these around the walls, paintwork and furniture.
'Green naturally lends itself to biophilia, and of course plants are proven to help physical and mental health, to aid sleep,' says Sophie.
'Botanical prints on the walls and furniture can continue this theme, creating a relaxing oasis that is perfect for winding down and thoroughly resting.'
Eileen Kesson from Envision, one of Cala Homes interior designers, agrees, suggesting that you ‘choose furniture and accessories with textures that match those from the outdoors'.
‘Matt and natural fabrics in curved silhouettes help bring a soft and organic feel to bedrooms,' she says. 'For example, curved upholstery, wooden coffee tables and watercolour cushions embrace the green and biophilic look and are calming to look at.'
4. Energise with zesty lime
While muted greens can be soft and soothing in a bedroom, for a more upbeat and invigorating scheme, look to zesty shades of lime or fresh apple green. A lighter colour scheme like this is perfect for small bedroom ideas.
Though refreshing and energising, wall-to-wall lime green might be a little intense and overwhelming, but tone it down with a heavy dose of white and lime looks far more appealing.
Against an all-white backdrop, sharp citrus green works brilliantly as an accent colour, with bedlinen, cushions, lamps and a rug adding just enough zest without overpowering the room.
5. Create calm with soothing sage green
If you like the keep things light, try to incorporate cooler, more restorative shades – like mint and sage – into your green bedroom ideas.
Soft sage green works particularly well as a background colour, due to its nearly neutral status. It can be kept lowkey when used with natural and rustic woods or take on a smarter edge teamed with black and darker timbers.
6. Use green as an accent
Use darker shades of green to add impact in a bedroom and team with colours of equal intensity, such as navy, black and purple for a bold and dramatic look.
In bedrooms without much natural daylight, darker greens can feel oppressive, so instead use as an accent colour for dramatic effect without the intensity.
Create a faux ‘headboard’ in a modern bedroom idea, by painting a panel in teal green behind the bed. Less bulky than an upholstered headboard the colour can be easily changed whenever you want a new look.
7. Dive into green with a colour drenched scheme
Not one for the colour shy, colour drenching is one of the biggest paint trends right now and is one to try if you want to immerse yourself into a green bedroom scheme.
Colour drenching is where a single colour is used throughout, from walls and woodwork to floors and sometimes ceilings. It has the effect of blurring the traditional boundaries of a room, making the walls recede and allowing furniture and accessories to take centre stage.
‘Natural, earthy and luxurious, green is a timeless hue that brings a natural feel to your home,’ says Rachal Hutcheson, national retail manager at Sharps. ‘By matching your wardrobes to your ceiling and walls, you can produce an elegant finish that creates harmony in your bedroom, and makes it appear more spacious.’
‘Green is a great anchor for accent colours too, either as soft neutrals and pastels, or bolder tones in textured fabrics like velvet, wool and brocade.’
8. Add pink to make green pop
For a more summery, playful vibe, forget wall-to-wall green and use it as an accent colour instead. Fresh green and blush pink make great partners and feel soft and light, so super-flattering in a bedroom scheme.
'To ensure your bedroom feels balanced, use your green tones mindfully: contrast light and dark together or add a colour pop or pattern to a darker hue to prevent it feeling gloomy,' says Sophie.
'If you have opted for brighter greens, grey is a wonderfully grounding tone that will ensure you still have a calm energy in your space.'
Make a leafy print your hero pattern, teamed with plainer shades of green and soft, powder pink tones on bedding and soft furnishings. Work in plenty of white and glossy surfaces on furniture and accessories to keep the mood light.
9. Create a green feature wall
Give a plain bedroom a focal point with a patchwork of patterns covering one wall for a bedroom feature wall idea. Simply cut panels of wallpaper in an assortment of sizes and stick to the wall with paste. It makes a striking backdrop for a bed, with no headboard required.
'An easy way to create a focal point in any space is by painting a feature wall, panel, architectural detail or furniture in a colour that is much bolder than the rest of the room,' says Marianne.
'By doing this your eyes will instantly be drawn to that spot and just like a favourite outfit in your wardrobe, it will highlight the best bits and distract from the worst bits of your space.'
Whether you opt for calming green or a different colour altogether, simply mix patterned wallpaper and plains to create the effect, going bold and colourful or keeping it calm and neutral if preferred.
Just be sure to choose a mix of complementary colours and vary the size and scale of your patterns for a more visually pleasing effect.
10. Set the mood with green as a backdrop
The right green can calm or energise a room. Earthy forest and fern green bedroom ideas have a grounding effect when mixed with woods and deeper tones and although dark, can be restful and easy to live with.
Use a dark, earthy green as the backdrop behind a bed. A brushed metal bedstead, rich wood furniture and colourful bedding will shine out against the dark tones. The perfect backdrop for artwork too, group pictures in an artful arrangement in colours that will pop out and be noticed.
11. Bring in sunny yellow for a cheery green scheme
For an altogether sunnier mood, introduce warm yellow into your favourite green bedroom ideas. Yellow works perfectly with mid-toned shades of green, taking away any hints of coolness and adding warmth and a cheery vibe.
Try a pictorial-style toile wallpaper to bring country style to a rustic bedroom. An all-over pattern like this is busy, but green on a white background adds lightness. Mix-and-match cushions in warm rust, blue and yellow add extra country charm.
12. Go bold with green and dusky florals
Earthy forest green makes a grounding backdrop for bold patterns and rich tones of terracotta, ochre, plum and dusky pink. Perfect for lofty rooms that are on the cooler side, warming colours like this will help to take off the chill.
Give a simple wooden bed extra stature by adding a floral backdrop behind it to create a framed feature area. Hang a couple of drops of wallpaper or fabric behind the bed, making it a foot wider than the headboard and running from floor to ceiling. Create neat, raised edges with battens covered in matching fabric.
13. Choose a minty green for freshness
Time and again, experts will cite green bedroom ideas as the very best.
’When we see green, we relate it to nature,’ says leading colour expert Karen Haller. ‘Where there is green, there is water, we know there’s food and we feel safe. Also, our eyes need to make very little adjustment to see green, which is why we find it restful.’
However, we also want our greens to be refreshing, so that come the morning, we feel energised and ready to face the day. That's where a minty green comes into its own.
14. Pick a posy of green leaf and floral prints
The freshness and succulence of leafy patterns bring joy and life to a bedroom. It's like spotting the first green buds of spring each time you wake up.
'We are filling our homes with more and more lush, green houseplants than ever and enjoying the benefits of this biophilic boost wellbeing,' says Marianne.
'Extending the colour onto the walls in paces where plants don’t grow so well (or if your fingers are more pink than green…) gives you the beneficial effects of being in the great outdoors.'
Don't be afraid to mix and match – as in a cottage garden, it's the mix of blooms and colours that makes the look so charming. A vivid green headboard pulls everything together.
15. Create a restful retreat with forest green
Deep green bedroom ideas can work in spaces big and small – even on all four walls if you offset it above the dado with clean white and a pale colour on the floor. It'll change mood as the day goes on, feeling fresh and energising in the morning, then dramatic and immersive at night.
'Forest green is the most restful colour. It symbolises life, growth, and tranquility and it visually reconnects us with nature,' says Marianne.
Blush accents lift the deep green and give it a softer, prettier feel.
16. Fill the room with houseplants
You don't have to get out a tin of paint to make good on your favourite green bedroom ideas. Instead, inject some extra oomph into the look with some gorgeous houseplants.
'Plants add a lovely touch of décor and energy, and importantly help filter and clean the air that we breathe,' says Adam.
Marianne agrees, noting that 'filling our homes with more and more lush, green houseplants than ever will help us to enjoy the benefits of this biophilic boost wellbeing'.
17. Be bold with lively lime green accents
Abstract wall coverings and textiles in lime green and blue create an authentic mid-century feel. Don't be afraid to clash prints, and if a full wall is too bold for you, frame a section of wallpaper instead. You can also use pops of bright white and grey to balance the zestiness of the lime.
Light wood furniture offers mid-century charm. Look out for classic styles indicative of the era on auction sites like eBay, or pick up reproductions from Loaf or John Lewis.
If you use one room for multiple activities (for example, to study and sleep) consider using paint to distinguish between areas.
18. Make a bright space feel cosy with deep olive
A lovely light space like the one seen above can absolutely handle a strong shade, so use that when coming up with your green bedroom ideas.
To ensure that the walls remain the star of the scheme, the owner of the boudoir seen above chose simple white curtains, pale painted floorboards and pale mushroom and grey furniture.
19. Keep things calm with soft spearmint green
This pale, fresh green bedroom idea lends any space a calming feel and can be styled to be as rustic or polished as you like. Soft blush and nude tones are the perfect companions for such soft cactus shades.
Avoid fabrics with a sheen, and remember that matt-finish linens and cotton keep the look modern.
20. Break up green walls with black and botanicals
Be bold and use a combination of green and black to smarten up a space. Leaf prints have made the leap from traditional and country interiors into modern design. In a bedroom, introduce botanical prints through patterned pillowcases and upholstered furniture.
21. Surround yourself with uplifting pastel green
Soothe the senses with calming shades, layers of cosy quilts and a springy carpet underfoot. Serene and spring-like, pastels enliven a neutral palette and bring a fresh and tranquil feel to a sleep space. Combine sugary pinks, mauves, cornflower blue and on a backdrop of mint green for a sophisticated scheme.
Pile up polish cushions and quilted throws to make your bed even more inviting at the end of a long day.
22. Start with a spring green bed frame
This less-is-more approach relies on a strong statement piece of furniture – a bed frame. An upholstered headboard would work equally well and you can always re-cover it if you tire of the colour.
Keep things fresh with a white backdrop and a display of succulents. Make them faux if you're not a fan of plants in a bedroom...
23. Pair sapphire blue and lush emerald green
For the ultimate glamorous nighttime hideaway, use lush foliage prints on the walls and team with jewel colours. The resulting effect is part grown-up treehouse, part tropical island, and part boutique hotel.
24. Try a bold tropical print in a big room
The tropical wallpaper in this green bedroom idea is a brave choice, but it makes an effective focal point of the bed, which in turn transforms quite a large, bright space into a cosier, more welcoming one.
'Botanical prints on the walls and furniture create a relaxing oasis that is perfect for winding down and thoroughly resting,' says Sophie.
Pops of yellow bring a green scheme to life, like flowers blooming in a garden.
FAQs:
Is green a good colour for bedroom?
Green is a perfect serene colour for the bedroom. Gentle versions of it such as sage and subdued olive makes us feel relaxed. They evoke a peaceful air, and evoke many of the benefit of being outside in nature, creating an ideal environment for sleep.
This is why the colour is often used not only in bedrooms, but also in therapy and spa rooms.
What colors go well with green in bedroom?
The are plenty of colours that go with green in a bedroom, but our personal favourite is powder or blush pink. Dusky powder pink pairs beautifully with sage green as it has the same undertones so it won’t compete when they’re paired together.
For a more modern spin rust pairs well with emerald green. The contrasting shade is perfect for grounding the richness and opulence of emerald green and will bring depth to the scheme.
How do you paint a green bedroom?
Think you have to go all green to make this colour work? Think again!
'If you don’t want to go for one colour, why not consider adding colourful elements using a different technique?' says Marianne. 'Try stencilling circles or scallops, around the edges of a room, door frame or alcove and try out arched shapes to define relaxing or dining spaces.'
She adds that 'using curves in the bedroom helps create a gently dynamic experience in the space that is really joyful to live with and hugely popular at the moment'.
'A rounded shape or circle painted as a feature on the wall behind the bed or up onto the ceiling helps to make our rooms feel less like boxes, more organic and well, simply fun...and how to paint a curve easily? Simple, the answer lies in bendy masking tape amongst other tips and tricks to make clever stuff easy to achieve!'
We hope that all of the above has given you plenty of inspiration for your green bedroom ideas, and that you're well on your way to creating a truly restful and soothing sleep space.
Whether you opt to go bold, dark, or delicate, we're sure that you'll find the perfect green hue for you.
Amy Cutmore is an experienced interiors editor and writer, who has worked on titles including Ideal Home, Homes & Gardens, LivingEtc, Real Homes, GardeningEtc, Top Ten Reviews and Country Life. And she's a winner of the PPA's Digital Content Leader of the Year. A homes journalist for two decades, she has a strong background in technology and appliances, and has a small portfolio of rental properties, so can offer advice to renters and rentees, alike.
- Lisa FazzaniDeputy Editor
- Kayleigh DrayActing Content Editor
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