What shade of green should I paint my kitchen?

You can paint your kitchen any shade of green you prefer, but note that whichever hue you pick will affect the overall mood of the space. Cooler shades like sage or gray-green can be calming. Shades like seagrass and sea glass, which have some blue in them, can transport you to the beach. Army green might give off a masculine feel. Darker shades can also be calming, like pine or moss-colored shades, as they bring up feelings of a forest. On the other hand, key lime or kelly green are more likely to breathe energy, giving it a tropical feel.

What colors coordinate well with green in a kitchen?

Green can mix with pretty much any color of the rainbow. For an elegant and serene look, pair it with neutrals, like browns, blacks, grays, and whites. For a coastal take, try shades of blue. For a more cottage flair, try yellows, like butter or mustard.

What materials work best in a green kitchen?

Because green is a color found naturally in the environment, it pairs well with many cabinet, island, and counter materials, like light and dark woods, brass, gold, and stone countertops, like marble, quartz, and granite.

17 Best Green Kitchen Wall Ideas To Revamp Your Space

The 2016 idea house's kitchen features deep green walls — Photo: LAUREY W. GLENN

When it comes to colorful kitchen design, blue is often the first hue to come to mind. But take a peek inside the following kitchens, and you'll see just how timeless green can truly be. Match the green tones in your kitchen to the view of your lawn, or opt for a tone with a more eccentric influence.

Whether you draw inspiration from the colors of nature just outside the windows or the key lime pie resting in the fridge, you can push a palette of green in any direction. Depending on the shade, green can be modern or classic, simple or statement-making, neon-bright or totally subdued.

Get inspired with these green kitchen ideas that showcase all the best ways to add a little green to your walls, whether in the form of paint, wallpaper, tile, or cabinetry. Alongside some helpful tips and tricks, step inside these Southern kitchens to see just how gorgeous green walls can be.

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Don't Forget The Fifth Wall

Reflective Kitchen Ceilings — Laurey W. Glenn

Forget what you know: Ceilings don't have to be white. A coat of Benjamin Moore's Galapagos Green (475) in high-gloss oil on the ceiling of this Alabama lake house brings the outdoors in.

02 of 17

Go All-Out

Architect Bill Ingram drew inspiration from a gorgeously retro green kitchen featured in the June 1975 issue of Southern Living. He coated the 2016 Southern Living Idea House in Sherwin-Williams Evergreens (SW 6447) for a perfectly modern take on colorful kitchen design.

03 of 17

Paint Everything Except The Walls

At Monica Lavin's charming Savannah home, a coat of subdued sage green on any paintable surface (ceiling included!) proves that a kitchen doesn't need sprawling walls to add a little green to the scheme. We can't get enough of these pops of color.

04 of 17

Try An Earthy Stain For Paneled Walls

Natural Lake House Kitchen — Helen Norman, Styling: Rebecca Omweg

A green-brown stain on the wood-paneled walls of this kitchen give the space a modern-meets-rustic vibe that's perfect for a refined Georgia lake house.

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Cover Your Cabinets In Green

Gray Green Kitchen with Large Island — Molly Culver

In a petite kitchen like the one in this Austin home, your cabinets are your walls and deserve extra-special treatment. Designer Shannon Eddings coated hers in Benjamin Moore's Silver Sage (506).

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Keep It Light And Bright

light & bright green kitchen — LAUREY W. GLENN

In this North Carolina family home, a classy coat of Sherwood Green (HC-118), by Benjamin Moore pairs perfectly with timeless details like crisp white cabinetry and a mahogany-topped island.

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Try Wallpaper Instead Of Paint

Lindsey Coral Harper Windsor, FL Makeover Green Kitchen White Cabinets. Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller — Laurey W. Glenn

This kitchen proves that paint isn't the only way to infuse your space with a little color. Verdant wallpaper with a classic sensibility gives this kitchen timeless style.

08 of 17

Add A Little Zest

Zesty green walls. Styling: Leigh Anne Montgomery — LAUREY W. GLENN

A zesty lime green on the walls makes the white subway tiles and clean cabinetry really pop in this colorful kitchen. Choose a bright color to up the contrast in your kitchen for eye-catching flair.

09 of 17

Make A Statement With Green-Gray

A stately green-gray on the trim and glass-front cabinets makes the white china on display in the 2013 Southern Living Nashville Idea House really stand out. This is a great way to blend hues and create a space that feels warm yet crisp.

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Tile It On

Green tiles elevate kitchen backsplash — HECTOR MANUEL SANCHEZ; STYLING: LISA TUDOR

When it comes to the kitchen, paint and wallpaper aren't your only options. Add a little green to your kitchen walls with gorgeous green tile. Here, a backsplash of dark green tile takes center stage in the New Orleans home of KV Harper, the founder of KEX Design + Build.

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Go For Multiple Hues

Green kitchen with rustic accents — Laurey W. Glenn

Why pick just one tone of green for your space? Painting your lower cabinets a darker tone and your uppers or your walls a lighter green is a fun way to bring some dimension to your space while keeping the color scheme simple, like in this Lake Martin cottage.

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Accent The Wainscoting

Green and black dining room with bold patterns — Laurey W. Glenn

If you’re nervous about completely color-washing your kitchen, or think an entire wall would be too much, try just painting the beadboard or your wainscoting. Your whole wall won’t be covered, but you still get that pop of color.

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Color Match With The Outside

Kitchen with green cabinets and woods floors and antique table — Alison Gootee

One of the best things about green paint is that it evokes feelings of nature. What better way to emphasize that feeling than by picking a hue that matches with the verdant views outside your window? For inspo, check out this South Carolina farmhouse, which takes advantage of the bucolic scenes outside in the kitchen.

14 of 17

Try A Blue-Green Tone

Maison Studio WaterColor, FL Neutral Kitchen with Shiplap Wall Backsplash — Hector Manuel Sanchez; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

Can’t commit to green? Love blue too much? The good news is you don’t have to decide. There are plenty of gorgeous mixes of blue and green, which are next to each other on the color wheel, that will add depth and interest to your space, like in Nikki Colquitt’s Watercolor, Florida, home.

15 of 17

Pick A High-Gloss Or Lacquered Paint

If your kitchen is dark, opt for a high gloss paint or a lacquered finish to help brighten the space and reflect light. Bonus: These finishes are also easy to wipe off messes and spills, common in the kitchen.

16 of 17

Paint The Breakfast Nook, Too

Breakfast nook Lookout Mountain with pedestal table and wicker end chairs and custom sofa banquette with gallery wall of bird prints — Laurey W. Glenn; Styling: Lindsey Ellis Beatty

If you have a breakfast nook, it’s often adjacent to or directly in your kitchen. Ease the flow from the cooking area to the eating area by continuing your green paint or wallpaper and creating a seamless space.

17 of 17

Play With Pattern

Lindsey Ellis Beatty kitchen — LAUREY W. GLENN

Just because your walls are green doesn’t mean they have to be boring. Bring in some added interest and movement with patterns in your wall paint, paper, or tile in your chosen color scheme, like this sea glass Goa tile in designer Lindsey Ellis Beatty’s Alabama home.

Frequently Asked Questions

What shade of green should I paint my kitchen?

You can paint your kitchen any shade of green you prefer, but note that whichever hue you pick will affect the overall mood of the space. Cooler shades like sage or gray-green can be calming. Shades like seagrass and sea glass, which have some blue in them, can transport you to the beach. Army green might give off a masculine feel. Darker shades can also be calming, like pine or moss-colored shades, as they bring up feelings of a forest. On the other hand, key lime or kelly green are more likely to breathe energy, giving it a tropical feel.
What colors coordinate well with green in a kitchen?

Green can mix with pretty much any color of the rainbow. For an elegant and serene look, pair it with neutrals, like browns, blacks, grays, and whites. For a coastal take, try shades of blue. For a more cottage flair, try yellows, like butter or mustard.
What materials work best in a green kitchen?

Because green is a color found naturally in the environment, it pairs well with many cabinet, island, and counter materials, like light and dark woods, brass, gold, and stone countertops, like marble, quartz, and granite.